How To Get Rid Of Turkey Neck

While it's somewhat normal for your neck to divulge slightly with age, nobody really looks forward to the day that they sport a turkey neck. Infact, it's common for us to start looking for ways to get rid of turkey neck as soon as spot tell-tale signs that one is underway and age is slowly but surely catching up with us. Fortunately, as much as turkey neck skin can be incredibly hard to get rid of, there are several tricks and tips of making it less conspicuous to the point that you no longer feel self-conscious about it. Here's a quick primer on how to fix turkey neck within a short turnaround.

What Causes Turkey Neck?

'Turkey neck' is just an unglamorous way of describing the saggy, wrinkled and loose skin under the chin that accompanies the transition from youthfulness to middle age. More specifically, it's a culmination of loss of collagen and weakening chin or neck muscles which affects the ability of the skin to stay tight and elastic. So, to answer the commonly-asked question of 'what causes turkey neck?', nothing. It's just a side effect of being blessed enough to be alive for several decades but not careful enough to take care of the sensitive skin beneath your chin.

That said, it's also not uncommon for turkey neck skin to crop up after drastically losing a lot of weight within a short timeframe. Luckily, with the right approach and anti-aging products, there are several ways of how to get rid of turkey neck after weight loss or at least improving its appearance with time. Also, it's crucial to point out that some people are more genetically predisposed to develop turkey necks than others.

How To Prevent Turkey Neck?

There are several ways you can prevent turkey neck from haunting you in the later stages of your life. A huge part of this stems from the fact that turkey neck skin is simply loose or stretchy flaps under the chin. In other words, if you can stop your skin from sagging needlessly and prematurely, then you should be halfway home. Here are some of the easy ways of how to avoid turkey neck later in life.

1. Adopt a Strict, Precise and Rigorous Moisturizing Regimen

One of the reasons turkey neck tends to show up prematurely in some people and not in others is down to one's personal skincare regimen or lack thereof. If you, for instance, get into a habit of forgetting to moisturize and apply sufficient sunscreen on your neck area before going into the sun, then you can also forget about having a smooth neckline from your late 40s and beyond. You see, just like other vital organs of your body, progressive damage takes a while to show up. And, usually by the time it is noticeable enough to get your attention, there's often very little you can do about it.

2. Hydrate and Apply a Peptide-infusing Cream Even if You Don't Have a Turkey Skin Yet

Building on the point above, your neckline is one of the most sensitive parts of your skin, along with the area around your eyes. As such, you're better off taking steps to prevent sun/age damage to this part than trying to fix turkey neck for you to get back your smooth neckline later. On this, dermatologists often recommend applying a dependable collagen-rich cream regularly on this area even before the first fine lines start forming below the neck. It's even better if it also contains vitamin E, C and a bunch of antioxidants too.

What's more, contrary to the common opinion, such quality peptide-containing creams like this one from Maryann Organics don't have to be necessarily costly.

Turkey Neck Treatment

There are several turkey neck treatment approaches that you can use to lessen the visibility of the folds of skin below your chin. From neck contouring to exercises designed for a youthful neckline, there's no shortage of ways of how to tighten a turkey neck. And they include the following;

1. Exercises For Turkey Neck

Consistent, progressive and regular exercises of the chin and neck muscles can go a long way in improving the appearance of your neckline. In fact, some of these turkey neck exercises are also believed to improve blood circulation and strengthen the tendons in this area, something that gives it a smoother, more trim and tighter appearance.

One of the best and most effective exercises for turkey neck is the 'slanted chew', which can be pulled off in this manner.

• Sit upright with your back flush on a chair
• Lift and throw your head backwards such that your chin faces the ceiling but without tilting your back.
• Mimic a chewing motion but with your lips pursed firmly together
• Repeat for about 20 times.

Others include the forehead push and the weighted neck lift that you can do with help of a home gym.

2. How To Get Rid Of Turkey Neck With Surgery

Turkey neck surgery is yet another common solution for getting rid of the unsightly folds of skin underneath our chins. In fact, a correctly-performed turkey neck removal surgery is by far one of the most effective and quickest solutions for this cosmetic faux pas. However, some of them can be a little invasive and the procedure can leave scars behind. Advances in cosmetic surgery have, fortunately, gifted us with minimally invasive procedures that don't even require a definite recovery time. Here's a quick rundown on that.

• Botox treatment: It can hardly be described as a turkey neck surgery thanks to its non-invasive approach. However, it can be time-consuming and you may need repeat treatment sessions in the future.
• Hyo neck lift: It's a new best way to get rid of turkey neck that can help tighten and smooth out your neck line. Preliminary results show that it is a dependable way of reducing and eliminating sagging necks.
• Z-plasty: Also known as anterior cervicoplasty, it ranks as one of the most common ways of how to get rid of turkey neck with surgery as it involves direct excision of the saggy and loose folds. On the downside, you will require a bit of recovery time and have to contend with a scar afterwards.
• MST operation: Quite a minimally invasive way of rejuvenating and tightening up the neckline with special barbed threads. Unlike Z-plasty, you will only have to worry about very tiny scars later.
• Laser neck contouring: Here, laser technology is used to heat and tighten the loose flaps. It's largely non-invasive but repeated treatments after about a year will be needed.

Having said that, it is imperative to emphasize that turkey neck surgeries and related contouring procedures are not exactly cheap and your standard health insurance will most likely decline to foot the bill. The total costs can quickly run into several thousands of dollars, which is a bit over the top considering that quality neck tightening creams can do a similar (if not better) job for less than a fraction of that. 

Home Remedies For Turkey Neck

You don't have to shell out thousands of dollars for a fancy neck contouring procedure to get rid of turkey neck skin. There are several home remedies for turkey neck you can try out at the privacy of your home. One of the most recommended ones is investing in a well-formulated neck firming cream that can infuse the much-needed collagen peptide molecules to your skin just under your chin and tighten it up. That said, other natural remedies for turkey neck with varying degrees of success include;

• Application of aloe vera gel
• A combination of honey and egg white
• A daily massage session of ground coffee and coconut oil
• Toning up your sin with cucumber and rosemary oil

In Closing

A combination of home remedies and neck exercises seem like the most viable option for those who want to get rid of turkey neck skin without having to pay for an expensive surgery. Cosmetic creams, nonetheless, remain the best way of preventing saggy skin which later translates to these undesirable folds of tissue under the chin.