If you have any questions or would like more information, please don’t hesitate to ask. Our friendly team would be more than happy to help you with your enquiry.
Daniel Lanzer has retired. He is no longer a registered medical practitioner. This website is currently under review
There are several methods to perform a neck lift. Dr Lanzer performs a neck lift as part of the mini face and neck lift. The area below and around the ear is elevated using the tumescent fluid method, which we use in liposculpture. Once the skin is elevated, the small blood vessels are closed through cauterisation and more long-term sutures are placed on the sagging weak skin of the neck. This gives an immediate neck lift of the deeper structures. As a result, there is excessive skin around the ears; this is usually trimmed away.
A mini neck lift is a specific type of neck lift. The procedure has the same purpose as a regular neck lift, more specifically rejuvenation of the aesthetic of the neck. During a mini neck lift, cosmetic surgery will remove the vertical neck bands and tighten excess skin. The treatment is often executed in younger patients, who often have less sagging and banding of the neck compared to older patients.
There are many changes that typically occur to the lower face and neck area as we age. The first is
that the skin may become wrinkled. There may be horizontal ridges on the neck all the way down to
the thyroid cartilage. The skin may also become finely wrinkled. These are all skin textural changes
that can be improved with cosmetic procedures. Laser therapy will smooth the skin, make it tighter,
and there will be an element of a neck lift and facial rejuvenation.
The second change that one sees in the neck is the skin itself starts to sag. There is also a loss of the acute sharp angle between the jaw line, which represents the face and the neck. There are two components that one sees with this type of aging of the neck. The first is that some patients develop excessive fat; this is referred to as “the turkey neck”. It may be present in only the centre of the neck, but it could also extend out to the sides. The extra fat has excessive weight, subsequently causing the neck skin to droop.
Some patients do not have a lot of fat but rather loose skin. The skin itself sags down. Sometimes in conjunction with the loose skin there are prominent neck muscle fibres. There are muscles such as
the platysma muscle, which fans across the neck. Muscle fibres can become prominent in this area,
particularly if there is thinning of the skin and loss of neck fat.
Before a neck lift procedure, it is important to determine whether you are a good candidate. A neck lift is ideal if a person has a double chin and notices that the sharp angle of the neckline has been lost. In many cases, the neck lift can be performed with a special liposuction method without any cutting away of the skin or with a neck surgical lift where the skin is also removed behind the ear with tightening of the muscles below.
During a neck lift procedure, the anaesthetist can use either local or general anaesthesia. The neck can be lifted in many ways and can produce an extremely dramatic effect as far as the aging appearance of the face and neck. Sometimes, a neck lift can be accomplished with a form of liposculpture alone; this is where all the fat is removed from the neck, particularly treating the underlying dermal surface of the neck. The lift causes a dermal and collagen contraction, which leads to the neck tightening and lifting effect.
Most patients require some downtime from their normal activities. A small neck sling is worn for the first week and icing may also be helpful to enhance the healing process. The normal risks involved with the procedure include bruising, swelling, and infection. Scarring does vary, but generally, it is quite minimal around the edges of the ears. Very occasionally, there can be some wrinkling behind the ears. The surgeons will always be careful about the position of the nerves on the face and neck. Therefore, the position of the nerves could have an influence on how the procedure is executed.
An increasingly large number of patients now opt for a neck lift. If you’re looking to lose isolated areas of fat around the neck to achieve a youthful appearance, get a free no-obligation consultation with Dr Lanzer.
Request consultationWe can keep the scar of the neck lift principally around the ears. However, there might be a small extension behind the ear towards the hair. Some deep plain forms of neck lift require a full elevation of the neck with extension of the scars right into the hair of the scalp; this is not a method that is performed in Dr Lanzer’s surgery. Most patients we see prefer to keep the scars smaller and go more for a natural face and neck lift rather than a dramatic one.
Yes, neck lifting will lift the loose skin and give it a very sharp definition on the neck. However, it may not necessarily improve the skin texture. Some patients have skin textural treatments such as Aura laser, YAG laser or Dermapen to try and improve the skin texture at the same time or later.
There really is no promise as to how long a surgical neck lifting lasts. Avoiding strenuous excessive movements will be helpful. However, a lot comes down to genetics and the natural aging process.
However, neck lift results are predictable. Dr Lanzer and his staff will be able to show some results you could expect; this is done when you come in for your free no-obligation consultation. Dr Lanzer also shows photographs of patients who have had the procedure and allows patients to speak to other patients if that is requested. Naturally, these conversations are all done in a confidential manner.
The exact cost of a neck lift can only be determined by booking a consultation at your cosmetic surgery clinic. Even though you can find estimates online, the cost of a neck lift is subject to variables; this includes the amount of fat to be removed, the experience of the surgeon, and more. Therefore, to get the most accurate quote for a neck lift, it is always best to consult the clinic you intend to have your liposuction at.
Click on the picture above to see a range of ‘before & after’ pictures of Dr. Lanzer’s amazing neck liposuction results.
View a recent Channel 7 ‘Today Tonight’ episode where Dr. Lanzer’s neck and chin liposuction procedure are discussed.
The surgical fee for a neck lift starts at $7995 plus associated hospitals costs.
The favoured method of Dr Lanzer is to use a combination of liposculpture with tightening of the underlying (platysma) muscle and removal of excess skin which is pulled up behind the ear.
It is possible that removal of the heavy weight around the neck can improve sleep apnoea and breathing however this is not a studied medical indication.
A neck lift can be performed under local anaesthetic without pain or under general anaesthetic asleep. When awake there is the initial stinging of a local anaesthetic as with all surgery there will be post-operative discomfort and possibly pain.
Yes, there are non-surgical and non-invasive devices that can cause contraction of the deeper muscle and dermal tissue to cause a lifting. The device that we have found to be most effective is the Ulthera; this is a deep ultrasound machine that hits a point about 4-5 mm under the skin and causes a contraction. Some patients find that the lifting is quite dramatic and long-lasting. However, because it is non-surgical, one can never make and promise as to how often it will be successful and the extent of the success.
Notice!
Daniel Lanzer has retired. He is no longer a registered medical practitioner. This website is currently under review.