Health Focus forum of Lake County’s News Herald with Dr. Paul Vanek of Vanek Plastic Surgery
Can I get a neck lift without getting a face lift? Is the recovery very difficult?
A. Many factors can cause you to lose the youthful appearance of your face and neck, including heredity, stress, environmental conditions, and gravity associated with aging. While these factors typically impact the face and neck at approximately the same pace, I have had patients who are still satisfied with their upper face, but they are unhappy with the excess wrinkling of their neck skin, a “turkey wattle” or double chin, or their jowl lines. A neck lift, or lower rhytidectomy, can be their solution and this can be done independently from a face lift.
What is a neck lift?
This surgical procedure can improve visible signs of aging in the jawline and neck, including removing excess fat and skin relaxation in the lower face that creates jowls, excess fatty deposits under the chin, loose neck skin, and muscle banding in the neck, which create abnormal contours. A neck lift does not change your fundamental appearance.
Neck lifts are often performed in combination with other rejuvenation procedures. In addition to face lifts, they are often done in conjunction with a brow lift to correct a sagging or deeply furrowed brow, or a fat transfer to add fullness to the lips and cheeks and reduce the appearance of wrinkles, or eyelid surgery to rejuvenate aging eyes.
What is recovery neck lift?
Recovery requires wearing a light ace wrap for a few hours a day until your swelling resolves in one to two weeks. Sutures under your chin will dissolve and the few behind your ear in the hairline come out in 7 to 10 days. You should be able to resume workouts and other activities two weeks after surgery.
Dr. Paul Vanek MD, FACS
Vanek Plastic Surgery
9485 Mentor Ave #100
Mentor, OH 44060
440-205-5750
