Two taut cords on your neck in every video call, and a jaw that has lost its edge. The Nefertiti neck lift in Marylebone relaxes those cords and gives the jawline back its line.
You lean towards the hall mirror to fasten a necklace, call something over your shoulder, and two taut cords spring up down the front of your neck. The edge of your jaw looks less crisp than it did a few years ago, even though your weight has barely changed. The Nefertiti neck lift at Dr Joney De Souza Clinic in Marylebone is built for precisely that picture.
| Performed by | Appointment | Downtime | Results |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dr Joney De Souza or Dr Mattia Parducci | About 15 minutes | None, straight back to your day | Begin in three to five days, settle at two weeks |
The muscle that forms those cords also tugs the jawline downward every time it tightens. Relax it with a series of small anti-wrinkle injections, and the bands soften while the lower face is released upward. Every Nefertiti lift is performed by Dr Joney De Souza (GMC 7008632) or Dr Mattia Parducci (GMC 7635663).
The approach now has strong evidence behind it. In a placebo-controlled trial of treated neck bands, 32.3 percent of treated adults reached minimal or mild bands with at least a two-grade improvement by day 14, against 1.9 percent on placebo. Treated participants also reported less bother from their jawline and neck.
The platysma is a broad, thin muscle that lies just under the skin of the neck. It starts low on the chest near the collarbones, sweeps up over the front of the neck and fans out along the jaw. When you grimace, strain or speak with emphasis, it contracts and stands out in vertical ridges.
In younger skin those ridges disappear the moment you relax. Over time the muscle tends to separate into two distinct bands at the front, and the skin above it loses some of its firmness. The cords then show even at rest, particularly in side lighting or when you lift your chin for a photograph.
Because the platysma attaches along the jaw, it exerts a constant gentle pull on the lower face. Over the years that pull softens the angle between jaw and neck. Many people describe the effect as their jawline blurring into the neck, especially in profile.
You can find your own platysma in a mirror right now. Pull the corners of your mouth down and back, as if wincing at cold water, and watch the cords rise from the collarbone. Those ridges are what the treatment softens.
The name comes from the painted bust of Nefertiti, the Egyptian queen whose long neck and sharply drawn jaw have been admired for more than three thousand years. The treatment aims at the same silhouette, a clean line running from chin to ear above a smooth neck.
The technique was first set out in a 2007 paper in the Journal of Cosmetic and Laser Therapy. Its author reported experience with 130 patients, treating the bands and the lower border of the jaw to drape the skin along the jawline. The paper called the visual effect a mini lift.
People searching for a Nefertiti neck lift in London are often surprised that it uses the same medicine that softens frown lines. What differs is the map. The doses are spread along the bands and the jaw border, in a pattern drawn around how your own platysma moves.
The trial behind the opening figure enrolled adults with moderate or severe platysma prominence and followed them for 120 days after a single treatment. Doses went into the platysma just beneath the skin, set by how strong each person’s bands were at the start.
The doses are spread along the bands and the jaw border, in a pattern drawn around how your own platysma moves.
Investigators judged 56.9 percent of the treated group to have minimal or mild bands at day 14, and 51.7 percent of participants rated themselves the same way. Treated people also reported a smaller psychosocial impact from the appearance of their neck. That last finding matches what people describe at the clinic, the relief of no longer angling a camera.
A 2025 expert review in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Global Open describes the condition as a blunting of the jawline together with vertical bands along the front and back edges of the muscle. Both features answer to the same muscle, which is why one treatment changes the neck and the jaw at once.
Dr Joney De Souza or Dr Mattia Parducci asks you to clench your teeth and grimace so the bands stand out clearly. They mark each cord and trace the line of the jaw, noting where the muscle pulls hardest. The plan for your neck is drawn directly onto the skin before any injection.
The doses are small and placed superficially along each band, with a second row following the underside of the jaw. You feel a series of light, quick pricks. The neck skin is thin, so the needle is very fine and travels only a short distance.
The row along the jaw is where the lift happens. Easing the fibres that hook onto the jawbone lets the muscles that raise the face work against less resistance. The change is a matter of millimetres, and it alters how the light falls along the jaw.
The whole treatment takes around fifteen minutes and needs no anaesthetic. Small raised marks along the bands settle within an hour or two, and a high collar or scarf hides them if you are heading straight back to work. You avoid the gym, rubbing the neck and lying flat for a few hours.
Anti-wrinkle injections are a prescription-only medicine, prescribed only after a face-to-face assessment with a doctor. Dr Joney De Souza is the founder and Medical Director of the clinic, and Dr Mattia Parducci works alongside him. Either doctor sees you first and treats you on the day.
Before treatment you are asked when you last had anti-wrinkle injections and in which areas, whether you are pregnant or breastfeeding, and which medicines you take. You are also asked how you use your neck, from singing and public speaking to heavy training in the gym. Strong habitual use changes the dose a neck needs.
The doctors photograph your profile at rest and during a grimace, so the bands are recorded before treatment. That set of images is what your review is measured against. Men often book because the bands show above a shirt collar, and their stronger muscle usually takes a higher dose.
The neck ages in three ways, and the Nefertiti lift works on one of them. Vertical bands caused by muscle are its home ground. It does not tighten loose skin or lift sagging tissue under the chin, because that change sits in the deeper supporting layer rather than the muscle.
Ultherapy does that work, using focused ultrasound at the layer a surgeon tightens, and Dr Joney De Souza or Dr Mattia Parducci performs it. For crepey texture and fine necklace lines, injectable hydration such as Profhilo brings back bounce and glow.
Many people combine treatments over a few months, starting with the bands because their effect shows so quickly. Our guide to jowls and facial laxity shows how these approaches fit together around the lower face. If Dr Joney believes another treatment would suit your neck better, he will tell you first.
Around day three to five you notice that the cords no longer spring up when you talk animatedly. By two weeks the effect has settled, and the jaw border looks a touch higher and cleaner in profile. That is when you come back for a review, so the doctors can check that both sides match.
Side lighting shows the change most clearly. Before treatment, a lamp to one side throws shadows into the grooves beside each band. Afterwards the front of the neck catches the light in one smooth plane, and the shadow under the jaw is sharper.
The effect lasts around three to four months. A V-neck, an open shirt collar or a fine chain sits against a smoother neck, and the jaw above it reads clearer. People stop tilting their head in photographs to hide the bands, which makes for a far more relaxed picture.
Your first visit is with Dr Joney De Souza or Dr Mattia Parducci at our clinic in Marylebone, close to Harley Street. They watch your neck as you speak and grimace, review your medical history and photograph your profile. Treatment can often go ahead the same day.
The plan and its investment are set out before anything is drawn up, and every area the clinic treats is described on our anti-wrinkle injections page. Most people repeat the lift three or four times a year. Some stretch the interval once their bands have softened, and the consultation gives the real answer for your neck.
The clinic is an easy journey from Paddington and St John’s Wood, and patients come from across central London for injectable treatments. If the cords in your neck now appear in every photograph, or your jaw has lost its edge in profile, come and let the doctors take a look.
Short clips filmed at Dr Joney De Souza Clinic in Marylebone, so you can see how anti-wrinkle injections is carried out before you book.
If neck bands or a softening jaw catch your eye in photographs, come and see Dr Joney De Souza or Dr Mattia Parducci in Marylebone. Phone 020 7043 0748, or reach us on WhatsApp to find a time.
These are the questions people ask most before treating their neck bands, from the number of injections and how the jaw changes to how long it lasts and combining the lift with Ultherapy.
It is an anti-wrinkle treatment for the platysma, the thin muscle across the front of the neck. Small doses relax the vertical bands and ease the downward pull on the jaw. There is no surgery and no cutting, and you are back at your desk within the hour.
More than most facial areas, because the doses are spread in rows along each band and beneath the jaw. Each one is tiny and shallow, so the total feels like a quick series of light pricks. The exact number depends on how many bands you have and how strongly they pull.
It sharpens the jaw border by releasing the muscle that drags it down, which makes mild jowling look softer. Heavier jowls respond best when the lift is paired with a treatment that works on deeper tissue. Dr Joney De Souza will recommend the combination that suits your lower face.
Those rings around the neck come mostly from skin rather than muscle, so they respond best to treatments that rebuild hydration and texture. The Nefertiti lift focuses on vertical cords. Many people pair it with Profhilo or skin boosters to address both directions at once for a smoother overall finish.
Most people find it just as comfortable, even though there are more injection points. The neck needle is very fine and goes only a short way under the skin. Each prick lasts a second, and the whole sequence is finished in a few minutes without numbing cream.
Plan on three to four months before the bands begin to reappear. The return is gradual, so you see the cords become a little more visible over several weeks rather than suddenly. Regular treatment often keeps the platysma calmer, and some people stretch the time between visits.
Yes. A phase 3 placebo-controlled trial followed adults with moderate or severe neck bands for 120 days. Treated participants reported higher satisfaction and less bother from their jawline and neck bands than those on placebo, and side effects were similar in both groups. The bands were graded by both the investigators and the participants themselves.
Not in the way you fear. The injection points are tiny and fade within an hour or so, and the change arrives over three to five days as the bands relax. Friends tend to notice a cleaner line from chin to collarbone and a jaw that reads sharper in photographs, without quite being able to say why.
Yes, and the pairing works well. Ultherapy lifts the deeper supporting layer over two to three months, while the neck lift relaxes the muscle that pulls downward. Together they give the jaw and neck a more defined outline than either one alone, and Dr Joney plans the order with you.
The bands begin to relax within three to five days, and the jaw border looks cleaner by about two weeks. Take a profile photograph before treatment so you can compare. Most people notice it first in a side-on mirror or when they lift their chin for a selfie.
