By: Braden Stridde, MD

You may have heard that some surgeons always recommend neck lifts for their face lift patients. Even though face lift patients in Seattle often do need neck lifts, I wouldn’t recommend them in every single case.

Why You Might Need a Neck Lift

Usually face and neck tissues will age at the same pace, so it’s unusual for me to see a facial cosmetic surgery patient who has noticeable mid-face sagging while his /her neck and jaw line are still firm and smooth. Many face lift patients will choose to have a neck lift either as a matter of convenience (combined surgery avoids the extra cost of separate procedures), or for completeness, because their surgical results will tend to look more natural if the face, neck and jaw line areas “match.”

When You Can “Get Away” With a Limited Face Lift

Many younger patients here in Washington are getting less-invasive Seattle face lift procedures, sometimes as early as their 30s, so usually if I’m recommending a more limited facelift procedure, it’s because the patient is younger and doesn’t need significant correction of the neck area.

I’m a firm believer in giving the patient the all facts they need to understand their procedure choices, so here are a few ways you can start to figure out what’s right for you:

• When a face lift is enough:

1. You DO have loose skin and sagging tissues through the mid and lower face, and noticeable issues like crow’s feet and nasolabial folds beyond what an injectable filler could correct.
2. You DON’T have significant accumulation of fat under the chin or muscle- and skin-related sagging in the neck.

• When a neck lift is needed:

1. You DO have loose neck “wattle” and some “banding” that happens when the neck muscles separate.
2. You DO have significant chin or neck fat, which needs to be addressed separately from the skin or muscle issues.

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