Can A Woman Have A Direct Necklift?

Q: Dr. Eppley, Can a direct vertical incision be used for women with vertical bands of turkey wattle?  I had a facelift 20 years ago when the platysma was tightened and there is no flesh left behind my ears (very bony and thin).  If it were performed as an “H” on its side, then it may be confined to under the chin and not be so visible on the actual neck?

A: The answer is that direct necklifts can be done just as  easily in women as in men. However the design to which you refer to is known as a submentoplasty where the scar is completely under the chin and not onto the neck. Direct necklifts, by definition, involve a vertical cutout of skin and fat down the center of the neck. But the cutout pattern always is like an H its side with the final incision closure.

Dr. Barry Eppley

Indianapolis, Indiana