calling all who had neck lipo!!

Hi there,

I am 20 days post op tummy tuck and I was thinking about getting something done to my neck. I have some loose skin under my chin and neck and I HATE the way it looks!! I mentioned this to my PS during my TT consultation and he said that he only likes to do one procedure at a time, and that we could discuss this after my TT.

So here I am! I brought it up to him on Monday and he said that he could do the procedure in his surgical sweet. He suggested a small incision under my chin to do lipo, then he would thread 2 anchor threads on either side of my neck to "lift" the skin. He also mentioned 2 small incisions behind my ears.

I'd like to hear your feedback!

How long was recovery?

Was there a lot of bruising?

How long did you have to wear a chin strap, if any?

What was your restrictions, if any?

Are you happy with your results

Hiya!  I'm here to respond to the call. ;)

 

I had neck lipo exactly five weeks ago today.   I'm still healing, but I can tell it was a really good decision already.    My neck looked fat and out of proportion to the rest of my body.  I know this was genetic because I had the same problem when I was slim and just thirteen years old. 

I am by no means an expect, but what you describe sounds like more than just neck lipo.  It sounds like your surgeon is maybe going to tighten the platysma muscle.    Since he talked about insisions in front of the ear, it sounds more like a full neck lift and not just neck lipo.  A neck lift will give you much  more dramatic results than just neck lipo.

 

I just had neck lipo, although I did debate the neck lift.  My PS thought I'd get good results with just the lipo.  While I had hanging skin, he thought it would retract well with time due to my age (36 at time of lipo) and my skin's condition.   He thought the extra fat in there was pulling the skin down, weighing it, and causing the angle that I didn't like.   He said if this didn't do the trick we could do a full lift later, but this way I don't have to have the scars of a neck lift (which I think are minor, anyway) and I wouldn't have more surgery than I really wanted.

 

So my neck lipo involved three small incisions - one under the chin, and one at the top of the jaw on either side.  I don't know how much fat was removed - but they said "a lot".  Haha!   There was no muscle tightening and no skin removal.   Also, there are different types of lipo and I know a lot of PS use "laser lipo" with the neck, but my surgeon prefers just the old school traditional liposuction for this area.  

 

How long was recovery?  Well, I'm five weeks out now and I'm still recovering!   I mean, I am doing all my normal activities, but I still have swelling and lots of lumps.  Everyone is different.  My surgeon removed a LOT of fat, so that can make for a longer recovery than normal.    If neck lipo was the only thing I had done, I'd probably be back to normal activities in a week or so - but it's hard for me to guess that since I had the neck lipo done at the same time as an arm lift.

 

Was there a lot of brusing?   For me, yes there was!    But my lipo was quite extensive, and I have very pale skin that tends to show bruising pretty easily.  In fact, my arms are still bruited from the lipo done there during the arm lift!   I also didn't take any supplements to minimize bruising, so maybe I could have done better.  But I still had traces of neck bruising up until about 3 1/2 weeks after lipo.  Not necessarily typical, but just my experience.   Most  of the nastier looking  bruising was gone by two weeks, though.  I've read on some message boards that some women have NO bruising.  Lucky ducks.

 

How long did I wear a chin strap?   I wore my chin strap 24/7 for about 3 1/2 weeks - then I started taking it off periodically in the day.   At 4 1/2 weeks I started to just wear it at night.  Last night, for the first time, I didn't wear it at night.  I felt the swelling had gone down enough and the strap can sometimes make things look funky.   My surgeon isn't real strict about the chin strap.  He says to wear it as much as possible for as long as possible, especially for someone like me that had a lot of fat removed.   Some surgeon say to just wear it for a week 24/7 and then at nights for another week... so the advice varies quite a lot.  Since I'm just home with kids and not needing to go back to work, it wasn't as hard for me to wear the chin strap for a long time as compared to others.

The chinstrap look something like this: http://www.contourmd.com/Style-9B-Chin-Strap-Contour   Which my surgeon provided for me.  After a week, he let me start using a more simple wrap with velcro.   I would sort of mix it up, depending on which garment felt more comfortable at any given time.

 

My restrictions?   Well, apparently I was supposed to eat only soft food for the first day, but I didn't do that.  Haha!  I missed that instruction, somehow.  Chewing was definitely a bit tender and painful, so soft foods in the first few days would easier to eat!   Other than that, there were no major restrictions from the neck lipo - most of my restrictions were related to the arm lift.  Taking it easy for a few days, though, is certainly best. 

 

Am I happy with my results?  yes!  Well, pretty much.  I'm still healing.  My surgeon said I won't see final results for several months.  I have a lot of bumps and ridges, and my neck is still very tender to the touch.  I am supposed to massage those bumps to help them resolve, which is uncomfortable to do but it does seem to help a little. 

 

Here is a picture of my neck lipo results (at least as of right now!)  You definitely can see some lump and bumps, but certainly the overall contour is greatly improved.  I do think that once I am fully healed, I will be happy with the result.  I hope so!  I am pretty self conscious with my lumpiness right now.

 

Oops, I missed the picture. 

 

Ready for Plastics,

Wow!!! You look amazing!! What a difference!! I would be very pleased with your results!!

My neck has just a small amount of skin hanging. The procedure that my PS suggested to me isn't a full neck lift, as he would not be doing anything to those 2 bands in the neck? (not sure of the name) The 2 incisions behind the ears would be for the "pulling" of the anchor threads to tighten the skin under the chin. The lipo would be a very small amount.

Thank you so much for all the info on your neck lift. I love to read about real peoples' experiences as opposed to patients advertising their Dr.

Happy healing!

Lesley

Oh thank you!!  Your kind compliment really made my day.  I'm self conscious about the bumps and lumps, but they are and will continue to get better. 

 

I'm not 100% sure what your PS may have been referring to when he talked about the two bands in neck, but I'm gonna guess he was talking about the platysma muscle.  Did he make you clench your teeth or made strange faces?  If so, he might have been trying to have a good look at those muscles to see if they needed to be tightened.

 

The names for these procedures are always so confusing.  I've read some doctor's saying that any neck lift is a lower face lift, I've heard some use the terms differently as if they were two different procedures.  Really, though, I think plastic surgeons (or at least the ones we'd want to see!) really tailor each procedure to the very individual needs of each patient.  So the semantics don't really matter - what matters is that you are getting the right personalized procedure for your needs.

 

It sounds like you have very little fat to remove - which is awesome!!  I think and hope that will make the procedure an even easier recovery.  From what I've heard and experienced, lipo is pretty painful - so that you wont need much lipo hopefully means less pain. 

 

I've seen pictures of patients that had their platysma tightened - and the results are really great!  It creates a really nice (and natural) angle.  I bet you'll be pleased with the results and glad that you did this for yourself.   If you google "platysma  tightening" or something similar you can probably find some pictures from various surgeons and patients.  

 

Good luck with your procedure.  I agree that reading real people's experiences is one of the best ways to mentally prepare for what lies ahead.    Looking forward to hearing your updates.

Hi was wondering if you could update. How is it now. Did the bumps dissipate and how r u feeling with overall results? Thanks for any help

J

Hi,

 

I'm just curious about what surgeon your using and what he is charging. I'm not that far from NJ and is it  an outpatient procedure?

 

Thanks,

Claudia

Claudia,

My PS is Dr Boss. His office is in Bergen County Paramus, NJ
The neck procedure he recommend for me can be done at his surgical center.
The quote is roughly around $2,000.
I have not yet decided if I am going to do it now, or wait a year? He is a great surgeon!

Good luck!
Lesley

Sounds like a lifestyle lift or minifacelift. Only 54% of patients on realself.com were satisfied with their results.

Here was an interesting thread on this forum a few months ago:

http://www.obesityhelp.com/forums/plasticsurgery/4594935/Lifestyle-lift/