Many patients today are on diets or have weight loss goals in mind as part of their overall “makeover.” I usually recommend reaching your “target weight” before undergoing any kind of a “lifting” procedure. If you are going to lose more than 15lbs, then the skin will loosen back up once the weight is gone and you may need another “tuck-up” procedure prematurely.
As far as the neck, a neck lift with or without a cheek lift (which would make it essentially a facelift) is the gold standard for the treatment of a heavy neck with loose skin and extra fat tissue commonly known as the “turkey gobbler neck”.
However, neck liposuction in younger patients or combined with submentoplasty (where the platysma muscle is imbricated or sutured in the mid-line, creating a nice, tight “corset” with removal of a little bit of skin medially under the chin as opposed to laterally with a neck/facelift) is a valid alternative in someone with a moderate size neck. (In very large, heavy necks, a neck lift is still the preferred choice.)
Unfortunately, the highly-marketed modalities, such as Thermage and Contour lifts / thread lifts to name a few, do not properly or permanently address the aging neck and are often a disappointment.
