Other Facial Procedures: Neck Lift
(Platysmaplasty)

• It tightens the skin and muscles that have become lax due to aging or to an inherited trait.
• It eliminates the excess fat of the neck and double chin.
• When the laxity is related to a receding chin bone that gives too little support to the neck soft tissues, the best results are obtained in combination with a sliding genioplasty that lenghtens forward the supporting bony frame to which the soft tissues are attached.
• It is an ideal complement to face lift (rhytidectomy). When it is done together with brow and forehead lift surgery and eye lift surgery (blepharoplasty), it completely rejuvenates the face and neck.

Anesthesia
When it is done alone, local anesthesia and sedation is used. When it is done together with other procedures, general anesthesia is used.

How long will it take?
Between 90 minutes and 2 hours.

How is neck lift performed?
The surgeon makes an incision consisting of two sections: a vertical section behind each ear and a horizontal section of about 2 inches (5 cm) parallel to the hairline of the back of the head. In some cases, it is necessary to make a small incision under the chin and/or a liposuction of the double chin to obtain better results.
Working through these incisions, the surgeon tightens the muscles and the skin of your neck, he pulls them up to give your neck a more youthful look. He then cuts the excess skin and closes the incisions with stitches.

How long will I have to stay hospitalized?
No hospitalization is needed if local anesthesia is used.

What kind of bandages will I need, when will they be removed?
You will leave the operating room with a bandage around your head and the treated areas of your neck. The surgeon will remove it 24 hours after the surgery.

Will I feel a lot of pain?
Moderate.

When will the stitches be removed?
Between 7 and 10 days after the surgery.

What about swelling and bruises?
The bruises may remain for about 2 weeks. The swelling will be at its worst during the first week but, as time goes by, it will slowly recede. It lasts about a month. Cold compresses will help reduce the bruises and swelling. During some days, you will have to sleep with your head elevated.

What will the scars look like?
They will be hidden behind the ears and under the hair.

You may be able to go back to work, and to have fun as you used to, 10 days after the surgery. During the first 48 hours, you will have to rest at the hotel and be careful not to move your head too abruptly. The treated area may be numb for some months.

During the recovery period, some people may feel quite depressed. It’s quite normal to feel this way after any kind of surgery, no matter how simple it may be. You may even come to think that you made a big mistake. But don’t worry. Most of the people who are happy today and who are satisfied with the results obtained, have also felt somewhat depressed.

Every surgery, no matter how simple it may be, has certain risks, and we should not rule them out. However, it is very unlikely for a neck lift to present any complications when performed by a qualified surgeon.

• Furrowing of the skin.
• Infections may develop but, if you take the right antibiotics, they will be less likely to develop.
• Adverse reactions to anesthesia.
• Hypertrophic scars or keloids (excessive scar tissue due to genetic traits of certain skin types).
• Bruises.
• Seromas, or fluid accumulation beneath the skin. In some cases, they will have to be drained by aspiration.
• Sensitivity alterations, such as numbness of the earlobe. This tends to go back to normal after 180 days.

Neck-lift surgery will make you look several years younger than you really are. The difference between your real age and your looks will last your whole life; that is, as you grow older you will still look much younger than you really are.
Moreover, if you already had a facial feminization surgery, a neck lift will make the new female outline of your chin and jaw more clearly defined.