Neck Rejuvenation: Treatments for Neck Lines, Turkey Neck and Loose Skin

Neck aging is not one problem.

Loose or lax skin, vertical neck bands, horizontal neck lines, fullness under the jaw and sun damage are five separate issues, and each responds to different treatments.

Four of the five are named directly in FDA records.

Ultherapy's 510(k) clearance covers lifting lax submental (under-chin) and neck tissue, and Kybella is approved for moderate to severe fullness from submental — under-chin — fat.

The vertical neck bands are platysma bands: Botox Cosmetic's approval, added in October 2024, covers temporary improvement of moderate to severe platysma bands associated with platysma muscle activity.

Horizontal neck lines have their own approval: Skinvive by Juvéderm was approved in June 2026 to reduce neck lines in adults over 21.

And sun damage reaches the neck like any sun-exposed area — the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) describes sun damage building over time into freckles, age spots and wrinkles, with some people developing precancerous growths or skin cancer.

Which of these you have decides which treatment is even worth asking about, so each section below starts from what the FDA has actually approved or cleared for the neck.

If your concern is looseness on the face or body more broadly, our guide to loose and sagging skin covers it; the rest of this page stays on the neck.

Start with the honest frame from the American Academy of Dermatology: a surgical lift such as a facelift or eyelid surgery gives the most dramatic results, while non-invasive tightening with ultrasound, radiofrequency or some lasers gives modest tightening and lifting with little or no recovery time.

Ultherapy is FDA-cleared (510(k) K243035, 24 February 2025) as a non-invasive treatment to lift the eyebrow, lift lax submental and neck tissue, improve décolleté lines and wrinkles, and improve the appearance of skin laxity on the abdomen and the front and back of the arms — with a cleared purpose of achieving temporary changes in the appearance of the skin.

Sofwave's 510(k) clearance (K250146, 18 April 2025) lists lifting lax submental and neck tissue in people 22 and older among its indications, alongside treatment of acne scars, facial lines and wrinkles, a brow lift, short-term improvement in the appearance of cellulite, and skin laxity on the upper arms.

Morpheus8 is a different case.

The Morpheus8 90 applicator's 510(k) (K240017, 13 June 2024) is a general clearance for dermatological procedures that need coagulation or contraction of soft tissue, or hemostasis — it does not list wrinkles, acne scars or fat, and at energies above 62 mJ per pin it is limited to skin types I to IV.

The AAD's general timelines for these device categories: with one ultrasound treatment, most people see modest lifting and tightening within 2 to 6 months.

Radiofrequency usually takes one treatment, with best results at about 6 months, lasting 2 to 3 years with good skin care.

Non-wounding lasers need 3 to 5 treatments, with results 2 to 6 months after the last one.

There is also a more invasive middle tier: minimally invasive radiofrequency, a probe or needles under the skin often used on the neck or upper arms, gives more noticeable tightening but needs sedation, a few days of downtime and sometimes a compression garment for 4 to 5 days.

The AAD is direct that even these procedures cannot give the results of a surgical procedure like a facelift, eyelid surgery or neck lift — and that skin-firming creams cannot lift sagging skin at all, though retinoids may give a small change.

AAD calls laser resurfacing its most effective non-surgical option for loose skin, but it means 5 to 7 days at home and a higher risk of side effects such as scarring.

Candidacy matters as much as the device: the best candidates for non-surgical tightening have only a small amount of sagging, a stable healthy weight, don't smoke and protect their skin from the sun.

With a lot of sagging, tightening may not help, and it is not for anyone pregnant or with a skin infection.

AAD also describes non-invasive tightening as safe for people of all skin colors, but that is its general statement — device labels can set their own limits, like the Morpheus8 90 applicator's restriction to skin types I to IV above 62 mJ per pin.

Neck Botox is on-label.

Botox Cosmetic is FDA-approved for the temporary improvement of moderate to severe platysma bands — the vertical neck bands associated with platysma muscle activity — in adults.

The platysma indication was added in October 2024, joining frown lines, crow's feet and forehead lines on the Botox label.

The label gives specific doses for the band indication: 26, 31 or 36 units, depending on how many bands are treated.

The label has no separate higher dose for men.

On timing: the label says the effect begins 1 to 2 days after injection and builds over the first week, and its duration figure of approximately 3 to 4 months is stated for glabellar (frown) lines.

We could not confirm a labeled duration figure for the platysma-band indication from the sources we reviewed, so that is a direct question for your provider.

The AAD's general Botox guidance is that most people see results within 3 to 7 days and that the effect lasts about 3 to 4 months, sometimes longer.

The approval is narrow.

It covers the bands — not the fat under the chin, and not jowls.

There is no FDA-approved injectable or device indicated to "treat a double chin with Botox," and botulinum toxin use in the lower face or jaw beyond the platysma indication is off-label: it is not on any current US label for Botox Cosmetic or any other toxin.

Practically, the AAD says most people go straight back to normal activities after a Botox treatment, with two rules of thumb: don't rub the treated area, and hold off strenuous exercise for 2 hours.

For horizontal neck lines, one injectable is actually approved: Skinvive by Juvéderm, hyaluronic acid placed as intradermal microdroplets, was approved in May 2023 to improve skin smoothness of the cheeks and had its indication expanded in June 2026 to reducing neck lines in adults over 21 (PMA P110033/S099).

The regulatory picture for other injectables on the neck is stricter than most marketing suggests.

FDA's general filler page, last updated 6 July 2023, still lists the neck among unapproved filler areas — but that page predates product-specific approvals like Skinvive's.

The working rule: match the product to its own approval, and treat every other filler use in the neck area as off-label.

Sculptra (poly-L-lactic acid) is approved for immune-competent people to correct shallow to deep nasolabial fold contour deficiencies and other facial wrinkles (2009), and for fine lines and wrinkles in the cheek region (2023).

Those labels cover the face — nothing on them names the neck — so "Sculptra for the neck" is off-label: it is not on any current US label for the product.

Using it for crepey skin on the body is off-label too.

Radiesse has one approved neck-adjacent use: diluted 1:2 with saline, it is approved for décolleté wrinkles in patients 22 and older (PMA P050052/S162, 31 March 2026).

Hyperdilute Radiesse on the neck, arms, abdomen or thighs remains off-label.

If texture rather than bands or fullness is your main complaint, our microneedling guide covers that treatment separately.

Kybella (deoxycholic acid, a prescription drug) is FDA-approved only for moderate to severe fullness from submental — under-chin — fat in adults.

The label states that it is not approved for fat outside the submental region and that such use is not recommended, so using it on jowls or the wider neck is off-label.

A course is up to 6 single treatments at least 1 month apart; the pivotal trials enrolled adults aged 19 to 65 with a BMI of 40 or less.

The trial numbers explain why the recovery is real: in Kybella's pooled pivotal trials of 513 treated people, swelling occurred in 87% (against 43% on placebo), bruising in 72%, pain in 70%, numbness in 66%, redness in 27% and hardness in 23%.

The AAD adds that some people are extremely swollen for as long as 2 weeks after chin-fat injections, though they can return to normal activities, and that full results show about 3 to 4 months after the last treatment.

One label caution matters especially for neck rejuvenation: providers are told to screen for other causes of under-chin fullness, such as an enlarged thyroid or swollen lymph nodes, and to weigh the risks in people with excess skin laxity or prominent platysmal bands, where results may not look good.

That caution is one reason the under-chin side and the skin side of neck aging are separate questions — the skin side is what the sections above cover.

Our Kybella guide covers cost, sessions and results in depth, and our double-chin guide compares the under-chin options: how to get rid of a double chin.

The neck takes years of sun, and it shows.

The AAD describes sun damage building over time into freckles, age spots and wrinkles, and notes that some people develop precancerous actinic keratoses or skin cancer.

Treatment can even skin tone and smooth wrinkles, but it cannot undo years of damage — so read any "reversal" claim with that limit in mind.

For discrete spots, the options the AAD lists for age spots are one or two laser treatments (which work quickly and last longer than creams, with possible crusting or temporary darkening), cryosurgery, chemical peels, and microdermabrasion — about 40% clearance in one 16-week study, better when combined with a peel.

Spots can return without sun protection.

Chemical peels treat sun-damaged skin, age spots, freckles, melasma, uneven tone, fine lines and some acne.

The FDA advises having them only under the supervision of a licensed, trained provider, because some at-home peels have caused serious injuries.

Patchy pigmentation can also be melasma, which usually appears on both sides of the face and, less often, on the jawline, neck or arms; our melasma guide covers it separately.

MedSpaStandard is building a med spa directory with treatment-by-city pages.

Until it is live we have no vetted listings to point you to, so here is how to vet a neck provider yourself.

Start with who is doing the treating.

AmSpa, the medical spa trade association, describes botulinum toxin injections as the practice of medicine, because a prescription drug is being used to affect living tissue.

In its description, the injection must be done by a physician, an independent-practice nurse practitioner or another licensed professional acting within their scope — under rules that vary from state to state.

Then ask the American Academy of Dermatology's questions before any cosmetic procedure:

For the neck specifically, add one question of your own: which exact product or device will be used, and what its FDA approval or clearance actually covers.

Several of the indications on this page are recent — October 2024 and June 2026 for the neck, March 2026 for the décolleté — and a practice that can explain the difference between an approval, a clearance and an off-label use is the one you want doing the treating.

Our how to choose a med spa checklist goes deeper on credentials and red flags, and the skin and body concerns hub collects our concern guides.