Comments on: My neck is retreating into my chest!

Question: My neck is retreating into my chest!

(bb|[^b]{2}) — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 20:34:45 -0800

I'm 28 years old, thin, and my jawline is slowly disappearing into my neck. Please help me reverse this trend before I end up looking like George Lucas.

Over the last year, I've begun developing extra padding on my neck between the bottom of my chin and the top of my adam's apple. When I look straight down, or open my mouth really wide, it makes a distinct double chin, and I'm afraid if the skin continues to loosen, it will eventually result in me having no discernible jawline.

The weird part is I'm really thin (six foot, ~165 pounds), so I don't think this is a weight gain problem. Is there something I can do to stop this? Maybe some sort of chin/neck tightening exercise or something?

PS - Upon further investigation, it appears that Tom Hanks suffers from the same neck droopiness I'm experiencing.

By: hammerthyme

hammerthyme — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 20:42:54 -0800

It really looks like Lucas has goiter. Perhaps you need iodine in your diet.

By: HotPatatta

HotPatatta — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 20:43:18 -0800

Exercise doesn't tighten skin. If you're already thin and having this problem, seems like cosmetic surgery is the only remedy. Gaining weight certainly won't help. You can try losing even more weight at the expense of looking gaunt and sickly.

By: A Thousand Baited Hooks

A Thousand Baited Hooks — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 20:43:55 -0800

I don't think there is anything you can do about this, I'm afraid. It's a natural part of the aging process. There might be some kind of horrible plastic surgery you can get to have the flesh removed, but most men I know who don't like their jawlines deal with it by growing a beard. Have you considered that?

By: HotPatatta

HotPatatta — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 20:48:48 -0800

George Lucas has tried to add contour to his jaw with that beard, but instead it just looks like a random strip of hair in the middle of his neck. Not the most flattering look.
It does look like he has a goiter, but it must be fat because he surely can afford the medical care necessary to treat a goiter. If you're thin, you definitely won't ever look like that. Lucas has a very large fat deposit in his neck. The skin would probably still be loose if he lost weight, but it would be much less pronounced.

By: ThePinkSuperhero

ThePinkSuperhero — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 20:48:52 -0800

Facercise! I've been doing it, and I think it works. And if it doesn't, well, you get what you pay for :-D

By: Cool Papa Bell

Cool Papa Bell — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 20:51:36 -0800

There might be some kind of horrible plastic surgery you can get

There are indeed -- Platysmaplasty and Cervicoplasty.

I'd start with exercise at your age, though. You could be "skinny fat," in that you appear thin, but really have a higher fat body composition.

By: adipocere

adipocere — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 20:54:34 -0800

You have a variety of cosmetic procedures, also, as options:

1) thermage: if it is simply loose skin with nothing under it, thermage might tighten the skin under there. It's a non-surgical procedure. Works for some.
2) submental liposuction: slurping out the fat below your jaw, just under the skin
3) deeper fat sculpting: going under platysma muscle and taking out the fat there
4) lift: I believe they have necklifts now, for just that very thing.
5) jaw / chin work: a bigger jaw, chin, implants and so forth could all tent this out a bit.

That covers everything I've come across in my research.

By: MadamM

MadamM — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 21:36:00 -0800

The uh, technical term for this, in case you're wondering, is "meat beard" and seems to be something a lot of guys struggle with as they age. Good luck fighting it.

By: P.o.B.

P.o.B. — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 22:31:59 -0800

Being thin has nothing to do with how or where your body accumalates fat. If you did workout, with weights, there is a very good chance this will reverse itself.

By: w0mbat

w0mbat — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 22:52:37 -0800

Yeah I've got the same thing. When I'm thin it just hangs in a "V" instead of a "U", which is no better. My Dad coped with it by growing a big beard but beards aren't my thing. Has anybody here actually tried the surgery?

By: Ambrosia Voyeur

Ambrosia Voyeur — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 00:19:19 -0800

Heh. Facercise. I play that video with the sound off at parties. It's incredible. Definitely get it.

I don't recall a neck exercise from it in particular, but I learned one somewhere, because I've got a double chin I hate: Look up, way up, and stick your chin out, with your bottom teeth protruding into an underbite. You'll feel your neck muscles stretch. Do this in sets of reps, and maybe you'll see some tightening.

By: randomstriker

randomstriker — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 00:43:43 -0800

I've got bad news for you: this is just the beginning. Everything else on your body will go into slow decline as you age.

Do your best to accentuate the positive and hide the not so positive (i.e. work with what you've got), but at the end of the day you need to be comfortable with yourself. And focus on the other great things that come with age. Such as money, power, fame, cars, houses, kids, mortgages, credit card debt....etc.

By: majortom1981

majortom1981 — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 05:26:22 -0800

Hmm unless its the aging thing make sure there are no lumps on your neck. Your thyroid is in your neck and thyroid cancer can happen to men also .

I had to get my thyroid removed aznd it started with a huge lump on my neck that just kept getting bigger.

By: cazoo

cazoo — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 05:54:13 -0800

Exercising helps a lot to fix this. Do you do any weight training? Take a look at some older body builders like Schwarzenegger for example and you'll see how many of them have retained slim jawlines because of muscle tightening around that area of the face.

By: damn dirty ape

damn dirty ape — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 08:45:45 -0800

Developing a goiter is a symptom of thyroid disease. I'd get it checked out to be extra safe.

By: pised

pised — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 09:05:07 -0800

Seconding AmbrosiaVoyeur. I read about that exercise in a yoga book once.

By: (bb|[^b]{2})

(bb|[^b]{2}) — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 13:04:12 -0800

Thanks for all the answers guys. It's definitely not a goiter, nor does it have any lumps... just a gradual accumulation of fat that's slowly sagging southward. I think I'm going to wear a bike helmet constantly, so the strap will help keep things tight. :D