Can My Webbed Neck and Loose Chin Skin Be Fixed?

Q: Dr. Eppley, I am a 28 years old and all my life I had a webbed neck and could not find a solution for it. Two years ago, I did physical therapy for a month, it helped a little bit and my neck got slimmer from the sides, but when I stopped, my neck got back to its usual shape. Sometimes my neck is slimmer, some days it is wider. My neck is not so stiff usually. Here are the pictures, I wonder if there are any solutions for fixing it from both sides, and from the profile, the access skin under my chin. I do feel any pain around my neck, and my concern is that I just want to have a normal and slim neck, like everybody. If there is any more information I can provide, please let me know. Best regards

A:You have what I call a mosaic type webbed neck which means it is a moderate webbed neck that is associated with tighter tissues than the full expression of a Turner’s webbed neck where the neck webs are wider with looser/more supple tissues. Improvement in the neck webs is possibloethrough a posterior approach. (see attached imaging)  But I would never call it a complete correction or the making of a perfectly normal straight line neck profile. The widened trapezius muscles prevent that complete degree of correction.

Many webbed necks are associated with shorter chins which is a result of the webbed neck. Unless one undergoes a concurrent sliding genioplasty (see attached imaging) the excess tissue under the chin will remain as the submental area is too far away to be affected by the posterior neck tissue movement.

Dr. Barry Eppley

World-Renowned Plastic Surgeon