How long do neck lift results last?

Neck lift results last about 10 to 15 years, and often longer. The skin that was removed does not come back and the repaired platysma stays joined; aging continues from the new starting point, so the neck stays younger than it would otherwise have been. A stable weight, sun protection and not smoking protect the result.

What is the difference between a neck lift and a facelift?

A neck lift treats the area below the jawline: the loose neck skin, the platysma and the fat under the chin. A facelift treats the mid and lower face: the cheeks, the folds and the jowls. When only the neck has aged, a neck lift alone is the operation; once jowls have formed, the two are done together as a face and neck lift.

What is a weekend neck lift?

A weekend neck lift is a direct neck lift: a smaller operation through a short incision under the chin that repairs midline platysmal bands and removes a little skin or fat. It suits mild laxity with good skin, can be done under local anesthesia with sedation, and has a recovery measured in days. Hanging skin needs the full neck lift.

Can a neck lift be performed under local anesthesia?

A full neck lift is performed under general anesthesia, with a board-certified anesthesiologist, because the skin is lifted from behind both ears to the midline and the platysma is repaired. A direct neck lift through the chin incision alone, or neck liposuction, can be done under local anesthesia with sedation. The anesthesia plan is set at the consultation with our facial plastic surgeon.

Is a neck lift the same as a lower rhytidectomy?

Yes. Lower rhytidectomy is the medical name for a neck lift: rhytidectomy means the removal of wrinkles, and the lower part of the face and neck is what this operation treats. When the platysma muscle has separated into bands, a platysmaplasty is added, so the full name is lower rhytidectomy with platysmaplasty. A cervicoplasty is a neck lift that removes skin only.

What is a platysmaplasty?

A platysmaplasty is the repair of the platysma, the thin sheet of muscle that runs from the chest up over the jawline. With age its two halves separate under the chin and each free edge shows as a vertical band. Through a short incision in the crease under the chin, the surgeon sutures the edges back together in the midline, so the bands disappear.

How long is neck lift recovery?

Neck lift recovery takes about two weeks before you are presentable and back at a desk. A compression dressing supports the neck for the first days, drains, if placed, come out within a few days, and sutures at about a week. Light exercise returns at about two weeks, full exercise at four to six, and the final contour shows at three to four months.

Can Botox or ThermiSmooth fix a turkey neck without surgery?

No: Botox and ThermiSmooth cannot fix a turkey neck, because nothing non-surgical removes hanging skin or rejoins a separated platysma. Botox in the bands softens early cords for three to four months, and ThermiSmooth firms crepey skin over a course of sessions; both suit early changes and maintenance after surgery. A fold that stays when pinched, or bands at rest, needs a neck lift.

Who performs the neck lift at Dr. Cat Plastic Surgery?

Our board-certified facial plastic surgeon performs the neck lift at Dr. Cat Plastic Surgery, in the practice's QUAD A accredited surgery center on Rodeo Drive with a board-certified anesthesiologist. He has been a colleague of Dr. Cat Begovic for more than a decade, and the practice's standard for every facial result is the same: natural, and like yourself.

What is the best age for a neck lift?

There is no best age for a neck lift, only the right degree of change. Most neck lift patients are in their late forties to sixties, when the skin has loosened and the platysma has separated past what Botox or radiofrequency can manage. A younger patient with a full neck and good skin often needs neck liposuction alone; after seventy, health matters more than age.

Neck Lift in Beverly Hills | Dr. Cat Plastic Surgery

Q: How much does a neck lift cost in Beverly Hills?

A neck lift on its own at Dr. Cat Plastic Surgery is quoted at the consultation as our facial plastic surgeon's fee, plus the operating room and anesthesia. A face and neck lift, when the jowls have formed, is our facial plastic surgeon's fee of $45,500 to $65,500. The American Society of Plastic Surgeons reports a national average surgeon's fee of $7,885.

Q: Where are the scars after a neck lift?

Neck lift scars sit where they are hard to find: a short line in the crease under the chin, and incisions that begin in the fold of the ear, curve under the earlobe and run into the hairline behind it. Because the platysma carries the tension and the skin is closed without pulling, they heal as fine lines, faded by about a year.

Neck Lift in Beverly Hills

Lower rhytidectomy, with platysmaplasty (a neck lift that removes loose neck skin and repairs the platysmal bands) performed by our board-certified facial plastic surgeon at Dr. Cat Plastic Surgery, the Beverly Hills practice of Dr. Cat Begovic, MD, FACS, board-certified plastic surgeon

A neck lift (lower rhytidectomy, with a platysmaplasty when the muscle has separated) is the operation for a neck that has aged ahead of the face: it removes the loose skin that hangs below the jaw, brings the separated edges of the platysma muscle back together in the midline so the vertical bands disappear, and, when there is fat under the chin, removes it first, so the line from the chin to the throat turns a corner again. At Dr. Cat Plastic Surgery, the Beverly Hills practice of Dr. Cat Begovic, it is performed by our board-certified facial plastic surgeon.

A neck lift on its own is quoted at the consultation as our facial plastic surgeon's fee, with the operating room and anesthesia quoted with it; when the jowls have formed and the lower face is lifted with the neck, our facial plastic surgeon's fee for a face and neck lift is $45,500 to $65,500. Surgeon's fees are typical ranges: a more complex case can cost more, and your fee is set at your consultation and is final only in your written quote. Surgery takes about two to three hours under general anesthesia with a board-certified anesthesiologist in the practice's QUAD A accredited surgery center on Rodeo Drive, and most patients are back at a desk by day 10 to 14.

15-minute Patient Concierge call, no obligation. The consultation with our facial plastic surgeon is $500, credited toward your surgery.

Medically reviewed by Dr. Cat Begovic, MD, FACS

Board-certified plastic surgeon, trained in both head and neck surgery and plastic and reconstructive surgery. Harvard-educated, UCLA trained. Updated October 3, 2026

What a neck lift here is built on

Four decisions that separate a lasting neck lift from skin pulled tight.

Three layers, not oneSkin, platysma and fat examined separately and each treated only if it has changed; the muscle repaired so the skin never holds the neck.

A facial plastic surgeonPerformed by our board-certified facial plastic surgeon, whose whole practice is surgery of the face and neck.

An anesthesiologist, an accredited facilityGeneral anesthesia with a board-certified anesthesiologist in the practice's QUAD A accredited surgery center on Rodeo Drive; the first night never alone.

A plan made on your neckNeck lift alone, face and neck lift, neck liposuction or a non-surgical step first, decided on your anatomy at the consultation.

What is a neck lift?

A neck lift (lower rhytidectomy) is surgery for the changes below the jawline. The neck ages in three layers, and the operation treats whichever has changed. The skin loses its recoil and hangs in a soft fold below the jaw, the turkey neck. The platysma, the thin muscle that runs from the upper chest up over the jawline, separates in the midline under the chin, and each free edge shows as a vertical cord, a platysmal band. And a pad of fat collects under the chin. Together they blunt the corner the neck should turn under the jaw.

A neck lift in Beverly Hills at Dr. Cat Plastic Surgery treats all three: the excess skin is removed, the separated platysma is repaired (the platysmaplasty) so the bands disappear, and fat under the chin is removed by liposuction, first, when it is part of the problem, so the angle between chin and throat comes back. Our pages on turkey neck and the double chin explain the three layers, and how to tell them apart at home.

Who is a good candidate for a neck lift?

The test is in the mirror, not the calendar. Pinch the skin under your chin: a soft pad that springs back is fat, which liposuction alone may solve; a fold that stays lifted is skin, which only a neck lift removes. Then say "eee" through clenched teeth: two cords down the front of the neck are platysmal bands, which need the platysmaplasty.

You may be a good candidate if

Loose skin hangs below your jaw, or platysmal bands show at rest, past what Botox or radiofrequency can manage
Fat under the chin sits over skin that has lost its recoil, so liposuction alone would leave it looser
Your weight has been stable for several months, including after a large weight loss or a GLP-1 medication
Good health, controlled blood pressure, and no nicotine for four weeks before and after surgery

Not yet, or a different plan, if

A full neck with skin that snaps back: neck liposuction alone
Early bands that show only when you grimace: Botox may be enough for now
Jowls along the jawline: a neck lift alone leaves a tight neck under a soft jawline; the plan is a face and neck lift
A receding chin: a chin implant, alone or with the neck lift, may do more than skin removal
A changing weight, uncontrolled blood pressure, blood thinners that cannot be paused, or nicotine you cannot stop

Nicotine starves the lifted skin of blood, so a smoker is not a candidate until it has stopped. Blood thinners, aspirin, anti-inflammatories, fish oil, vitamin E and most supplements stop two weeks before surgery (the list is in the pre-op instructions), and blood pressure must be controlled: a spike in the first hours after surgery is the usual cause of a hematoma.

Neck lift, face and neck lift, or neck liposuction alone?

Neck lift on its own: lower rhytidectomy with platysmaplasty

The operation for a neck that has aged ahead of the face, below a jawline that still holds. The skin is lifted from incisions behind the ears, the platysma repaired through a short incision under the chin, the skin redraped and trimmed: about two to three hours under general anesthesia. A smaller version, the direct neck lift (sold by some as a weekend neck lift), works through the chin incision alone; it suits midline bands with mild skin excess, can be done under local anesthesia with sedation and recovers in days, but it cannot remove hanging skin.

Face and neck lift: when the jowls have formed

The neck does not age alone. Once the lower cheek has slipped below the jawline into jowls, a neck lift on its own leaves a tight neck under a soft jawline. The neck lift incisions are then joined to the facelift incisions in front of the ear, and the SMAS of the face is lifted with the platysma of the neck; the deep plane facelift lifts that layer from beneath, as one unit with the skin. Most neck lift patients end up having this operation, at our facial plastic surgeon's fee of $45,500 to $65,500; our page on sagging jowls explains how to tell whether your jawline has gone too.

Neck liposuction alone: for a young neck with good skin

When fat is the whole problem and the skin still recoils, neck liposuction alone is the operation: through an entry point a few millimeters long under the chin, the fat pad is removed with a fine cannula and feathered along the jawline, usually under local anesthesia with sedation, with a chin strap for a week or two and desk work within days. Our facial plastic surgeon's fee for neck liposuction alone is $5,000, with the operating room and anesthesia quoted at the consultation.

How neck lift surgery is performed

The incisions

The markings are drawn with you sitting upright, because a neck marked lying flat lifts in the wrong direction. The main incisions start in the fold behind the ear or just inside the tragus, curve under the earlobe and run into the hairline behind the ear, where hair and the folds of the ear hide them; a short second incision sits in the crease under the chin.

Fat, platysma, skin

The order is fixed by anatomy. Fat under the chin is removed first, through the chin incision, and conservatively, because an over-suctioned neck develops hollows. The surgeon then lifts the skin off the platysma from behind both ears toward the midline, finds the separated edges of the muscle through the chin incision and sutures them together in the midline, the platysmaplasty. Last comes the skin: redraped over the new contour, the excess trimmed behind the ears, and the closure done in layers so the muscle repair carries the tension and the skin carries none, which keeps the scars thin.

Surgery day

A neck lift is performed under general anesthesia with a board-certified anesthesiologist in the practice's QUAD A accredited surgery center on Rodeo Drive, over about two to three hours on its own, longer as a face and neck lift. You wake with a compression dressing around the head and neck, sometimes a small drain for a day or two, and spend the first night with a nurse or a responsible adult, never alone.

Performed by our facial plastic surgeon

At Dr. Cat Plastic Surgery the neck lift is performed by our facial plastic surgeon. He is board-certified in facial plastic surgery, has been a colleague of Dr. Cat Begovic for more than a decade, and the two have operated together; he holds the practice's standard for a facial result: meticulous technique, and a face that still looks like you.

Combining a neck lift with other procedures

The consultation looks at the whole profile. Heavy upper lids or bags under the eyes do not change with a neck lift and are treated with an eyelid lift, in the same surgery when it fits. A hollow face is planned with fat transfer to the face, your own fat placed in the cheeks. A receding chin blunts the angle under the jaw as much as fat does, and a chin implant sharpens the profile from the other side. A facelift, covered above, is added once the jowls have formed; each combination is one surgery, one anesthesia and one recovery, quoted as one figure.

Non-surgical neck tightening, and when it is not enough

There is no non-surgical neck lift, but three treatments help a neck that has not gone far. ThermiTight delivers radiofrequency beneath the skin through a fine probe under local anesthesia, in one session, for mild to moderate laxity: $15,500. ThermiSmooth applies radiofrequency from the surface over three to four sessions, for mildly crepey skin. Botox along the platysmal bands, $25 per unit, relaxes the muscle for three to four months and softens early cords; at the practice it is injected by our facial plastic surgeon.

None of them removes skin or rejoins a separated muscle. They suit early changes, maintenance after a neck lift, and a bridge while you plan surgery; a fold that stays when you pinch it, or bands that show at rest, need neck lift surgery.

Neck lift recovery timeline

Neck lift recovery is shorter than facelift recovery and follows the same milestones. Our facial plastic surgeon gives you his own written instructions; our neck lift scars post follows the incisions month by month.

The night of surgeryA compression dressing around the head and neck, and the first night with a nurse or a caregiver. The neck feels tight and numb rather than painful; most patients manage with Tylenol and a few days of prescribed medication.
Days two to threeSwelling and bruising peak and start to fade. Sleep with your head raised and avoid bending and lifting. Drains, if placed, come out within a day or two.
One weekSutures out at about day seven; walking from the first day, at home or at your hotel with a caregiver.
Two weeksBy day 10 to 14 most patients are presentable and back at a desk. Silicone scar care starts once the incisions have sealed, with sun protection for a year.
Weeks three to sixLight exercise at about two weeks, full exercise at four to six; tightness and numbness resolve over months.
Three to four monthsThe final contour: a clean angle under the chin, a jawline with an edge, no bands.
One yearThe scars have faded to fine pale lines. The result typically holds for 10 to 15 years.

Risks and safety

A neck lift is real surgery on the most visible part of you. Here is what can happen and how the risks are reduced.

What can go wrong

A hematoma in the first day or two, most often when blood pressure rises, treated in the operating room
Injury to the marginal mandibular branch of the facial nerve along the jaw: temporary weakness of the lower lip in a small percentage of cases; permanent injury is rare
Numbness of the neck and earlobe, usually resolving over months; infection; a seroma; skin loss behind the ear, most often in smokers
Bands that return or skin that re-loosens, hollows from too much liposuction, asymmetry, a widened scar, a pulled earlobe, a revision, and the risks of general anesthesia

How the risks are reduced

A surgeon whose practice is facial surgery and who performs neck lifts, face and neck lifts and neck liposuction regularly
Careful selection: blood pressure controlled, nicotine stopped four weeks before and after, blood thinners and supplements paused two weeks before, a stable weight
The platysma repaired in the midline so the skin never holds the neck, conservative liposuction, and a layered, tension-free closure inside the folds of the ear and along the hairline
A board-certified anesthesiologist in a QUAD A accredited surgery center, the first night with a nurse or a caregiver, and follow-up visits through the first months

How much does a neck lift cost in Beverly Hills?

A neck lift on its own is quoted at the consultation: the fee depends on which of the three layers your neck needs treated, and the operating room and anesthesia are quoted with it, so the written quote is one figure. When the jowls have formed and the lower face is lifted with the neck, our facial plastic surgeon's fee for a face and neck lift is $45,500 to $65,500; a revision neck lift is $40,000 to $60,000; neck liposuction on its own is $5,000. All three are surgeon's fees, with the operating room and anesthesia quoted at the consultation. The non-surgical options are priced as treatments: ThermiTight $15,500, Botox in the bands $25 per unit.

For context, our neck lift cost guide reports the American Society of Plastic Surgeons' national average surgeon's fee for a neck lift, $7,885, before anesthesia and the facility. Please do not fall for a cheap neck lift: at a fraction of this price it is usually skin pulled tight over bands that were never repaired, which hangs again within a few years, and revising it costs more than the original surgery done well. Insurance does not cover a neck lift.

Consultation fee and financing

A consultation is $500, or $1,500 for a revision consultation, credited in full toward your surgery. The practice partners with Cherry, its primary financing partner, and also accepts CareCredit and Alphaeon Credit; see financing and payment plans.

Your consultation

It starts with a free 15-minute discovery call with our Patient Concierge, who books your consultation with our facial plastic surgeon: in person on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills or, for out-of-town patients, by private video consultation through OnPatient, the HIPAA-secure patient portal. He reviews your history, medications and any earlier neck or facial surgery, then examines the neck: the skin pinched to judge the excess and its recoil, the bands shown by a grimace, the fat felt above and below the platysma, the chin and the jawline checked for jowls. You leave with a written quote and a plain answer to which operation, if any, your neck needs.

A neck that matches the face

The neck is the first thing a photograph gives away, and my standard for it is the standard for every result at this practice: natural, and unmistakably you. The neck lift and our other facial procedures are performed by our board-certified facial plastic surgeon, a colleague I have worked alongside for more than a decade and whose eye for a natural result I trust. He operates in our accredited surgery center on Rodeo Drive with a board-certified physician anesthesiologist, and his results are held to the same standard as every surgery at the practice.

Dr. Cat Begovic, MD, FACSBoard-certified plastic surgeon, Beverly Hills

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A neck lift planned on your neck, not on a price list

A neck lift, a face and neck lift or neck liposuction by our board-certified facial plastic surgeon, decided on your anatomy at the consultation, with a board-certified anesthesiologist in the practice's accredited surgery center on Rodeo Drive. It starts with a free 15-minute discovery call.