A neck lift is a surgical procedure that removes excess skin and fat and tightens the neck muscles for a smoother neck contour. A neck lift is also called a lower rhytidectomy, platysmaplasty, or submental lipectomy, depending on the correction.

Aging makes the neck skin lose elasticity and start relaxing. Some people collect fat under the chin and upper neck due to weight gain, commonly called a double chin. There are two components to this deformity, and it could be an isolated collection of fat alone as seen in younger individuals or because of lax musculature and fat deposition.

In younger individuals, liposuction alone is enough to address the problem. Still, older patients may require tightening the skin and muscle along with liposuction to give good results. If only liposuction is done, no significant scarring is seen, but where muscle tightening has to be done, there is a 2-inch scar just behind the chin in the upper neck.

In some individuals, the neck muscles tend to separate with aging and present as bands giving the appearance of a “turkey gobbler neck.”

In recent years instead of skin resection to correct the excess and prevent scarring, we have used thread neck lift as a minimally invasive procedure to address the excess skin. Thread lift leaves no scars and gives decent results lasting 4-5 years. Instead of thread, we could use barbed ribbons called the Ribbon Lift, which promises longer-lasting results.