Can a Wrinkle Relaxer Treat Your Neck, Jaw or Underarms?

A wrinkle relaxer works on the signal between a nerve and whatever that nerve controls. On the forehead, that is a muscle that creases the skin when you frown. Relax the muscle and the crease softens.

The same idea travels. Along the neck, the target is the thin muscle that forms vertical bands. At the angle of the jaw, it is the masseter, the muscle you chew with. Under the arms, it is not a muscle at all: it is the nerve signals that switch the sweat glands on. Three places, one principle, and three quite different results.

The Nefertiti neck lift is the name people know it by, but it is not surgery and nothing is lifted with a blade. A wrinkle relaxer is placed along the vertical bands of the neck and just under the jawline, so the muscle that forms those bands relaxes. The bands soften, and with less pull downward the jawline can look more defined.

One wrinkle relaxer is FDA-approved for moderate to severe neck bands, and it is the one we use. A typical treatment is 26 to 36 units, depending on how many bands you have on each side. In the studies behind its approval, results were measured at two weeks and faded gradually over about three to four months.

Here is the honest limit. It works on muscle, not on loose skin, jowls or fat under the chin, and the studies behind its approval did not include people whose concern was any of those. If that is what you see in the mirror, we will tell you at the consultation rather than sell you units that cannot help.

It can, and the way it does is worth understanding. Masseter tox places a wrinkle relaxer in the masseters, the chewing muscles at the angle of your jaw. A muscle that works less gradually gets smaller, so a wide, square lower face can look slimmer and more contoured.

The change is slow on purpose. It builds gradually and usually looks fullest around three months, and slimming may last six to twelve months, with repeat visits keeping it up. A typical treatment is 40 to 60 units in total, split between both sides. Chewing can feel tired for a few weeks, and that usually passes.

Two things we say plainly. This is an off-label use of an FDA-approved wrinkle relaxer, which is common practice, and we explain what that means before anything is decided. And many people ask about it because they clench or grind. Research on that is mixed, so we will not promise relief, and sometimes the right first stop is your dentist.

In a Phoenix summer, this one needs little introduction. A neurotoxin placed just under the skin of each underarm temporarily quiets the nerve signals that switch the sweat glands on. Within about seven to ten days, many people find they sweat very little, if at all, where they were treated.

It is temporary. It often lasts around four to six months before it is repeated, though that varies from person to person. One neurotoxin is FDA-approved for severe underarm sweating, and it is the one we use, but you do not need severe sweating to be a candidate. It is for anyone who would rather not sweat as much.

A typical treatment is 40 to 50 units per underarm. Expect brief stinging during the appointment. Some people notice more sweating elsewhere on the body afterwards. And we treat the underarms only, the area the approval covers. You will find it on our menu as hyperhidrosis treatment, the medical name for it.

Here are all three in one place. Every figure is from our own treatment pages, and every one of them is priced from $13 a unit.

A licensed nurse, every time: our nurse practitioner or our registered nurse injector. Aestheticians do not inject here.

Every one of these starts with a free consultation. It is where we map the placement and settle on a dose, and where we tell you if a wrinkle relaxer is the wrong tool. Before any neck treatment, tell us about any swallowing, breathing or neuromuscular condition, because rarely, swallowing difficulty or neck weakness can occur.

None of it is permanent. Each one wears off gradually, which is the most reassuring true thing we can say about a treatment you are trying for the first time. Individual results vary.