Want a younger-looking neck? Here’s why Botox can help your aging neck and chin

Q. I’m 62 and my neck is starting to bother me. I’m not quite sure I’m ready for surgery. Some of my friends tell me that Botox can work for the lines and make my neck look more youthful. Is that possible?

A. If you have read my column over the years, you’ll know that I think Botox is a powerful rejuvenating tool in the neck.

I often laugh when people do facial exercises and neck exercises in order to look younger. When you understand the mechanism of Botox and why we use it, you will see that doing exercises is the exact opposite of what you need to do to keep a younger-looking face.

Put quite simply, the more exercise you do, the stronger your muscles are, and the more wrinkles you’ll have! So, Botox, when injected strategically in and around your neck, will give you a more youthful appearance.

There are different aspects of the aging neck that patients do not like. The horizontal lines that are frequently seen in younger patients and more notable in older patients are a direct result of inheritance and muscle use. When the muscle contracts, it pulls the skin in an upward direction, causing horizontal creases.

If you are a very “active“ talker and are emotional in your speech pattern, these wrinkles will form more aggressively. These wrinkles may be treated by injecting along these lines very superficially.

Here is where I always warn patients who should be injecting their neck. Because the platysma muscle is very superficial and very thin, it is important that your injector understand the anatomy so as not to go too deep and cause you to have either trouble swallowing or trouble breathing.

If your chin droops, Botox may help. By injecting Botox just inferior to your chin to relax the muscle, your chin will elevate and thus your jaw line will appear to be stronger and more youthful.

As you get older, the skin of your neck becomes thinner and has less elastic fibers. This may be due to your genetic inheritance or it may be due to the sun. When you’re young, your skin is more elastic and will not allow the strong muscle pull of your platysma to pull it down.

Often, with the pulling of your platysmal muscle, your neck will lose its youthful look and you will note cords that appear to pull your skin down.

This is probably the most common complaint that I use Botox for in patients over 50. By injecting Botox in these cords carefully, I create a chemical myectomy (cutting of the muscle). This is a procedure that is commonly done during a face-lift to improve the appearance of the neck. The injections have to be placed strategically and therefore your injector must understand the neck anatomy intimately.

This story was originally published May 14, 2021 at 6:00 AM.