Neck Lift

Quick Links to Neck Rejuvenation

Overview Neck Rejuvenation Are you a good candidate? Desired Changes Ideal Neck Benefits Dr. Cruise's philosophy regarding Neck Lift Consultation / Physical Exam Prior to Surgery Anesthesia After the procedure Recovery time Possible complications Neck Lift Before and Afters

Overview of Neck Rejuvenation

The effects of aging show early within the neck region. The skin begins to hang loosely and the muscles underneath lose their tone. These changes produce the characteristic look of the aging neck. If you look at any young person who is not overweight you will see that the skin is closely adherent to the neck creating a very sharp angle at the level of the Adams Apple. This angle is called the cervico-mental angle and makes a profound impact on the appearance of the neck.

In youth, the cervico-mental angle is very sharp approaching 70 degrees. As one ages or gains weight, this angle becomes flatter and flatter for different reasons. With aging, both the skin and the muscles become lax. The muscles form cords that draped down from the chin giving the characteristic "turkey neck" appearance.

With weight gain, the angle flattens because of the excess subcutaneous fat. The treatment for these two problems is completely different.

In the case were the cervico-mental angle has flattened because of fat accumulation within the subcutaneous tissues, Dr. Cruise can normally improve the neck contour with liposuction, with or without a neck lift. When liposuction is performed on the neck two things happen. One, the subcutaneous fat is removed and two, during the healing process the skin redrapes more tightly against the neck creating a leaner appearance with a sharper cervico-mental angle.

The process of facial aging is described more thoroughly below and within the pages describing face lift. Dr. Cruise has spent much time and has acquired considerable experience with what causes the appearance of neck aging and what needs to be done to correct it. The key to neck lift surgery is to tighten the underlying muscles that have become lax, re-create a sharp cervico-mental angle, create a well-defined jaw line, and then redrape the skin to accommodate the new contour. It is important to understand that the majority of the work needs to be done underneath the skin level. It is not just a skin tightening procedure.

Dr. Cruise has determined that, in his hands, the best way to re-create the cervico-mental angle is to resuspend the muscle as is typically done, but also to augment this resuspension by securing the muscle in its proper location with a technique called suture suspension. The effects are quite dramatic and predictable as demonstated in the above before and after pictures.

Above picture demonstrates how the platysma muscle is suspended under the jaw bone giving a well defined mandibular border as well as creating a youthful neck angle.All of the surures for midline plication are placed under the skin and are not visible. Midline platysma muscle suture eliminates Turkey Neck.

It is a very exciting time in plastic surgery because we are just beginning to solve the puzzle of facial aging and Dr. Cruise is very much involved with the progress. Even though facial aging affects the entire face and neck, sometimes a patient is really only concerned with a particular area such as the neck. In this situation, only the neck needs to be addressed. Often the patient will return to have their face and eyes done when they are ready. This is an excellent way to approach facial rejuvenation. You should only have corrected what really bothers you. You can always come back and have other things done at a later date.