Find out what are the best treatments for creepy and loose neck skin at 40. You will also see before and after pictures.
When it comes to loose skin under the neck, it’s important to determine what factors are contributing to this appearance. These factors include bone volume loss, skin quality, skin quantity, neck position and even posture.
With so many creams, devices and procedures claiming to be the best solution for a loose neck skin at 40, it can be difficult to choose the best option that’s right for you.
Surgical and Non-Surgical Treatment Options For Loose Neck Skin at 40
A reconstructive surgeon should begin with a history and physical examination. It can be often learned that a patient has had previous procedures like neck liposuction and skin heating procedures.
The evaluation is performed to determine skin thickness, the presence or absence of excess fat, the relative skin elasticity, the relative volume of excess skin, the presence or absence of platysmal bands, the extent of facial bone volume loss, in particular the cheekbones, the chin, the jawline and jaw angle.
The neck skin is different from the skin of the face so it ages differently. The skin in the neck is thinner than the skin of the face and this area also doesn’t have as many oil and sweat glands as the face.
In a situation of a person in their early to mid 40s, who’s had some skin laxity, but not enough to want to face or neck lifting surgery, I think what is desired is better structural definition.
A young face is not a tight face and an attractive face is not an over pulled appearance. It’s really about definition.
If the issue is skin quality, such as texture and tone, then there are laser treatments and PRP or platelet-rich plasma, which can be helpful.
Platelet-rich plasma is derived from your own blood and as a concentration of the wound healing growth factors that stimulate collagen and increase blood supply after an injury.
PRP improves neck skin quality and texture by stimulating collagen and fat cells under the skin, thus improving the skin quality.
Improving skin quality with PRP is optimal with regular treatment, so improvement can be maximized.
Different types of lasers are also employed, such as fractional CO2 or Q-switch laser to improve neck skin.
A very popular procedure is a non ablative laser toning with the Nd:YAG laser. The laser is able to selectively treat the deeper layers of skin without compromising the top layer of skin.
There is a protocol that combines PRP delivery to the skin after laser treatment to maximize the skin quality through collagen stimulation.
Radio frequency devices such as Pelleve can also help with skin toning and tightening of the neck as well as to induce a similar collagen response.
Radio frequency devices are often employed in place of lasers for people with darker skin, which includes olive Mediterranean skin types, Asian skin and people with much darker or in the brown spectrum of skin color.
Relative volume of skin as well as elasticity is assessed to determine if a minimally invasive procedure called suture suspension may be of benefit.
Suture suspension is not a threadlift. A threadlift involves a placement of barbed sutures to try to tighten skin. A suture suspension procedure involves the placement of sutures comparable to those used during surgery.
As is what’s done in surgeries such as in face and neck lifting, the suture is placed into stable tissue to allow lifting or repositioning of loose tissue. Essentially it’s a deep suture placement often used in surgery without skin removal.
If you’d like to address skin quantity or excess skin and platysmal bands, then some variation of a facelift, face and neck lift or even a limited neck lift is considered appropriate.
Often laxity of the neck is associated with laxity of the face. When a patient has loose neck skin, addressing facial sagging can also address a sagging neck.
Sometimes a short scar facelift procedure is able to accomplish quite a bit. A procedure like this takes about two hours to do under local anesthesia with light intravenous sedation.
Once it’s done, it tends to hold very well and can last anywhere from five to ten years.
If platysmal bands are present without excess skin, a neurotoxins such as Botox, Dysport and XEOMIN can improve the appearance of those bands.
If there is excessive skin and the platysmal bands are relax, there are different ways to modify the platysma surgically, which is done typically during a face and necklift procedure.
In many practices, a neck lifting surgery is done under local anesthesia with LITE IV or intravenous sedation. This is as opposed to general anesthesia, which is often a disincentive for many patients considering surgery.
Procedures performed with local anesthesia with sedation allow for easier recovery and allow for people to go back to work sooner.
A very important concept, which is missed often, is the contribution of bone volume loss to neck skin laxity, particularly for people with limited laxity with a decrease in jawline definition.
Placement of an implant or long lasting injectable fillers at the bone level can make a significant impact on your appearance.
When the cheeks, jawline and chin are more well-defined, the relative appearance of the skin under the neck becomes less significant.
The decision to choose a procedure or procedures to improve the neck is dependent on proper diagnosis and a clear understanding of the benefits of different interventions.
There is a constant evolution in what can be done for loose neck skin at 40 and being able to perform the full range of procedures, from non-surgical and minimally invasive to advanced surgical procedures or a combination, should be a successful approach from all practices.
Loose Neck Skin Before and After
Rebecca is a licensed aesthetician and certified laser technician with almost 15 years experience in the dermatology. Her life-long passion is making people look good and happy.