Never feel bad about your neck again!

The skin on your neck is thinner than that on your face, which means it will collapse more easily into wrinkles and folds.

This is made worse by the fact that we are constantly twisting, turning, stretching and compressing our necks. There are also few oil glands there to keep skin supple.

And it all goes downhill as you hit the menopause when, thanks to the reduction in oestrogen, your skin becomes drier and loses elasticity. But help is at hand. here are treatments that have worked for me . . .

‘SHRINK WRAP’ YOUR SKIN

RAdiofRequency treatments, known as ‘shrink-wrapping’, make the collagen within the skin contract and tighten. intracel combines radiofrequency tightening with microneedling.

WHAT IS IT? The intracel machine has a treatment head that has heated needles and electrodes to dispense radiofrequency and needling together. An intensive procedure, it needs 30 minutes of numbing cream beforehand. But it generates good results, both in boosting collagen in lower skin layers and smoothing the surface — thanks to the microneedling.

WHAT IT FEELS LIKE: not too bad. it took 40 minutes. My skin went quite red afterwards and took a day to calm down.

PAIN LEVEL: Six. i needed numbing cream. VERDICT: The effect is not as noticeable as other more intensive, and more expensive, radiofrequency treatments. But my face looked a little tighter immediately and would have improved further if i had gone back for follow-up treatments.

COST AND LOCATION: from £800 with dr Sarah Tonks, thelovely

clinic.co.uk. find a practitioner at thetweakmentsguide.com

ULTRASOUND

ulTRAcel adds ultrasound to the intracel treatment. ultrasound waves heat the SMAS (superficial muscular aponeurotic system), the muscle-like layer of tissue under the skin, causing it to tighten.

WHAT IS IT? Three technologies deliver a triple-whammy: ultrasound for deep muscular lifting; radiofrequency to tighten skin in the dermis (lower layers); and microneedling for resurfacing.

WHAT IT FEELS LIKE: The radiofrequency device, which is moved round the face, feels warm on the first pass. Then the temperature is turned up, and i feel like it will burn, but it moves on before it does. ultrasound follows, using a handpiece with a 2 x 1cm nib.

PAIN LEVEL: five. Moderately uncomfortable.

VERDICT: There was a small, instant result from the way the collagen is forced to contract. A month on, there’s a little less slackness of skin under my jaw. There is minimal downtime, but it is eye-wateringly expensive.

COST AND LOCATION: from £ 3,500 with dr Rita Rakus ( drritarakus. com). Also see thetweakmentsguide.com

ONLY FOR THE BRAVE

ulTheRApy is the only u.S. food and drug Administrationapproved technology that lifts the face and neck in one go.

WHAT IS IT? ultherapy Skin lifting and Tightening uses high-intensity ultrasound waves that pass deep into the skin, targeting collagen.

The usual procedure is to do two ‘ passes’. ultherapy can tighten and lift the face and skin under the jaw, as the treatment is targeting and tightening the skin so deeply. The ultrasound also boosts the formation of new collagen and elastin.

WHAT IT FEELS LIKE: i take ibuprofen beforehand. Aesthetician esther loughran marks out the treatment areas in white pencil, then works the treatment head of the ultherapy machine over these. each blast of ultrasound delivers a zinging little pulse. it takes about 45 minutes to treat my whole neck-to-jaw area.

PAIN LEVEL: Seven. particularly painful as the treatment head works over the jawbone. The cosmetic Skin clinic offers ibuprofen before the treatment, along with diazepam (Valium) if needed.

VERDICT: i can see an instant lifting and tightening along my jawline and neck. That’s just from the immediate collagen shrinkage. i’ve had this three times and it has helped stop my lower face and jaw drooping.

COST AND LOCATION: from £ 1,200, The cosmetic Skin clinic, london, and Stoke poges, Buckinghamshire ( cosmetic skinclinic.com).