We have some great procedures to address the neck. One of the simplest is neck liposuction, or what we call submental liposuction, for people who have redundancy in the lower area of the neck and fatty tissues.
For our younger patients, we are able to do this with tiny incisions under local or sedation anesthesia and have people walking out within an hour or so after the procedure with a significant improvement in those neck contours. Other patients, who have significant skin redundancy or laxity in their neck, can get a procedure called a neck lift.
With submental liposuction a tiny little incision is made underneath the chin, and an incision is made behind each ear that is very well hidden, about a centimeter long. We use a lot of local anesthestia under the neck, typically the patient is sedated but they are comfortable, and once this is totally numb we use tiny little cannulas that evacuate the extra fat, and actually create a network of tiny little tunnels underneath the skin that while healing can tract up and restore contour to the neck. This is a particularly effective procedure in younger patients.
For people who are a little older, people who have had a previous facelift, or people that need a little something more for their neck, this procedure can be extended to what is called a neck lift procedure. With a neck lift procedure, we are making small incisions back behind the ear and into the hairline, along with the submental liposuction, and that allows us to put a vector of force or pull on the tissue behind the neck. This is the same thing we all do in the mirror (when we lift) the skin behind the neck on each side, restoring contour to the jaw line and angle back to the neck, giving a more youthful appearance.
