New nonsurgical techniques improve the appearance of "necklace lines" (bands 1 of wrinkles encircling the neck) and "turkey wattle" (saggy chin skin and ropey vertical cords at the front of the neck)—without the pain, risks, recuperation or expense of cosmetic surgery. Fixes for…
Necklace lines. Microdroplets of muscle-relaxing Botox (a purified form of a protein produced by the Clostridium botulinum bacterium) are injected at half-inch intervals along, above and/or below each band (except where covered by hair at the back of the neck). Within 14 days, as the sheetlike platysma muscle relaxes in the treated areas, the muscle in the non-treated areas pulls the skin taut so wrinkles smooth out.
Cost: About $500 to $750 per treatment.
Turkey wattle. Botox injections down the length of each ropey cord make the platysma muscle drape more smoothly... Botox under the jawline allows the muscles above to pull the neck skin upward. Then injections of Radiesse (a synthetic gel of tiny calcium-based spheres) along the jawline and under the chin give added volume where needed to make the neck skin more taut. Radiesse also helps stimulate the body's own production of skin-firming collagen.
Cost: About $1,500 per treatment.
With either procedure: There is minor discomfort as local anesthesia is injected. Only tiny amounts of Botox are given at each site, so swallowing and breathing muscles are not affected. No recovery time or activity restrictions are needed. Minor redness, swelling and bruising disappear within two days. Botox lasts about six months... Radiesse lasts nine to 18 months.
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