Perfect your Neck!

After years of focusing on reducing the signs of aging on my face, at 52 my neck is now requiring more attention.  At an early age, portrait photographers were telling me to hold my head a different way to avoid a double chin. Now, I have even more to distract those photographers, so it’s time to get to work.  Admittedly some of these things I have already been doing, but for those who are just starting to consider the aesthetic appearance of the neck, here’s a full rundown.

Improving the contour of the neck and jawline generally involves two things – fat removal and relaxing platysmal bands. These are both non-invasive options. Of course, a traditional neck lift is an option but requires more downtime, money and risk.  So, let’s skip to the non-invasive options.

IMPROVING THE CONTOUR

Improving the contour of the neck with fat removal is generally done using two procedures, Coolsculpting and Kybella.  Coolsculpting freezes fat and is best for large amounts of horizontal fat directly under the chin.  Kybella is an injectable that selectively dissolves fat.  We can use Kybella for more contour in areas along the jawline as well. Often I recommend a combination of these procedures to get the best results. Kybella and Coolsculpting permanently decrease the number of fat cells in the treated area, so it does not need to be repeated unless additional sculpting is desired. 

Improving the contour of the neck with BOTOX.  The unfortunate truth is that underneath that fat is a thin layer of muscle called the platysma.  Flexing of this muscle is most often done during exercise, but over time these muscles are often tense at rest leading to a “cord-like” vertical band in the neck.  Unfortunately, many patients have been erroneously told to do neck and chin exercises to improve the contour of the neck, worsening platysma bands.  These muscles are easily treated with BOTOX.  The effects of BOTOX last 3-4 months, so this treatment needs repeated on a regular basis.

IMPROVING THE TEXTURE

Over time and with sun damage, the skin of the neck can get loose, crepey and develop a chicken skin like texture.  Improving this requires time, lots of time.  

Improving the texture with topical creams.  One of the creams we sell at the Spring Boutique is called the “6 Week Perfection Neck Cream” by Defenage.  While this is one of the most effective neck creams on the market, 6 weeks is ambitious.  Treating the neck with creams is difficult because the neck is very sensitive and some of the most effective topical creams we use on the face are too irritating for the neck.  The majority of patients cannot tolerate use of tretinoin/RetinA or other retinoids on the neck.  In addition to the Defenage Neck Cream mentioned above, we also recommend and sell the Skin Better Techo Neck Perfecting Cream.  Real scientific studies with these creams show them to be the most effective neck creams on the market. Other than these creams, using your face products on your neck can be tried with caution.

Improving the texture with procedures.  For a procedural option for the neck, we recommend Microneedling and IPL.  Microneedling is a no downtime procedure that uses a special device to induce small zones of injury to stimulate growth of new healthy skin improving texture and laxity.  

Improving discoloration on the neck.  The very most important thing to improve discoloration on the neck is a daily sunscreen with zinc oxide.  Even when indoors, the blue light from devices is very damaging to our skin.  Discoloration on the neck comes in two varieties – red and brown.  Sometimes this is described dermatologically as poikiloderma.  The pink, red color is related to blood vessels in the skin, and the brown is from overproduction of pigment.  This combination of discoloration can be treated using Intense Pulsed Light (IPL).  However, in my experience, maintaining this result requires repeated treatments almost quarterly.  Finally, a bleaching cream can help reduce the brown discoloration on the neck, for this I prefer ZO’s products with hydroquinone. 

If you are unfamiliar with the products or procedures I mentioned above, there are articles and videos and information on all of these things on our website and our YouTube page with links to some below. 

Now you can see how complex it is when patients ask, “How can I improve my neck”.  If this is something you are noticing, stop by the Spring Boutique and start by scheduling some topicals and Kybella.  You’ll thank yourself when you’re 52.

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