Patients who are seeking facial rejuvenation surgery frequently want to improve the jowling that may occur along the jawline, skin laxity of the neck, or sagging of the face in general. Many patients state they do not want a facelift but just a neck lift. Unfortunately, sometimes addressing the neck alone may lead to even more worsening of the jowls and facial skin redundancy.

A neck lift is reserved for those patients who mainly have laxity in the neck or banding of the muscles in the midline of the neck. They either do not have significant jowling or an issue with their jawline or it simply does not bother them. These patients can expect a tighter neck line and improvement in the banding in the midline of the neck, however, they will still have an ill defined jawline and jowling.

Those patients who have very minimal skin laxity in the neck and mainly jowling of the face or skin laxity around the corners of the mouth and jawline will benefit from a mini facelift. These facelift patients are typically between 45-55 years of age. This procedure is reserved for these patients who do not have significant laxity in the neck and do not need a neck lift.

Lastly are the patients that require both a facelift and a neck lift and may require a deep plane face and neck lift. These patients are typically over 55 year of age and have significant skin laxity, banding in the neck or a full heavy neck. They also have jowling, lax jawline skin and depressed corners of the mouth. The deep plane facelift refers to the plane of dissection. In this case, the muscle is elevated and ligaments are released to provide a more robust, longer lasting, and better lift.

Dr. Funk is a board certified facial plastic surgeon in Houston, TX.