Walk into your local dermatologist's office or medspa, and you'll find an FDA-approved treatment for almost everything. Plump your lips with filler. Paralyze those 11 lines with some Botox injections. You can even make varicose veins in your hands disappear with a little something called sclerotherapy. But options have historically been limited when rejuvenating the neck and giving your jawline Clark Kent-level definition.
Sure, you can go to town with your gua sha, sculpt temporarily with filler, or seek out ultrasound skin-tightening treatments like Sofwave or Ultherapy (which work by heating tissue to stimulate collagen production). But an FDA-approved neuromodulator capable of tightening the jawline and smoothing vertical lines on the neck hasn’t existed—until now.
Botox just received the first-ever all-clear to be injected into the platysmal bands: the muscle strips running vertically from the collarbone to the jawline. (Look in the mirror, give a big, toothy smile, and you’ll see exactly what I mean.)
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“The platysmal bands are basically like wrinkles on the neck, but they can also pull the entire lower face down so it blunts the jawline,” board-certified dermatologist Sabrina Fabi, MD FAAD, told me in March, shortly after presenting the results of Botox’s clinical trial to treat them at the American Academy of Dermatology conference.
Gravity is inevitable, so the more the platysma muscles contract, the more likely you are to have saggy skin along the jawline or a down-turned smile. By injecting Botox into these platsymal muscles, you can not only lessen the appearance of the actual platysmal bands, explains board-certified dermatologist Terrance Keaney, MD FAAD. You can also snatch the jawline in the process.
This ah-ha moment isn’t new, per se. It’s known to injectors—which is why doctors and nurse practitioners have been Botoxing the platysmal bands off-label for years. However, this FDA approval brings dosage standardization that is game-changing for patient safety and sets the stage for more official injector training. “Before this approval, if you polled 15 doctors how they would dose the area, you would get 15 completely different answers. But there’s wisdom with this big, standardized method, so we’ve been able to dial in on the best dose and improve safety,” says Dr. Keaney.
If you're curious about the treatment and whether you're a candidate, you've come to the right place. Read on to learn everything there is to know about platysmal band Botox.
What Are the Platysmal Bands?
You may not know the platysmal bands by name, but you've definitely seen them in the mirror. “It’s the muscle that connects your collarbone to your jaw,” explains Dr. Keaney. “When it contracts, it shortens and pulls the skin of the neck outward.” Some people will see their platysmal bands when resting, while others will have to clench their teeth for the bands to appear.
Will Platysmal Band Botox Tighten My Neck and Jawline?
A neck cream can only go so far to firm up skin. If you’re experiencing skin sagging around the mouth, a blunted jawline, and two to four visible platysmal bands while flexing (let's see that clenched, toothy smile), you should see some pretty impressive results from the treatment.
If you have severe skin laxity (that is, loose skin) or a lot of fat around the area, you won't see crazy results. “These people will often need to consider a facelift, Coolsculpt, or a Kybella treatment to dissolve fat," Dr. Keany says.
How Long Does Platysmal Band Botox Last?
You’ll see the full effect of your platysmal band Botox at the two-week mark—just like you would for the face, explains Dr. Keaney. The effects should last anywhere from three to four months, depending on how quickly your body metabolizes the formula.
What Are the Risks of Platysmal Band Botox?
While there are always risks with any kind of injection, FDA approval has standardized the most common platysmal band Botox treatments, creating a safer baseline.
That said, the neck is a delicate area to inject. “The muscles involved in swallowing and chewing are intimately associated, underneath this more superficial muscle that pulls the face down,” explains Dr. Fabi. If incorrectly injected, you may experience something called dysphagia, which is defined by difficulty swallowing or speaking. It’s key to go to a board-certified physician with experience injecting if you're interested in the treatment.
How Does Platysmal Band Botox Compare to Other Neck-Tightening Treatments?
Treating the neck is a 360-degree ordeal, so your doctor might want to combine several different technologies to achieve the desired results. Skin-tightening laser treatments, for example, will typically be used in tandem with platysmal band Botox. “They’re complimentary because you’re treating two components of why wrinkles form on the neck: part of that is from the muscle pulling the skin out, and the other is skin losing its strength over time,” says Dr. Keaney.
