Retinol topical creams
Dr. Kassouf recommends retinol topical creams to help reduce that crepey look.
If you have loose skin, then a standard necklift can be done to tighten and smooth the area. If the problem is visibility of underlying muscle fibers too close to the skin surface, you might be helped by fat grafting to thicken that layer and camouflage the muscle fibers.
StriVectin TL Advanced Tightening Neck Cream: This innovative neck cream features the patented Gravitite-CF Lifting Complex, a powerful blend of peptides and skin-tightening polymers. It visibly lifts and tightens the neck area, improves the overall contour, and enhances skin resilience.
Moisturizers and other creams work well for mildly crepey skin, but they have limitations. For instance, if you've lost a large amount of weight, leaving you with a lot of crepey skin, a plastic surgeon likely will need to remove it.
Hydration. People can keep their skin hydrated by using a good moisturizer to trap water under the skin. Another component a person can incorporate into their skincare routine is hyaluronic acid, a hydrating ingredient in many cosmetic products.
One of the best ways to tighten neck skin is to exercise regularly. This helps build up the muscles in your neck, which in turn will help support the skin and prevent it from sagging.
Ultherapy PRIME® is FDA cleared to lift your skin on your neck, under the chin and on your brow and smooth lines and wrinkles on the décolleté. Non-invasive. Zero downtime. One session.
Use Retinol for Neck Firming
For board-certified dermatologist Roberta Del Campo, MD, Retin-A (or retinoic acid) is a hero product for neck firming. "[Retinol] is a vitamin that helps speed up cell turnover and increases collagen production," she says.
Vitamin E
Vitamin E is vital for older adults as it plays a significant role in maintaining skin health and preventing crepey skin. Moreover, vitamin E supplements are effective antioxidants that help to keep the body cells safe from oxidative stress and sun damage.
“Daily use of a good moisturizing cream with bonus ingredients such as hyaluronic acid, ceramides and niacinamide will help repair that barrier and lock in moisture.” CeraVe Moisturizing Cream and Cetaphil Moisturizing Cream are two drugstore brands Dr. Pajo recommends.
As a surgical procedure, a neck lift is the most impactful and permanent solution for addressing a crepey neck. Deep plane neck lifts in particular can recontour the neck and restore a youthful appearance.
Collagen can't be measured — for instance, in a blood test — but there are signs that your collagen level is decreasing. These signs and symptoms include: Skin that's wrinkled, crepey or sagging. Hallowing in and around your eyes and face.
According to Zeichner, loss of hydration and the resulting inflammation worsens crepey skin. He recommends looking for purified petrolatum in your moisturizer, as in Vaseline's popular lotion. It protects the skin's barrier, prevents water loss, hydrates and plumps thin skin.
Egg Whites. Egg whites are known for their tightening properties. They contain proteins that help firm the skin temporarily. Applying egg white masks can create a lifting effect, making the skin appear tighter and smoother.
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.
“Neck-firming creams are a great place to start—and they do work,” says Dr. Lal. However, like most skincare, results take time.
Topical products can be an effective and non-invasive way to reduce signs of aging in the neck. Products such as serums, creams, and masks containing active ingredients like vitamin A (retinol), antioxidants, peptides, and hyaluronic acid can help boost collagen production while providing hydration to the skin.
Baking soda
This is another natural way to tighten and lift and reduce the appearance of wrinkles. Mix a small amount of baking soda with water and massage onto your skin for about a minute. It will help naturally exfoliate and tighten pores as well as give the skin a lifted look.
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. Below Dr. Jonathan Grant of Cascade Facial Surgery & Aesthetics discusses this process.