Neck Lift Surgery in West Palm Beach, FL

Neck Lift in West Palm Beach, FL is performed by Dr. Albert Carlotti at BellaNova Cosmetic Surgery's state-registered Level III surgical center at 1261 S Congress Ave in West Palm Beach.

The neck is usually the first place a face stops matching how someone feels. The sharp angle beneath the chin blurs, a band appears down the front of the neck, and the jawline loses its edge — often while the rest of the face still looks well.

A neck that has changed has usually changed in three separate ways, and they need three separate answers. Fat has accumulated above or below the platysma muscle. The platysma itself has separated in the midline and drifted laterally. Skin has lost elasticity. Treating only one of the three is why some neck procedures disappoint.

Am I a candidate for neck lift?

You may be a candidate if you have:

• A blunted or obtuse angle between the chin and the neck
• Vertical banding down the front of the neck, visible at rest or when speaking
• Submental fullness that persists at a stable, healthy weight
• Jowling that carries the jawline into the neck
• Skin laxity that does not retract on its own

Patients with good skin tone and isolated fullness beneath the chin sometimes need only submental liposuction or a limited submentoplasty — a much smaller operation. Which category you fall into is determined at examination, not from a photograph.

How Dr. Carlotti approaches the neck

Assessment starts with three questions: how much fat, where is it relative to the platysma, and what is the position of the hyoid and the chin.

Fat. Subcutaneous fat above the platysma is addressed with careful liposuction. Subplatysmal fat — deep to the muscle — cannot be reached that way and requires direct excision through a small incision beneath the chin. Missing this is a common reason a neck stays full after liposuction alone.

Muscle. The platysma is a paired sheet that meets in the midline. With age the medial edges separate and the free borders become visible as bands. A corset platysmaplasty re-approximates them in the midline and, where indicated, releases them laterally so the muscle forms a sling rather than two loose curtains.

Skin. If skin retracts well, no excision is needed. If it does not, redraping through incisions behind the ear is added — at which point the operation overlaps substantially with a lower facelift, and the two are usually performed together.

The skeletal question matters here more than most patients expect. A short or posteriorly positioned chin makes the neck angle look obtuse regardless of how well the soft tissue is treated. Where the chin is deficient, genioplasty or a chin implant is planned in the same operation, because it changes the geometry that the neck is measured against.

Recovery timeline

Every recovery is individual. This is the pattern most patients follow, and you will receive a written plan specific to your procedure.

When	What to expect
Days 1–3	A supportive chin strap is worn most of the day. Swelling and tightness peak. Sleeping elevated.
Days 5–7	Sutures removed. Bruising begins to fade. Strap reduced to nights for most patients.
Weeks 2–3	Comfortable in public. Firmness beneath the chin is normal and expected.
Weeks 4–6	Exercise resumed. Contour becoming clear.
Months 3–6	Deep swelling resolves and the final angle is established. Scar beneath the chin fades to a fine line in the shadow.

Risks and considerations

Risks include bleeding or hematoma, infection, contour irregularity, temporary or rarely permanent weakness of the marginal mandibular nerve (affecting the lower lip), altered sensation, visible banding recurrence, and unfavorable scarring. Patients with a low-lying hyoid bone have an anatomical limit to how sharp the angle can be made, and that limit is discussed openly before surgery rather than discovered afterwards.

Cost and financing

An isolated submentoplasty is a substantially smaller procedure than a full neck lift combined with a facelift, and is priced accordingly. Because the neck and lower face are usually addressed together, most quotes are written for the combined operation. See cost and financing.

Before and after results

Dr. Carlotti maintains a photographic result archive organized by procedure — real patients, consistent lighting and angles, published with consent. View neck lift before and after photographs.

Neck Lift: questions patients ask