Your Questions

Q: Dr. Eppley, Oh dear, my pictures show how bad my neck really is. It looks worse in pictures than in real life! How you are going to fix it I don’t know. But I suppose you’ll be able to figure it out. The horizontal necklines I’ve had all my life. I recall a closeup when I was 20 that showed them clearly. But the sag is relatively recent. In the last 5 to 7 years I started to notice sagging. The wrinkly skin aspect is newer and that’s what I really hate! If I tighten my chin it doesn’t show, but I can’t go around looking as if I’m spoiling for a fight! Thank you.

A: Thank you for sending your pictures. I can see your neck skin concerns. This is due to the traditional sagging of skin that occurs with time and gravity. Your long-standing horizontal neck lines act like clothesline across the neck and the sagging skin now hangs between them. That is why your neck looks like it has multiple rolls.The fact that you can stick your chin out and it makes the neck skin smooth supports that a necklift (lower facelift) will be the definitive answer…and then you won’t need to constantly stick your chin out to have a good looking neck.

Dr. Barry Eppley

Indianapolis,Indiana

Q: Dr. Eppley, I am possibly interested in a limited facelift. I am generally taken for younger than my 64 years and have been told by physicians that I have very good skin. But my neck, to me, is hideous. There are some other signs of aging about my face, but in general I can live with those–it’s the neck that upsets me in my mirror view. I assume you do consultations? Are there brochures you could send or websites to recommend? Thank you.

A: While the entire face ages in everyone, many people are most concerned about the changes in their neck as they get older. The neck angle opens up and drops as skin sags, fat accumulation develops and platysmal muscle separation occurs. In women in particular they will often develop wrinkled or creepy skin as well. At age 64 the only good and effective solution is going to come from a lower facelift, often called a necklift or a neck-jowl lift.  This procedure lifts up and redrapes all of the neck skin back up over the jawline and around the ear. In essence, putting the tissues back up from where they came and turning back the clock on how the neck looked 10 to 15 years earlier.

The best way to a consultation with me is to send me some pictures and we can initially talk by phone or Skype. You never have to leave your home to get all the information you need to know!

Dr. Barry Eppley

Indianapolis, Indiana