As his practice continues to be busy with appointments both at nights and on the weekends, New York facial plastic surgeon Konstantin Vasyukevich, MD thinks it’s safe to say that necklifts—like many other cosmetic procedures—are “at their peak” right now.
“Necklift techniques have been continuously evolving over the past decades. Both the quality and the longevity of results has greatly improved over the last decade, as a new multimodality approach to face and neck cosmetic surgery, as well as utilization of the technological innovations, have resulted in the more effective and naturally appearing rejuvenation,” he says, nothing that, at his practice, the surgery—which ranked as the 12th most-performed aesthetic procedure last year, according to the most recent Aesthetic Society statistics—is primarily requested by men.
“One can expect returning to regular daily living activities and resuming their work schedule within one-to-two weeks after the surgery. Full recovery might take somewhat longer, with most people fully healed two-to-three months after the procedure.”
Likewise, New York plastic surgeon Jeffrey S. Yager, MD has seen “a steady rise in the number of patients seeking neck rejuvenation” and the very modern-day source isn’t all that surprising: “With people doing things virtually, your face is seen on screen more and it brings this issue to the fore.”
Leesburg, VA plastic surgeon Phillip Chang, MD concurs, citing the “Zoom Boom” for the rise. “People are paying attention to how they look on their screen and noticing certain angles where their neck really shows aging.”
While Dr. Chang says there aren’t necessarily any new techniques for necklifts, he has seen an evolution as far as taking a more complete approach to the surgery goes. “Now, we complement necklifts with Botox for the platysma bands, and filler for horizontal lines from movement. We also use PRP, which can increase the quality of skin and speed healing.”
One factor that may be surprising, Dr. Yager says, is the amount of younger patients—specifically ones who have had weight-loss surgery—choosing to have the procedure now. “When you lose weight, you do not lose skin. This appears as an aged neck, even in young people.”
In addition to the new “necklift wave,” Irvine, CA plastic surgeon Andrew Smith, MD adds that interest in lower facelift procedures and anything eye-related are on the rise.
“I think the mask-wearing and working from home are facilitating recovery for patients,” he says. “Also, there is less travel going on and fewer events, which often make schedules difficult.”
One big bonus to both surgeries, Dr. Smith says, is that, “facelifts and neck lifts are focused on improving appearance without looking ‘operated on,’” but stresses that matching the proper treatment with the proper patent is absolutely vital to good results. “VASER liposuction to the chin for fat removal and skin-tightening, as well as aggressive treatment of platysmas bands in surgery with suturing or release, play a prominent role in sculpting the neck. And, we have great nonsurgical treatments for those not ready for surgery as well. The key here is patient selection.”
New York facial plastic surgeon John Kang, MD also points to the nonsurgical route for a lot of the patient scenarios he’s been seeing.
“We are still in a situation where patients want to and have more time than ever before to undergo sensible procedures to look younger, including their neck area, but don’t necessarily have extended periods to recover from a traditional surgical necklift,” he says, adding that over the past few months, his observation has been that more and more of his patients are opting to undergo “Ultherapy to tighten their neck and jaw area alone, or in combination with thread lifting for an even a greater effect.”
“It may not yield results as dramatic or long-lasting as the traditional open surgery, but they love the fact that they can resume with their daily lives pretty much the following day—even for those patients that are now having to physically report back to their workplaces. The majority of the patients want to be able to resume with their daily ‘new normal’ lives immediately following their procedures. They don’t mind a bit of bruising or swelling which they can easily cover up with their face mask, but my feeling is that many simply feel guilty about taking extended time off from work— especially for an elective cosmetic procedures for the obvious reason of the unique time we are living through.”
