Neck Lift
An aging neck is a common concern. As the lowest point on the face, sagging tissues show most prominently in the neck and jowls, and our Washington DC and Northern Virginia patients often seek correction. A surgical neck lift is the gold standard for restoring a lifted, tightened and defined neck contour, particularly when the efficacy of non-invasive devices is limited.
A blunted or full neck contour can be genetic (in younger patients neck skin is tight but underlying structures are bulky or full) or age-related (in order patients neck skin and muscle becomes loose and deeper tissues hypertrophy). In most cases, Dr. Rad must address 4 factors: loose skin, excess fat above and below the platysma muscle, excess digastric muscle bulk, a weak platysma muscular sling, and a small chin and weak jawline. Addressing each of these factors with high skill can lead to lifelong excellent results.
Candidates
Ideal patients are generally healthy and of any age and any body type. Patients should have realistic goals: restoring crisp neck and jawlines in order to refresh one’s appearance is a reasonable goal, whereas seeking the looks of another person is not. Friends, family and colleagues should notice that you look better, as if having lost weight or more refreshed. Patients planning facelift should also consider neck lift for a balanced result. Nora Ephron once said “The neck is a dead give-away. Our faces are lies and our necks are the truth.” Dr. Rad is known in northern Virginia and Washington DC for achieving facial harmony and restoring youthful neck and face contours will give the most natural results.
Dr. Rad’s Approach
Patients are most concerned to achieve a “natural” result and Dr. Rad makes a detailed assessment of facial and neck anatomy when planning neck lift. With mild skin looseness, scars can be minimized, an approach Dr. Rad has refined and known as the “scarless” or mini-necklift technique. An open approach addresses significant laxity of all tissue layers. In the scarless approach, very small incisions behind the earlobes through which the platysma muscle is tightened and skin redraped. In the open technique longer incisions around the ear and under chin are necessary and all tissue layers are addressed: skin is redraped, deep fat removed, digastric muscles (“vestigial” muscles of no important function) reduced, and platysma muscle tightened. In both techniques, Dr. Rad endeavors to minimize tissue dissection and trauma. Dr. Rad places multiple ‘suspension’ sutures to contour the neck. Sutures are absorbable and over 6 months replaced by scar tissue which holds the beautifully lifted contour. The primary difference between the ‘closed’ and ‘open’ techniques is the length of the scar. A neck lift is an artistic procedure requiring nuanced surgical judgment to create balance and harmony between the face and neck while maintaining a natural appearance.
“Aesthetics are about nuance, subtlety, harmony and plausible deniability.”