Loose Neck Skin? The New No Laser Way To Get Rid Of ‘Tech Neck’

Yikes! If you’ve caught glimpses of the skin on your neck starting to wrinkle as you talk on the phone or hunch over your computer, and you’re not having it, there’s a new tightening technology to try.

There’s no need to put up with one of the side effects of modern life and technology- “tech neck”. Hunching over your computer as you work away and tilting your neck to the side as you talk on your cell phone both strain the delicate skin on your neck, and so it’s not surprising that as you age, wrinkling begins on the neck begins to develop. Plus, as you get older, your body produces less and lower quality collagen and so there is less collagen to plump up the skin in your neck and face. Sadly, this means that your skin will become less firm and elastic.

The good news, and it really is news, is that there is a brand new technology called “Evoke”, which tightens skin and is non-invasive. “It’s the most effective skin-tightening device yet”, says Dr. Bruce Katz, dermatologist and Director of the JUVA Skin & Laser Center in New York City. The technology has only been available for six months, and it has proven particularly popular during Covid- not just because of results, but because it is a minimal contact treatment, explains Katz whose practice has been offering the treatment to patients.

‘Evoke’ is applied using headphone looking devices, which are strapped under the chin, or on the sides of the neck or over the jowls and the cheeks. Once applied, the doctor and technicians can leave patients alone for the 40-minute treatment. In contrast to laser treatments, Evoke isn’t painful and doesn’t require numbing cream. Dr. Katz explains that the “headphone devices” use radio frequency to stimulate the fibroblasts, which are the cells in the skin that produce fresh collagen to replace the damaged collagen, which no longer keeps the skin tight. “The new collagen tightens the skin.”

Instead of the prickly pain caused by laser treatments, Evoke produces a warm sensation. The reason that it is more effective at producing fresh collagen and therefore in tightening the skin, is because it “deposits a lot of energy in one area”, explains Dr. Katz. “The laser beam is more diffused. It has to be because it can cause burns.”

Anyone who has ever tried one of the laser treatments which reduce wrinkles and produce collagen knows that they cause redness and broken blood vessels, which need to be covered by makeup for three to four days. In contrast, there is no noticeable redness and therefore no downtime with Evoke.

Another plus- Evoke, unlike all lasers, can be used on all skin colors and types. The only two issues that Evoke can’t be used for, says Dr. Katz, are the eyelids because the skin is too thin, and to treat broken blood vessels. To get rid of “tech neck” or looseness in the jowls and cheeks, three to four treatments done one week apart are usually needed to get the best results , and the cost is about $595 per treatment.

To find a dermatologist using Evoke, go to inmodemd.com.