The neck is the most common concern for the majority of my patients. There are multiple less invasive treatments to treat other parts of the face, however excess skin of the neck or prominent platysma muscles are difficult to treat without surgery.
The discussion of having a corset platysmaplasty or not is an argument that plastic surgeons have all the time at our yearly meeting. I personally, typically tighten the muscles in the neck and free up the entire neck when I do a face and neck lift. I believe that the neck is extremely important in helping patient achieve the look they desire from a facelift. Tightening the muscles in the neck allows me to give patients more of a right angle appearance to their neck. It also prevents the appearance of the edge of the muscles over time. With the muscles sutured together it is unlikely that muscles will fall and be visible again after the surgery.
There are ways to perform a neck lift without tightening the muscles and suturing them together, however this is rare my personal practice.
Please discuss your face and neck lift surgery with a board-certified plastic surgeon that performs a high volume of face and neck lifts. Your surgeon will be able to discuss the entire procedure with you and why they do things the way that they do. Also look at before and after pictures. If you like the appearance of their pictures then you are likely to be happy with the results of your facelift as well.
