Abstract
The aesthetically ideal neck was first described by Ellenbogen and colleagues in 1980. Since then, the visual and aesthetic goals of patients have evolved as new surgical techniques have been described.
The aim of this study was to provide current objective data regarding the aesthetically ideal neck in a young Caucasian female and evaluate Ellenbogen's original criteria for a youthful neck in this specific population.
A survey was created and deployed using the Amazon MTurk platform. Respondents rated a panel of digitally altered female necks from most to least attractive.
These results concur with Ellenbogen's findings and suggest new criteria for defining the ideal neck: (1) defined anterior two-thirds of the mandible; (2) presence of a subhyoid depression; (3) subtle thyroid cartilage bulge; (4) partial sternocleidomastoid muscle definition; (5) cervicomental angle of 100°.
Although the visual criteria proposed by Ellenbogen mostly hold true, surgeons should focus on communicating with patients to determine their specific anatomic surgical goals and implementing the appropriate operative intervention.
