Answering Top Questions About the MyEllevate Minimally-Invasive Neck Lift
As you age, your skin gradually loses elasticity—and the more delicate skin of your neck will likely show visible signs of aging before they become apparent on your face. Some people are also genetically predisposed to having weaker, less defined contours along their neck and jawline. MyEllevate® neck lift is minimally-invasive and has emerged as a highly-effective solution, offering a near-permanent way to quickly rejuvenate the neck without invasive surgery.
Here, facial plastic surgery expert and double board-certified plastic surgeon Dr. Brannon Claytor answers 7 MyEllevate FAQs to help men and women in the Bryn Mawr and Main Line areas make informed decisions about how they can achieve a confident, more sculpted neck appearance.
What is MyEllevate?
MyEllevate is a minimally-invasive neck lift procedure designed to tighten and lift neck skin to increase definition in your neck and jawline and thus achieve a more youthful, rejuvenated appearance. MyEllevate uses an ICLED® light-guided suture system which allows the surgeon to precisely place permanent sutures at specific pivot points underneath the skin to lift and anchor neck tissues for optimal results personalized for your unique anatomy.
The minimally-invasive approach is considered non-surgical—the sutures are placed without the need for general anesthesia using tiny, virtually invisible punctures only 2mm long. MyEllevate does not require skin excision and achieves natural-looking, long-lasting results that are ideal for younger patients who do not yet need a full facelift or neck lift.
How does MyEllevate treatment work?
Once you are completely numb using a local anesthetic and resting comfortably, a thin needle-like device with an illuminated tip is inserted beneath your skin to help determine the ideal depth for suture placement to redefine your neck contours.
Eight tiny entry points are made to serve as anchor sites to keep the neck tissue suspended in a naturally tighter position—two of these entry points are located in the dense tissue behind the ear for optimal support, and the other six entry points are located along the neck and the chin to allow the continuous passing of the suture.
Once each suture is in place, they create a “sling” to evenly lift and support your neck tissues to create a smoother, more defined neck and jawline contour.
How much does MyEllevate cost?
The cost of MyEllevate will depend on the level of treatment needed to achieve your aesthetic preferences. Some patients might require a combination of procedures in their treatment plan to achieve their desired outcomes; those with excess skin may require some skin removal, while those with stubborn fat deposits under the chin may benefit from SmartLipo® to eliminate it.
Convenient financing options help patients address all the factors preventing them from looking and feeling their best with affordable payment plans.
How long does MyEllevate last?
The sutures placed during the procedure are permanent, and MyEllevate’s effects can last for several years. Over time, the aging process will impact the results—just as they would with any procedure.
Your age at the time of your procedure, skin elasticity, and lifestyle habits will contribute to the number of years you enjoy the effects of a MyEllevate neck lift.
Maintaining a consistent skincare regimen, wearing SPF, and supporting your results with other non-surgical treatments can help you experience optimal results for longer.
Is the MyEllevate procedure painful?
One of the advantages of a minimally-invasive neck lift is that it is performed in our office using only local anesthesia yet achieves immediate and dramatic results. You’ll be numb but awake and able to communicate throughout the process, typically an hour or less. Some patients report a mild tugging sensation or slight pressure during their procedure; however, most patients describe the short procedure as easily tolerable and feel their results were well-worth any temporary discomfort. We have additional sedation options for patients who wish to increase their comfort; MyEllevate is also safe to combine with procedures that require general anesthesia.
What is the recovery process like after MyEllevate?
After your procedure, you’ll be fitted with a chin strap to help support the newly repositioned tissue and limit swelling. You will then go home to take it easy, and be able to see your results at your post-operative check-up the following day!
Post-procedure care is relatively minimal as there are no linear incisions to care for—you’ll be able to shower the day after your minimally-invasive neck lift. Most patients experience only minimal bruising or swelling and often return to work and other daily errands within a day or two with hardly any visible signs of just having a procedure.
You may feel mild tension behind your ears at the anchor points; however, this sensation quickly dissipates after a few days. Over-the-counter pain relievers can help minimize any post-procedure discomfort.
In sum, there are few restrictions after a MyEllevate neck lift—you’ll simply be asked to delay strenuous exercise and heavy lifting for a couple weeks to avoid increased swelling.
What is the difference between MyEllevate and neck lift surgery?
The primary difference between MyEllevate and a traditional neck lift is the level of invasiveness with each procedure.
MyEllevate is considered minimally-invasive and can safely and comfortably be performed under local anesthesia—an attractive alternative for patients with only mild skin laxity who do not require extensive correction to achieve their aesthetic goals. MyEllevate’s subtle, natural-looking results improve the neck’s appearance without the need for a surgical procedure and a longer recovery period.
In contrast, a traditional neck lift is a comprehensive surgical procedure involving incisions, excess skin removal, and tightening of the underlying muscles to achieve a more contoured silhouette. The recovery time of a neck lift is about two weeks, and this more invasive approach carries some risk, as is expected of all surgical procedures. Patients with significant skin laxity see stronger rejuvenation effects and longer-lasting results with a surgical neck lift.
It’s essential to consult with an experienced, board-certified plastic surgeon specializing in a range of facial rejuvenation techniques to determine which procedure best suits your individual needs and goals.
Can MyEllevate be combined with other procedures?
Yes, MyEllevate is frequently combined with other treatments for comprehensive neck rejuvenation. Dr. Claytor often pairs MyEllevate with SmartLipo to remove excess fat under the chin, as seen in many of our patient examples. The procedure can also be combined with facial treatments or performed alongside other cosmetic procedures. During your consultation, Dr. Claytor will evaluate whether additional treatments would help you achieve your desired results and can safely perform multiple procedures in one session when appropriate.
Video Transcript
Dr. Claytor here. Wanted to share with you the non-surgical neck lift. How does that work? First of all, we need to understand anatomy. So here we have the patient’s jawline. Here’s their jawbone. Here is the underlying bony structure and here is that contour on the neck with that hanging fat. And so it’s not just an excess amount of skin but it’s also extra fat. So how do we deal with that?
First thing we have to do is come in with liposuction, so that’s a liposuction cannula. Then we take and come in just behind the ear and go down here and suction out that fat. And so you can see these small holes at the end of the liposuction cannula suck out that fat. And that helps reduce the amount of fat volume that’s in the neck. That was really all we had years ago.
And then we moved on and we developed the precision TX SmartLipo laser. So this is a laser that we can put in also just behind the ear and reach down here, or you can also enter just underneath the chin here and come in. And the thing that’s unique about the Precision TX SmartLipo laser is that it’s bi-directional. It shoots out the end of the laser as well as out the side so it’s a side-firing laser as well. And what that allows me to do is turn, and so I can turn that laser and shoot out at the skin, or I can shoot down at the underlying muscle. When I shoot out at the skin I’m tightening the skin. When I shoot down at the muscle I’m removing the fat layer in addition to the liposuctioning.
Then, really, the exciting part about the non-surgical neck lift is the Ellevate suture. This is a absolutely transformative part of neck rejuvenation. And the reason for that is we can remove this fat, we can tighten the skin, but ultimately we’re left with the basic triangle that makes up the angle of the jaw. And we’ve got this extra skin here. If you want to take this distance which is longer than this distance and bring that tissue back up and recreate that beautiful neckline.
So how do we do that with the Ellevate suture? So this is the device here; it detaches so that I’m able to pass it through and then reattach it to the light source. And the reason the light source is important is it helps get it that exact level as you’re doing that tissue dissection. And so you start out right here in the middle: so we’ll bring down our magnets. which represent the pivot points. Again remember the first part is the liposuction where we go in with the cannula and we remove most of the fat cells. Now the problem with that, if you do that then you may have the hanging skin. So you come along with the precision TX SmartLipo laser and you go in and—remember it’s bi-directional so you can be firing the laser into the skin which helps with skin tightening and also removing more of the fat.
Now we need to work on taking that loose skin that’s had the fat removed with liposuction and the skin tightened with the Precision TX, and we need to tighten it using the Ellevate suture. So the way we do that is this enters into the tissue and then I slide it along here and then pull through the suture. So effectively what this looks like is, I put this stitch here and then I reattached this, and now I’m able to tunnel over to my next point. And so I go over to here and then when I pop out of the skin I’m able to pull this through. And this sits like such. So you can start to see how this suture underneath the skin is going to allow for the redraping and pulling.
The real key is that we need to anchor it up here. That is the anchor. Now we’re going to come up to here—the suture is going to go along to here. And then we’re going to go up tunnel again further and come out right behind the ear. The ear has a dense amount of connective tissue attached to the mastoid bone and will allow us to anchor the suture as we’re pivoting and coming back down here where we want to have the pull, and pull this tissue back but it needs to be anchored off of here. So now we come along here, bring it through here, pop it out, draw it through the tissue, and the suture ends right here. So you can see that by pulling on this, what’s going to happen is this tissue will be moved. Now that tissue will be moved back in that direction by the pull that’s pivoting off of that anchor. As the suture pulls, everything that’s been loosened up with the liposuction and the Precision TX allows now the new neck contour comes like that.
The truly amazing part of the Ellevate suture technique is as this is tied together—and this is a permanent suture—that takes and moves this neckline back and creates this beautiful jawline and it holds it because it’s permanent. It’s percutaneous because the biggest incision that I had to make was as big as this which is about two millimeters in size. So they’re virtually invisible incisions. And then the most important thing is that the old neckline, which was here, if you draw a line out comes out some point over here. Now the new neckline: you draw a line up here, comes right through the base of the nose. By doing so, now this beautiful neckline has been created, and it’s being held in place with the Ellevate suture after the fat was liposuctioned out and the skin and muscle were tightened with the Precision TX Smart Lipo. So this is the minimally invasive—or really even you could call it the non-surgical—neck lift. I hope you found this helpful. Thanks so much.
How does MyEllevate compare to thread lifts?
While both are minimally invasive, MyEllevate offers significantly more durable results than thread lifts. MyEllevate uses permanent braided polyester sutures placed deeper in the tissue to create a supportive “sling” that addresses underlying muscles and glands. Thread lifts use temporary PDO threads placed more superficially that dissolve within 6-9 months. MyEllevate’s continuous loop design and permanent sutures provide the structural support needed for long-lasting neck and jawline definition, while thread lifts offer only temporary skin lifting that requires regular retreatment.
“The whole experience was fantastic! The results exceeded my expectations! I look and feel 10 years younger. Dr. Claytor and his staff made me feel so at ease and comforting. He is an excellent surgeon with a wonderful bedside manner and personality. It is one of the best decisions I ever made. I would highly recommend Dr. Claytor; in fact my neighbor has an appointment with him next month.”
Dr. R. Brannon Claytor
Dr. Claytor is board certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery and holds over 20 years of experience as a cosmetic plastic surgeon. An innovator and teacher in the field of plastic surgery, he uses advanced techniques like the drain-free tummy tuck and deep plane facelift to streamline recovery and provide natural-looking, durable results.
Double board-certified plastic surgeon Dr. Brannon Claytor at Claytor Noone Plastic Surgery has over 20 years of experience performing a range of surgical and non-surgical procedures and has established himself as the premier choice in the Main Line and Bryn Mawr, PA areas for face and neck rejuvenation. To learn more about MyEllevate neck lift or any of our other safe and transformative procedures, please call our practice at (610) 527-4833 or fill out our online form.
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Do you have a location in Ontario?
Hi Laura, Dr. Claytor’s plastic surgery center is located near Philadelphia, PA, but a number of his patients fly in from out of town to see him. If you’re willing to travel, Dr. Claytor would love to meet with you at his office!