The facelift and the necklift are both popular cosmetic plastic surgeries meant to restore vitality and youthfulness. Facelifts are performed more often than neck lifts, and there are different kinds of facelifts and neck lifts. A neck lift, for example, can be either a cervicoplasty, where the surgeon removes excess or loose skin from around the neck, or a platysmaplasty, where they actually tighten the neck muscles and make them more supple.
If done correctly, both a facelift and a necklift don’t radically change a person’s looks as much as make them look like they’ve been on a long and restorative vacation. With that in mind, there are several differences between a facelift and a necklift besides the areas of the body they serve. Here are five of them.
1. Facelifts Cost More
One of the differences between a neck lift and a facelift is their cost, with a facelift costing considerably more than a neck lift. This is especially notable when the patient has a full facelift, which sometimes includes a neck lift. According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, the average surgeon’s fee for a full facelift or rhytidectomy was $11,395, while the average surgeon’s fee for a neck lift was $7,885 in 2023.
2. The Length of the Procedure
A full facelift takes between three and six hours, while a neck lift takes between two and four hours. The length of the surgery depends on the surgeon’s technique and how much skin, fat, and other tissue need to be removed and redraped.
3. Anesthesia for Both Surgeries
A full facelift is almost always performed under general anesthesia and is an inpatient procedure. This means that the patient spends at least a night in the hospital or clinic after the surgery. A neck lift can be performed under general or local anesthesia and can be an inpatient or outpatient surgery. If it’s an outpatient surgery, the patient rests for a few hours at the hospital or clinic, then is free to leave to recover at home.
4. The Recovery Time is Longer for a Facelift
A person who has a full facelift needs a longer time to recover from the surgery than a person who has had a neck lift. It can take a month and a half or longer before the facelift patient is ready for their usual level of exercise, while it takes less than a month before the neck lift patient can return to activities such as working out at their gym. It also may take as long as nine months for the swelling from facelift surgery to go away completely and for the incision lines to become less noticeable.
5. Neck Lifts Are More Common in Men, Facelifts More Common in Women
Gender is another difference between facelifts and neck lifts. In 2023, men had more than twice as many neck lifts as facelifts. The reverse is true with women. In 2023, for example, three percent of cosmetic procedures in women were neck lifts, while seven percent were facelifts. Unsurprisingly, the number of both facelift and necklift surgeries go up as the patients age, whether they’re male or female.