Is it possible to do a mini neck lift on its own?

Hello.

I’m Heo Jae-won, performing facial rejuvenation surgery at 3D Plastic Surgery.

In a previous post, I covered the key points of a facelift in detail with real-life cases.

Realistically, not all patients can undergo a full lift.

Even in cases where combining eye surgery, nose surgery, and contouring surgery would produce the best results, many people prefer a staged approach because of financial burden or recovery-time limitations.

In particular, I often get asked, "Can the sagging neck area be improved instead of doing a full lift?"

Today, let’s take a close look at this topic: whether a neck lift can be performed on its own.

Recently, procedures in specific areas are being actively promoted under the name “mini lift.”

You may often see marketing that breaks it down into a mini lift for nasolabial folds, a mini lift for the mouth area, a mini lift for the jawline, and so on.

However, such an extremely segmented approach is not realistic.

If you look at the incision design for a full face-and-neck lift, there are various patterns.

Among them, a so-called mini lift that uses only about one-third of the full incision line to improve only nasolabial folds is not realistically expected to be effective.

In fact, nasolabial folds are one of the more difficult areas to improve even when a full facelift is performed.

Historically, there is a minimum scope that has been proven and can actually deliver results.

Based on the incision line of a full facelift, it can be divided into the front 50% (red area) and the back 50% (blue area).

Only when more than half of the full incision line is used can meaningful results finally be obtained.

Mini facial lift using the front half

Surgery using the front 50% incision line produces about 70% of the improvement of a full facelift in the nasolabial fold and mouth-corner wrinkle areas.

However, its effect on the jawline and neck sagging is limited.

This is because the dissection range can be the same, but part of the excess tissue created by lifting must be managed through the incision behind the ear. If you try to finish using only the area in front of the ear, it may be difficult to achieve enough lifting effect, or it may cause side effects such as unevenness around the ear.

Since excess skin is created in proportion to the degree of lifting, an appropriate space is needed to organize it.

Moving the excess behind the ear allows for a clean finish, but if no incision is made behind the ear, the degree of lifting has to be limited.

Mini neck lift using the back half

On the other hand, a mini neck lift using the back 50% incision line is much more advantageous.

Most cases that want a neck lift are accompanied by a double chin and show a downward, slanted sagging shape under the neck rather than a hollowed-out area like a turkey neck.

When you tidy up and lift this double-chin area, surprisingly, you do not need to remove a large amount of skin.

In fact, more skin is needed to be attached under the neck.

This is a phenomenon called the “Bow-string effect.” In other words, a person with a beautiful neck line actually needs more skin than someone who does not.

(If you refer to the link, you can see more details.)

If you compare the contour of neck sagging, you can see that a normal neck line (purple) is actually longer than a sagging neck line (red).

Because of this characteristic, even a simple S-shaped incision from the earlobe to behind the ear can effectively handle the lifted excess skin.

In addition, the incision line is well hidden by the natural line of the earlobe, the groove behind the ear, and the rear hairline, which greatly reduces concern about scarring.

Of course, there is no improvement effect on the area above the jawline or the face. That is because it is, quite literally, a neck lift.

A mini neck lift is suitable for the following people.

• Younger age group: People with little facial sagging but who look heavier in the face because of a double chin and fullness below the jawline

• Those seeking selective improvement: People whose neck sagging is relatively more severe than their facial sagging

To express the effect in numbers by feel:

• Mini facial lift: about 70 when the facial area effect of a full facelift is set to 100

• Mini neck lift: about 80–90 when the neck area effect of a full facelift is set to 100

This shows that a mini neck lift is a more efficient surgery than a mini facial lift.

Synergy with double-chin muscle tightening

A mini neck lift works especially well in combination with double-chin muscle tightening (submental lift).

With only a 3 cm incision in the double-chin area and S-shaped incisions behind both ears, there is the major advantage that the scars are hardly visible from the front or side.

By combining the two methods, it is possible to create one of the most distinct jawlines among the available options.

Today, we looked in detail at the features and advantages of a mini neck lift.

If the opportunity arises in the future, I will show more specific results through actual before-and-after surgery photos.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me anytime. I will provide a detailed answer.

Thank you.