It is common for people to not think about their necks until it is too late. When you finally notice your neck, it is because you are displeased with its appearance. Luckily, you don’t have to wear short-sleeved turtlenecks in the summer and long hair in the winter to hide your sagging neck skin. At East Bay Aesthetic Surgery in Pleasanton, CA, we offer a neck lift San Francisco.
This procedure is designed to restore the youthful profile you lost as your skin aged. While there are many anti-aging creams on the market, none of them can reverse the effects of the aging process. On the other hand, this procedure provides long-lasting results that boost self-confidence significantly.
How Long Does a Neck Lift Last?
The tightening and toning results of a neck lift San Francisco are semi-permanent. That said, there is no way to stop the aging process forever. After approximately 10 to 15 years, you will need a follow-up procedure to maintain your desired youthful profile. Note, it is possible to make healthy lifestyle choices that extend the results of your procedure. Additionally, a solid skincare routine can extend the longevity of your results.
How To Make Your Results Last Longer
Even though topical products are inadequate for reversing sagging neck skin, they can slow the skin aging process and help you extend the results of your procedure. We recommend investing in nutrient-rich skincare products designed to keep your skin hydrated and nourished. Ingredients to look for include hyaluronic acid and collagen.
Keep Your Posture in Mind
Keeping your posture in mind is another great way to extend the longevity of your results. Your neck skin is forced to crease you lean forward and bend your neck regularly. This causes wrinkled neck skin and bands. You may benefit from holding your phone at eye height to prevent straining your neck down to view your screen.
It can be difficult at first to be conscious of how you move and hold your neck. Eventually, awareness of your posture and neck movements will get easier. Then, proper posture will become natural to you, and you won’t need to think about it anymore.
Maintain a Healthy Lifestyle
Maintaining a healthy lifestyle will also go a long way in helping you maintain the results of your neck lift San Francisco. Effective lifestyle choices you can make to extend the results of your procedure include drinking alcohol in moderation per AHA and CDC guidelines, limiting your consumption of sodium and sugar, and eating a nutritious, balanced diet most of the time.
You should also avoid consuming tobacco products, such as cigars, cigarettes, electronic cigarettes, and chewing tobacco. Tobacco products contain a chemical compound called nicotine that causes significant premature skin aging. Additionally, you should be aware that UV ray damage is the leading cause of premature skin aging. To increase the longevity of your results, make sure you’re applying sunscreen to your neck and chest when you go out for the day and reapply it regularly.
What Is a Neck Lift?
Also known as lower rhytidectomy or platysmaplasty, a neck lift San Francisco is a procedure designed to improve the appearance of the neck. The scope of lower rhytidectomy is to improve the appearance of the jawline and neck by eliminating excess chin fat and tightening lower face skin that creates jowls. It also eliminates bands of excessively tight neck muscles that negatively affect the contours of the neck. Furthermore, loose neck skin is tightened during lower rhytidectomy.
The scope of platysmaplasty is similar to the scope of lower rhytidectomy. However, it does not involve the removal of excess chin fat. However, you can expect excess neck skin and fat to be removed. You can also expect loose neck skin to be tightened. This will help you look several years younger and feel much more confident. You may even find you don’t want to wear turtlenecks anymore because you are so happy with the appearance of your neck.
Why Does Neck Skin Laxity Occur?
Skin laxity is one of the most common aging signs. It can affect any region of the body but commonly affect the neck and jawline. Sometimes, it occurs after extreme weight loss. However, aging is the most common cause of loose, sagging skin. The aging process causes extreme neck skin laxity because several crucial compounds keep your skin tight and smooth in your youth, including collagen, elastin, and hyaluronic acid.
That said, the older you get, the slower your body produces these essential compounds. Eventually, your body doesn’t produce enough of these substances to replenish what it has used. This causes such visible signs of aging as wrinkles, sagging skin, and dehydrated skin. The face, neck, and collarbones are some of the first places to show the signs of aging because the skin in those areas is so thin.
Why Does Excess Neck Fat Occur?
Where you store excess adipose tissue depends on many factors. However, genetics is the most common cause of storing excess adipose tissue in the neck. What’s frustrating about neck fat is it’s not easy to hide. You can’t wear turtlenecks every day, and excess neck fat can make you look older and heavier than you actually are.
Many people are also frustrated by excess neck fat because there is no way to spot-reduce fat. Fat loss occurs when you operate at a caloric deficit. However, you may be concerned about excess neck fat and burn fat from your hips, buttocks, and thighs. It may take an unsustainably low body fat percentage to keep your neck slim without help from a cosmetic procedure. Even worse, losing enough weight to lose neck fat may exacerbate loose neck skin caused by the aging process.
What To Expect During the Neck Improvement Process
An Initial Evaluation
Before your procedure is scheduled, we need to make sure it is right for you. During your initial consultation, Dr. Eric P. Bachelor, MD, FACS will discuss your medical history, current health, and cosmetic goals. Additionally, he will evaluate your current aesthetic to determine the most appropriate way to achieve your goals. For instance, if you have a lot of excess neck fat, you may need to also receive liposuction to get the contours you’re looking for.
Additionally, you will be advised on how to prepare for your procedure. If you’re not confident you can adhere to all pre-op guidelines, you will not be considered a good candidate for this procedure. For example, you must be able to go 12 weeks without drinking alcohol or consuming nicotine. You should avoid these chemicals for six weeks before your procedure to ensure your blood pressure is normal and six weeks afterward to ensure a smooth, speedy recovery.
Preparation
To ensure your procedure goes as it should, you must follow all pre-op guidelines. As noted above, you must refrain from consuming nicotine and alcohol. Furthermore, it is very important that you stop taking certain medications that will thin your blood or otherwise affect your blood pressure. For instance, you should not take fish oil supplements, vitamin E supplements, garlic supplements, MAOIs, and NSAIDs during the 72 hours leading up to your procedure.
You must also fast for eight hours before your procedure if you opt for general anesthesia. If you’ve never skipped breakfast in your life, you may want to schedule your procedure for late in the afternoon so you can eat in the morning as you usually do. If you often skip breakfast, you may prefer to schedule an early morning procedure and stop eating and drinking at midnight.
Your Procedure
Before your procedure begins, we will administer a form of anesthesia to ensure your comfort throughout the procedure. Depending on your health and the scope of your procedure, we may recommend you receive general anesthesia. This will numb your entire body and put you to sleep. That said, we may recommend a combination of local anesthesia and sedation. Local anesthesia will numb your neck, and the sedation will put you to sleep.
Incisions
Once your continuous comfort is ensured, we will make an incision on your neck. Your aesthetic goals will determine the type of incision used. You will only need a tiny incision if your primary goal is fat loss. If your primary goal is eliminating excess neck skin and lifting sagging skin, you may need incisions near your ears and jaw.
Lipo and Lifting
If you opt for liposuction, Dr. Bachelor will use a cannula (very fine tube) to remove excess fat gently through the small incision in the neck. Once the fat is removed via liposuction, it is gone forever. After puberty, the body can’t grow new fat cells. This means if you gain weight in the future, even if you store excess fat in the remaining fat cells in your neck, your neck will never look as large.
Once the liposuction portion of your procedure is complete, excess skin will be trimmed off. Then, the remaining skin will be lifted. Depending on the scope of your procedure, your neck contouring process may take up to three hours. If you don’t need liposuction, your procedure may only take around two hours.
What To Expect After Your Procedure
After your procedure, there are many post-op guidelines you must adhere to. During your initial consultation, we will advise you on what to expect post-op. We will review them again once your procedure is complete to ensure all of the instructions are clear. For instance, it is very important that you:
- Refrain from vigorous exercise
- Keep your incision sites dry
- Abstain from alcohol consumption
- Avoid tobacco consumption
- Take all prescriptions as directed
- Do not take blood-thinners
Your Recovery
You should expect to take two weeks off from work to recover from your procedure. However, if you have a sedentary job, you may return to work one week post-op if you are feeling up to it.
Note, you should expect to feel fairly groggy once you wake up from your general anesthesia or sedation. This is completely normal. You can’t drive during the first 24 hours following sedation or general anesthesia, so you may want to bring a neck pillow and take a nap as your partner drives you home post-op.
Schedule Your Initial Consultation Today
The results of a neck lift in San Francisco usually last between 10 and 15 years. However, several factors affect how long your results will last. If you are in the Pleasanton or Danville, CA area, please contact us today at East Bay Aesthetic Surgery in Pleasanton, CA to schedule your initial consultation with Dr. Bachelor. Just let us know during your initial consultation if you would prefer to meet Dr. Bachelor at our Pleasanton or Danville location.