Most people notice neck skin beginning to significantly sag and wrinkle around the age of 40. That's also when underlying platysmal muscles start to detach and loosen, their edges showing through thinning skin as vertical bands from the chin to collarbone.
Sagging cheeks and neck is never something you want to see in the mirror. Unfortunately, as our bodies age, we produce dramatically less collagen and elastin—two most important elements responsible for firm, elastic skin.
The most common signs of an aging neck are the development of vertical muscle bands, sagging skin, and excess fat deposits. Muscle bands occur due to the regular use of the platysma muscle, with the vertical lines representing the muscle edges.
As we get older, laxity in the neck occurs due to a loss of support from connective tissue and muscle. This leads to what we commonly call a “waddle” or “turkey neck" and looks like loose skin under our chin.
When you look down at the floor or up at the ceiling, you are stretching your neck. Over the years, all this stretching, along with the loss of collagen and elastin — two naturally occurring proteins — can cause the neck to age faster than the face.
According to the doctors on the show, your 40s is when you really start to see major changes in the firmness of your skin. You're dealing with loss of volume and elasticity (leading to skin that appears saggy), as well as more pronounced wrinkles and sun damage, which may lead to conditions like melasma.
Unlike non-invasive treatments like exercises, skincare routines, or collagen supplements, plastic surgery is the only neck rejuvenation option that will remove excess neck skin and fat cells for long-lasting results. Neck surgery is an effective and safe way to treat sagging neck skin and muscles.
This is called extrinsic aging. As a result, premature aging can set in long before it was expected. In other words, your biological clock is more advanced than your chronological clock. Controllable factors such as stress, smoking and sun exposure can all play a role in expediting extrinsic aging.
Not only is your neck going through the same wear and tear, but it's also typically the first area of the body to show signs of aging. The main reason, besides neglect, is gravity.
Neck skin sagging and excess skin, also known as turkey neck, can result from aging, overexposure to the sun, and sudden weight loss. Age and sun exposure can cause the skin to lose protein, namely collagen and elastin, which can cause the skin to loosen.
Consistent exercise of the neck muscles can help build them back up. It also improves blood circulation in your neck which can give it a tighter, more trim appearance. Many facial and neck exercises claim to help alleviate turkey neck.
When do neck wrinkles usually appear? Wrinkles and fine lines often appear in the face and neck area when people are in their 20s and 30s. Many people report noticing more prominent wrinkles on their necks before their faces. For most, however, neck skin doesn't usually show advanced wrinkles until around 50.
“Retinol increases collagen production in the skin, and can work to improve the appearance of common signs of aging such as sagging, wrinkles or fine lines on your neck,” Dr. Schlessinger says.
Often referred to as the 'non-surgical face lift', skin tightening treatments like Thermage® and Ultraformer III are highly effective in firming and lifting skin with little to no downtime. Thermage® uses radiofrequency energy, to deeply heat the skin. This stimulates collagen that will tighten and rejuvenate.
"You can improve tone on the neck, but the amount of collagen and elastin in the neck skin is less than most other areas on the body. You can't really tighten that area up that much, unless you move to the more surgical end of the spectrum."
PREVENTING A SAGGY NECK
Raise your chin, looking up as you press your jaw forward. Let your neck extend, allowing the muscles in front to relax as the side muscles (these are known as sternocleidomastoid muscles) are exercised. Hold the position for 5-10 seconds and then repeat it up to 10 times for the best results.
The results offer important new insights into what happens as we age. For example, the team suggests that the biological aging process isn't steady and appears to accelerate periodically — with the greatest bursts coming, on average, around ages 34, 60, and 78.
For Caucasian women, it's typically around the late 30s. "This is when fine lines on the forehead and around the eyes, less-elastic skin, and brown spots and broken capillaries from accumulated sun damage crop up," says Yagoda. If you're a woman of color, the tipping point is more likely in your 40s.
Most people begin to notice a shift in the appearance of their face around their 40's and 50's, with some also noticing a change in their 30's. But with these physical changes brought on by aging also comes a change in the appearance of our face - Luckily, there is treatment available.
Your neck muscles always have the appearance of bands, but you can't see them until your neck starts to age. Over time, repetitive movements thicken the muscles. And then your neck loses fat and the skin thins out.
You might be surprised to know that your face is not actually the part of your body that ages the fastest. It is, in fact, your breasts. A study, published by the journal Genome Biology has found that breast tissue is the part of the body that's most sensitive to the affects of ageing.