When our necks start looking old, it is a real heartsink. It’s that moment when you realise you aren’t imagining it; ageing really has crept up on you when you weren’t looking. The main culprits are crepey skin and neck wrinkles. They tend to go hand-in-hand, so I’ll cover them both in the same place here. There’s a good deal you can do to improve the appearance of your neck, especially if you are up for trying the latest tweakments. Scroll down for answers to all the FAQs about neck wrinkles.
Neck Wrinkles
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Suggested Products for Treating Neck Wrinkles
Which skincare products might you try, to see real results? Here is a selection of the ones I really rate - because they do a great job, and are a pleasure to use.
Alpha H Liquid Gold
This has to be one of my all-time favourite products. It’s a liquid chemical exfoliant made with glycolic acid and how it works is that...
Read MoreCalecim Professional Multi-Action Cream 50g
An extraordinary, cutting edge product derived from stem cells that produces tighter, smoother, firmer skin with fewer wrinkles. Calecim...
Read MoreDermalux Flex MD
Alice says “I tried the Dermalux Flex at home during lockdown in spring 2020. I used it 4-5 times a week for 3 months and had detailed...
Read MoreElequra Radiance Accelerator
This brilliant product makes the skin tone more even and genuinely brightens the complexion. Its innovative and effective formula makes...
Read MoreHeliocare 360° Oil-Free Gel SPF 50
If you hate wearing sunscreen as it feels sticky or heavy on your skin this could change your mind. It’s a lightweight gel that melts...
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FAQ ABOUT Neck Wrinkles
Why does my neck look so old?
Necks are just different. The skin here is thinner than on your face, which means that it collapses more easily into wrinkles and folds, particularly given the way we twist and turn and stretch and compress our necks the whole time. Then there’s the fact that there are precious few oil glands in neck skin to keep the skin supple. It all gets much worse for women when we hit the menopause and, thanks to the reduction in oestrogen, the skin gets drier and loses elasticity.
Why does my neck look older than my face?
It’s just one of those things. The neck is more likely to show signs of ageing that the face, and also most of us didn’t learn to look after our necks at a young enough age. If we had been scrupulous about applying supportive serums, moisturisers and sunscreen from our twenties, well, we would be laughing. But as it is, when we start using products on our face, we rarely think to use them all the way from the hairline to the breastbone, taking in the neck and the decolletage along the way. Especially if the products are expensive. The result is that our necks go on ageing that bit faster than our faces, and past a certain age—usually around the menopause—that difference becomes very noticeable.
Is my phone making my neck look old?
Hmm, possibly. First, there’s the way that we spend so much time with our heads bent forward looking at our devices, which presses the wrinkles in the neck more firmly into place. (This can also cause upper-back problems and a hunched posture.) It’s what some people call ‘tech neck’. Next, there is the fact that devices such as phones, TVs and computer monitors give out blue light, also called high energy visible (HEV) light, which has the potential to age the skin in a similar way to UV light.
What are the surgical options for neck wrinkles?
You could always have a neck lift, which will tighten the skin and will help to redefine the jawline as well as reducing the crepey look of older, loose skin.
How to tighten neck skin without surgery?
There are a few ways that you can tighten the skin on the neck without resorting to surgery. The key ones to know about are:
- Injectable moisture treatments
- Focussed ultrasound treatments
- Radiofrequency treatments
- Fractional laser treatments
Injectable moisture treatments to tighten crepey neck skin
You wouldn’t expect a treatment that is originally about hydrating the skin from the inside to be able to tighten the skin at the same time, but injectable moisture treatments such as Profhilo, Restylane SkinBoosters, Teosyal Redensity 1 and Juvederm Volite encourage ‘bioremodelling’ of the skin. This means the skin will begin to produce more of its own collagen and elastin, and become stronger, smoother and a little tighter, too.
Focussed ultrasound treatment to tighten crepey neck skin
High-intensity focussed ultrasound (HIFU) treatments—one brand of HIFU treatment is called Ultherapy—aim pulses of focussed ultrasound energy deep into the skin, to stimulate the growth of new collagen from well below the surface.
Radiofrequency treatment for a crepey neck and neck wrinkles
A radiofrequency treatment involves generating enough heat within the skin that the collagen thinks that it has been damaged. When it is damaged, it shrinks a little, so you get a small immediate tightening effect, and then, to try and repair itself, the skin produces more collagen, which helps strengthen, smooth and firm up the skin. A course of treatments will give the best results.
Fractional laser treatment for neck wrinkles
This treatment uses laser energy to regenerate the skin. Laser targets the surface of the skin, and a ‘fractional’ treatment fires the laser through a grid of fine holes. This creates microscopic channels of damage within the skin, which stimulate the production of newer, fresher, stronger skin as they heal. Because there are fractions of untreated skin between these channels of damage, the skin heals up far more quickly than if the entire surface is blasted with laser. You will probably need more than one session for best results.
Can toxins help with neck wrinkles and sagging?
Yes, toxins can also help with the appearance of neck wrinkles and can help to redefine the jawline, too. Some practitioners call this procedure the ‘Nefertiti neck lift’, which is described below.
Does the Nefertiti neck lift help with neck wrinkles?
Yes, the Nefertiti neck lift – named after the Egyptian queen famous for her sculpted jawline and beautiful neck – can improve the appearance of neck wrinkles, though it depends what sort of neck wrinkles you have. The procedure is better at softening tight bands of muscle down the neck, the ones that make the neck look stringy, rather than softening the horizontal ‘necklace lines’.
How the Nefertiti neck lift works is that the practitioner injects small quantities of toxins or other wrinkle-relaxing toxin into muscles around the neck and jaw. Releasing the ‘pull’ of these muscles enables the skin tissues to move back into a more flattering shape around the jaw.
Can I use fillers to cure a crepey neck?
Well, they won’t cure a crepey neck but fillers can help to improve the look of a crepey neck—a little. The difficulty is that, unless the wrinkles along the neck are deep horizontal lines, filling them in can make them look overstuffed, which looks unnatural and doesn’t provide a great result. I have tried a very soft type of injectable filler called Aliaxin in my neck wrinkles, which helped a bit. But what’s better for a crepey neck is to try an injectable moisture treatment, which you can read about in the next section.
What’s the best treatment for a crepey neck?
The best tweakment I have tried for a crepey neck is an ‘injectable moisture’ treatment called Profhilo, which places a lightweight hyaluronic acid gel into the skin. The gel spreads to cover the treated area and because it is lightly ‘crosslinked’ it remains in the skin for 30 days. During this time the gel hydrates the skin by holding water inside the skin tissues and stimulates the growth of new collagen and elastin. You need two treatments, 30 days apart, in order to see results, which kick in about 8 weeks after the first treatment. The results you can hope to see include stronger, firmer skin which is more resilient and which springs back into place more swiftly when you pinch it. And if you are lucky you will see a certain amount of skin tightening, too. All these elements help reduce the crepey appearance of ageing skin on the neck.
What are the best home remedies for neck wrinkles?
I wouldn’t advise any particular home remedies for neck wrinkles but I’d suggest you get going with a decent skincare regime that includes active skincare products that are able to make an improvement in the skin (see below for the types of products to use). You could also consider trying home-use beauty devices to improve the quality of the skin on your neck.
Can any home-use beauty devices get rid of neck wrinkles?
Nothing is going to get rid of those wrinkles completely, but yes, some home-use beauty devices are able to improve the appearance of neck wrinkles. The only secret to getting the best results from these home beauty devices is to use them as frequently as recommended. They offer lower-powered versions of the technology that you find in clinics, so repeated use is the key to success.
- The Tripollar Stop uses radiofrequency energy to stimulate the growth of new collagen in the skin. This will strengthen and tighten the skin, and soften the appearance of wrinkles.
- The Current Body Skin LED mask uses red and infrared light to regenerate the skin. Studies have shown that it can improve skin hydration and firmness and reduce wrinkles measurably. Because it is a flexible sheet of a mask, it is easy to drape it over the neck and will give results if used as directed.
Will edible collagen supplements help my neck wrinkles?
It is well worth trying one of the collagen supplements that has decent data to show that it can improve the firmness and elasticity of the skin from the inside out. There’s a whole factsheet on collagen supplements here.
Can over-the-counter skincare creams help neck wrinkles?
Using the right serums and creams can help keep your neck looking better, particularly if you use the same skincare as you use on your face:
- Hydrating hyaluronic acid serums to plump the skin cells;
- Antioxidant Vitamin C serum to stimulate the fibroblasts that make collagen and to rein in the activity of the melanocytes that product pigmentation marks;
- Retinol or another retinoid for a properly powerful collagen-boosting and skin-smoothing effect; and
- Sunscreen. Never forget the sunscreen.
What are the best exercises for neck wrinkles?
There are exercises that you can do for the neck but they will help more with the neck muscles than with the quality of the skin that lies above them. Here is one that will tone the band of muscle that runs from your jaw down the front and sides of your neck:
- Wrap your lower teeth over your upper lip and push your lower lip forward
- Press your tongue against the back of your teeth and hold for a count of five. Repeat five times.
- Do this four times a week.
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