The skin on your neck is very delicate and fragile. Even if you avoid strong sunlight and use powerful skincare products, you will develop lines and loose skin on your neck as you get older. If you live in West Palm Beach, you should consider correcting these problems by getting a neck lift from the experts at Palms Wellington Plastic Surgery in Wellington, FL.
What Is the Typical Age for Getting a Neck Lift?
Aging is a very complicated process; your family background, lifestyle choices, and other factors will affect the condition of your neck and face over time. For example, if your relatives had lines and wrinkles when they were in their thirties and forties, you might develop loose skin and creases on your neck at a relatively early age. If your relatives developed wrinkles at a later age, you may have smooth skin for a longer time.
That said, it’s common to receive a neck lift when you are in your forties, fifties, or older. At this point in your life, you are likely to have loose skin and creases on your neck. We can use cosmetic techniques to fix these age-related changes and give you smooth, beautiful skin.
How Should I Prepare for My Lift?
Before we schedule your cosmetic procedure, you will need to visit our office in Wellington.
Receiving Your Initial Consultation
During our first meeting, we will look at your neck and talk about the bands, wrinkles, loose skin, and other aesthetic issues that you would like us to correct during your lift. We will also talk about your health and medical history. At this time, you should be prepared to talk about any issues that affect your neck and any cosmetic procedures that you’ve received in the past.
If you are a good candidate for a lift, we can schedule your procedure at this time. In addition, we can provide you with more details about the cost of your lift and our extensive range of financing options.
Getting Ready for Your Lift
After we set a date for your lift, we will give you in-depth instructions about how to prepare for your appointment. Although your instructions will be personalized, we will probably tell you to avoid taking certain anti-inflammatory medications and herbal supplements that could negatively affect your bleeding. If you are a smoker, we will probably ask you to quit for at least six weeks before your lift.
In addition to avoiding cigarettes, you should schedule time off from your job. If you take care of young children, you will need to arrange for a friend, relative, or another responsible person to help you with childcare during your recovery period. In addition, you should set up a clean, comfortable room where you can rest your body during the healing process.
What Should I Expect During My Lift?
We can use several different methods to improve your neck. The techniques that we use during your cosmetic procedure will depend on the condition of your skin, the amount of fat under your neck, and other factors.
Removing Unwanted Fat
It’s very common to have unwanted fat under your neck. This extra fat can give you a double chin and soften your jawline. If you would like to correct this issue, we might use liposuction and other techniques during your lift. For example, we might create small incisions in your chin and behind your ears. We will use these tiny incisions to suction fat out of your neck.
We can also use other techniques to remove fat that is located below the muscles in your neck. In particular, we might use a technique called direct visualization to eliminate larger amounts of fat from this part of your body.
Tightening Loose Skin
When you enter your forties and fifties, the skin on your neck will become lax and loose. In addition, quickly losing a significant amount of weight can cause the skin on your neck to become lax. During your procedure, we can firm the skin in this area of your body by removing extra skin from your neck. We can also firm your remaining skin and decrease the visibility of folds and wrinkles on your neck.
Improving Your Neck Muscles
In addition to fixing your loose skin, we can improve the appearance of the muscles in your neck. Your neck contains a sheet of platysma muscle. This muscle will become weaker as you age. As your platysma muscle weakens, you will develop vertical bands on your neck. In addition, your jawline will become softer. These changes can give your neck a ropey appearance.
We can fix this aesthetic issue by performing a platysmaplasty. During your lift, we can use special techniques to strengthen your platysma muscle and connect these tissues to other muscles in your neck. In addition, we may tighten your neck by eliminating a small portion of your platysma muscle.
How Long Will My Recovery Period Last?
The duration of your recovery period will depend on the techniques that we used to improve your neck, your overall health, and several over variables.
Caring for Your Neck
You’ll need to take very good care of your neck during the initial phases of your recovery period. We will probably ask you to wear a special dressing around your head and chin for at least 24 hours after your procedure. Alternatively, we might put drains around your target area. These drains will help your body remove excess fluids.
During the first part of your recovery, we may provide you with prescription medication. This medication will help you stay comfortable while your neck is healing.
Visiting Our Office
You’ll probably have your initial follow-up visit a couple of days after we finish improving your neck. During this meeting, we will look at your neck and analyze your body’s response to your cosmetic procedure. We will also teach you how to care for your incisions.
Taking Time Off
In general, you will need to plan on taking one to two weeks off from your childcare duties, job, and other tasks. During this time, you should not pick up heavy objects, exercise, or bend over.
After about a week, you might feel comfortable going to your workplace or other public areas while you are wearing makeup on your neck or using turtlenecks or scarves to cover this area of your body. Alternatively, you might prefer to rest for another week as your tissues continue to heal.
When Will My Neck Improve?
You are likely to see immediate improvements in the bands on your neck, your loose skin, and other problems. However, the tissues in this area of your body will need some time to heal after your procedure. Typically, you will see the final impact of your lift within a couple of weeks.
Will I Have Large Scars on My Neck?
We will typically place your incisions in discreet locations. For example, we might make incisions near your lower hairline or behind your ears. Putting your incisions into these areas of your body will prevent you from developing large, visible scars on your neck. In addition, we can use special techniques to help your incisions heal smoothly after your procedure is complete.
Will This Procedure Permanently Improve My Neck?
The techniques that we use during your lift will create lasting changes in your wrinkles, unwanted fat, and other aesthetic problems. If you take good care of your body, the improvements in your neck could last for up to 15 years. However, you need to realize that our procedure cannot stop your skin from continuing to change as you get older. As a result, you will experience some laxity as you age.
Receiving aesthetic treatments can be a good way to slow down the changes in your neck and improve the duration of your improvements. For example, non-invasive skin tightening treatments can firm the skin on this part of your body. In addition to receiving aesthetic treatments, you should apply high-quality skincare products to your skin and avoid going outside in very strong sunlight.
Can I Improve Other Features During My Lift?
It’s common to improve your face, eyelids, and other areas of your body during your lift.
Getting a Facelift
A facelift is a very popular procedure to receive in connection with a neck lift. During a facelift, we can correct creases that appear near your mouth, nose, and chin. In addition, we can fix sagging skin on your face and decrease unwanted fat in this part of your body. Although we can use different methods to improve your face, we are likely to begin your facelift by making very small incisions inside your hairline.
These incisions will allow us to remove excess skin from your body, stretch the skin on your face, and reduce unwanted fat deposits. This process can take several hours to complete. After we have finished your facelift, we will put bandages on your face. During your recovery period, we will ask you to rest your body and take oral medications.
Receiving a Dermal Filler
If you would like to use a minimally invasive technique to renew your face, you should consider getting dermal fillers in connection with your cosmetic procedure. We can use injectable products like Juvederm XC to temporarily correct smile lines, lip lines, and other wrinkles on your face. Combining a filler with a neck lift can create dramatic improvements in your skin.
Improving Your Eyelids
Like the skin on your neck, the delicate tissues on your eyelids are very vulnerable to the negative effects of sun exposure and age. During your eyelid procedure, we can correct dark circles under your eyes. We can also smooth wrinkles around your eyelids and reduce puffiness under your eyes.
We will usually start your eyelid procedure by making tiny incisions into the skin in this part of your body. Next, we will improve your dark circles and other problems by removing excess skin, fat, or muscle from your body. It will usually take us about one to three hours to improve your eyelids.
Rejuvenate Your Neck
Developing a double chin, loose skin on your neck, and other aesthetic problems in this part of your body will negatively impact your appearance and cause you to look drawn and tired. Receiving a neck lift is a wonderful way to renew and refresh your look. To learn more about the cosmetic techniques that we can use to enhance your neck, contact us at Palms Wellington Plastic Surgery in Wellington, FL.