If you need to know how to get rid of turkey neck, then here you’ll uncover what causes it in the first place and the best exercises to tighten it up naturally.
Getting a smooth and firm under chin neckline that proudly radiates confidence and youthfulness is more than possible without invasive surgeries. There are simple yet effective neck exercises you can do in combination with other proven methods to tighten your neck fast.
You might have looked in the mirror one day and questioned how you suddenly have a turkey neck? And many try to lose weight to get rid of turkey neck but it can end up causing more loose skin under the chin.
If you’re ready to discover how to fix the turkey neck before it gets any worse then keep going. You’ll be able to say goodbye to the turkey neck and sagging neck skin quickly.
What Causes Turkey Neck?
Turkey neck (also known as neck wattle) is caused by weakened skin under the neck and excess fat in the area, which causes it to sag. Aging and extreme weight loss can cause your skin to lose its elasticity, which is its ability to stay tight and “snap back” to its original shape.
As the strength and elasticity of your skin degrade with time, it’ll cause wrinkling and sagging of loose skin.1 Weakened neck muscles will contribute to the skin sagging down with gravity.
Collagen is the most abundant protein in your body, and it’s known by dermatologists as “the support structure for your skin.”2 With age, your body’s collagen production declines every year, causing skin elasticity loss.3
Too much sun exposure can weaken skin cells in the neck area. Sun damage and ultraviolet radiation will also weaken collagen in the skin, causing it to lose its youthful shape.4
Genetics do play a role in your skin’s strength and elasticity.5 Caucasian women were found to have less collagen and reduced skin thickness compared to other skin.6 But genetics play a smaller role than aging, weight loss, or UV sun damage.
Can you even fix the turkey neck? Yes!
It’s Possible to Get Rid of Turkey Neck
Yes, it’s more than possible to tighten sagging neck skin that causes the dreaded turkey neck. But the time it takes to get rid of a turkey neck depends on age, skin elasticity, and body composition.
Younger people will have stronger skin elasticity and are less likely to have UV damage, making it easier to tighten loose neck skin. It’ll also depend on whether you’ve had a lot of weight loss and not enough muscle in your body.
The age at which your skin starts sagging can be as early as your 20s. This is right when the integrity and strength of the skin start to decline. But many in their mid-30s notice their neck has suddenly aged.
Muscle loss for women also really starts to ramp up in their 30s. Women will gradually lose muscle without strength training and enough protein consumption. This muscle loss also causes the under chin area to lose much of its tightness.
Genetics, hormonal fluctuations, less collagen, weight gain/loss, and worsening body composition all eventually come to a head for many in their mid-30s. While tightening sagging neck skin is possible, you’ll have to strengthen the area and improve skin elasticity.
Turkey Neck After Weight Loss
You’d think weight loss would help to tighten excess loose skin under the chin… but it can make it worse.
Weight loss can cause you to lose the “fullness” under your neck skin. Think of it like deflating a full balloon. It’ll result in wrinkly and loose skin that falls with gravity. You may lose some of the fat deposits there but the area will become like a loose deflated balloon.
Extreme or rapid weight loss can cause sagging neck skin because the skin has been so stretched out. As you lose that much weight, your body will “deflate,” leaving the loose skin without any “fullness.”7
You’ll have less fat and muscle on your body with weight loss, which also causes your body to lose its skin fullness. It’ll be obvious in some areas, like your neck, that you’ve lost weight with the flabby skin left over.
Without enough muscle on your neck or body, it will contribute to sagging skin. Having lean muscle mass helps to tone and tighten the body, preventing it from becoming “skinny fat.” You can be thin but still obese without enough muscle.
To get rid of saggy under neck skin after weight loss you have to:
- Strengthen skin elasticity
- Improve body composition
- Build neck muscle with exercise
- Boost collagen
How to Tighten Turkey Neck Skin
To stop and fix turkey neck you’ll have to improve your skin elasticity, rebuild collagen, and strengthen the area with exercise.
Lost collagen is one of the biggest factors. Your body will naturally start making collagen less with age. But this can increase and accelerate with factors like UV exposure, smoking, environmental toxins, and poor diet.
Collagen production in women starts to decline by about 1% each year after 20 years old. This may not sound like a lot, but it compounds year-after-year so by the time you reach middle age your body could only be making 30-50% it once was.
The good news is studies have found supplementing with collagen peptides can quickly rebuild lost collagen. You’ll have improved skin elasticity and hydration resulting in tighter skin and fewer wrinkles by taking collagen.8
You can reverse neck aging by tightening and toning your neck muscles. This will also help to improve blood flow to your neck area and stimulate collagen production.9
Are you eating foods that cause your skin to age more?
Eating a diet high in sugar and refined carbohydrates can also worsen skin by increasing AGEs. Skin AGEs, or advanced glycation end products, are toxins that form when protein, sugar, and fat interact in the body.
When these toxins accumulate they damage collagen and elasticity in the skin leading to wrinkles and a loss in skin firmness.10 Exposure to environmental toxins also cause skin aging due to oxidative stress, inflammation, DNA damage, and reduced cellular energy.
Dehydration can cause saggy skin by increasing the appearance and signs of worse skin elasticity and wrinkles. Your skin is made mostly of water so when it becomes dehydrated it won’t function optimally.11
Make sure you’re hydrating by drinking at least half your body weight in fluid ounces daily. So if you weigh 160 pounds then you should at minimum be drinking 80 fluid ounces of water every day.
Why Losing Weight Won’t Help Turkey Neck
Losing weight alone won’t help you to lose the sagging skin under your chin. In fact, the turkey neck will not disappear with weight loss, but can even make it look worse.
Why does weight loss cause turkey neck?
As you lose weight you’ll lose fat and muscle which could become a problem because the skin will have nothing to attach to. If the skin has been stretched out then it’ll just hang there.
It can even look worse after weight loss since the skin has been stretched, has nothing left to hang onto, and weakened skin elasticity allows the loose skin to sag down.
Just losing weight won’t necessarily improve your body composition. Having too high body fat can make you “skinny fat” where you appear to be thin but still have a high amount of body fat compared to muscle.
Muscle is what is going to tone, tighten, and shape your body. Without it, you’ll be more prone to skin sagging and dimpling. The key is to not only lose weight but to improve your body composition by burning fat and building lean muscle.
Keep your body fat percentage below 25% for women and below 18% for men. You can lower your body fat by using resistance training in your workouts to build muscle.
By doing exercises like HIIT and strength training on top of cardio you’ll lower your body fat and tone up those problem areas.
Naturally Lose the Turkey Neck (Non-Surgical)
So how do you make neck fat go away?
Adding neck exercises throughout the week will rebuild lost muscle in the under chin area. This will help to tone and tighten up your neck and under the chin area.
Improving your body composition by burning more fat and building more muscle will also help. Despite being thin, you could still have too much fat as a percentage of your body. Ideally, you’ll continue to lose weight by burning fat and not muscle.
Strengthening the integrity of your neck skin will be crucial. If your skin is damaged or weakened then you’ll only get so-so results by getting rid of the loose fat on your neck.
The best way to boost your body’s collagen is by supplementing it with collagen peptides. This will help tighten neck skin without surgery or laser procedures. Studies have found collagen peptides are effective for quickly improving skin elasticity (ability to snap back).
If you aren’t replenishing your body with collagen then it’s lost with age, causing your skin to worsen. Improving your skin elasticity is key to tightening under-neck skin and restoring its ability to “snap back” to its original form.
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5 Best Exercises for Turkey Neck
Here are the 5 best turkey neck exercises that work…
Chin Presses
- Open your mouth and make an “ahh” sound. Fold your lower lips over your teeth.
- Move your chin up by tilting your head slightly backward and slowly slide out your lower jaw.
- Roll the tip of your tongue up to the roof of your mouth.
- Place the heel of your palms under the base of your chin (not jawbone but muscles behind jawbone) and apply upward pressure.
- Slowly open your jaw downward to create resistance.
- Hold for 30 seconds and repeat 3 times.
Scooping
- Open your mouth and make an “ahh” sound.
- Fold the corners and edge of your lips down around your teeth and hold them there tightly.
- Extend your lower jaw forward then slowly “scoop up” as you close your mouth.
- Pull your chin upwards when scooping and tilt your head back.
- Open and close your jaw for 10 reps and on the last one, your chin should be pointing towards the ceiling. Hold the top position on the last rep for an extra 20-30 seconds.
Neck Smoother
- Place one palm flat on your neck and then slide that same palm down until your wrist is now on your collarbone. Place your other palm on top of this hand.
- Raise your chin up and slightly tilt your head backward. Hold your hands tight against your collarbone.
- Move your lower jaw out and roll the tip of your tongue to the roof of your mouth.
- Smile and you should feel your neck muscles tighten. Hold for thirty seconds.
Jowl Eraser
- Smile without opening your mouth then curl your lips outwards like you’re making duck lips.
- Smile at the corner of your mouth to force your cheek muscles up.
- Place your tongue on the roof of your mouth to tighten up the muscles under your chin.
- Pull your chin up by tilting your head back slightly. Slowly slide your jaw forward to contract your neck muscles.
- Hold this position for up to 30 seconds and can repeat 3 times.
Chin Tucks
- Place a ball about the size of a softball under your neck.
- Then lower your chin towards your chest and squeeze it into the ball.
- Hold for 5-10 seconds then slowly lift your chin back up and repeat a handful more times.
- Next, tilt your head back and hold it there while you move your jaw forward. Hold your jaw in this forward position with gentle pressure but try not to force it too hard.
- Hold for 5-10 seconds then slowly bring it back to the start position.
Does chewing gum help with turkey neck?
Chewing gum is also an effective flabby neck exercise that can strengthen the muscles in your jaw and upper neck area.12 Just pop some gum in your mouth and use a chewing motion for 20-30 minutes per day.
These exercises will not only fight back against skin sagging but they’ll also improve blood circulation without laser treatments. But if you get too much muscle tightness in your jaw then back off.
Creams That Are Good for Turkey Neck
You can also tighten up the saggy skin under your chin by using a rejuvenating serum that tightens, firm, and lift the area.
Neck skin can be tightened with an improved skincare routine by using a serum that has skin-strengthening ingredients like retinol.13 Protecting your skin from the sun by wearing sunscreen on your neck area will also stop UV damage.14
Unfortunately, there are toxic ingredients in many of today’s popular skin-tightening treatments and creams on store shelves today. These toxic serums can contain harmful ingredients such as parabens and phthalates. These are known “hormone disruptors” that interfere with your body’s hormones resulting in adverse effects.15
Testosterone and estrogen are usually the most affected and can impair your thyroid function. Estrogen imbalance as menopausal women know can lead to worsening skin issues.16 It’s best to have your hormones in control and in normal levels.
This is why it’s important to use a rejuvenating serum that is GMO-free and only uses natural hypoallergenic natural ingredients. Find a serum that’s non-GMO, free of harmful chemicals, and uses only high-quality natural ingredients.
Senestem is an ingredient that can stimulate collagen in the area you use it on. One study found it visibly reduced the signs of aging in women by tightening facial skin and fading age spots.17
Summary
- You’re going to have to lose the excess weight, reduce your body fat, build neck muscle and strengthen the integrity of your under neck skin if you want to treat turkey neck without surgery.
- You don’t need turkey neck surgery, botox injections, or laser skin tightening to get rid of this excess skin under your chin. Cosmetic surgery is also expensive and these turkey neck treatments aren’t always successful. Improving skin elasticity and strengthening the under-chin area will produce the most results.
- Facial exercises can help to strengthen neck muscles and even get rid of a double chin. Neck muscles begin weakening with age so it’s important to use exercises to strengthen them again. The excess skin can tighten up and have a more youthful appearance with added neck muscle.
- Add more collagen to your diet and stop eating foods that worsen skin like sugar, bad vegetable oils, and refined carbs. Use a neck cream or serum to improve skin cell turnover to improve skin elasticity.
