Although Sandy Romero, in her 50s, feels energetic, she never believed her reflection in the mirror matched up with her youthful vigor.

“I’m starting to see a little bit of a turkey neck,” the stylist and mother-of-two explained. “I think it’s showing my age much more than the rest of me is.”

According to Dr. Matthew Schulman, a plastic surgeon in New York City, this is a common problem as women age, because the skin in the neck area is very thin. In addition, it’s constantly exposed to the elements and the sun, all of which make it prone to sagging and wrinkling.

Schulman is helping patients like Romero tighten up the skin around the neck – without going under the knife. Instead, Schulman uses a unique combination of internal and external lasers that sculpt and tone the neck, as well as tighten the jawline.

“The [internal] laser will melt the fat that’s there, then I suck out the fat with traditional liposuction,” Schulman said. Afterward, he uses the same laser to tighten the skin, then another external laser to boost collagen production and improve the skin’s elasticity over time.

Another one of his patients, 68-year-old Andrealisa Russo, says she’s very happy with her results. Russo, who lost more than 45 pounds, wanted to ditch her ‘double-chin’ and had the procedure done last summer.

“The funny thing is, sometimes I walk by a mirror, and I come back and go, ‘Hmm, not bad,’” Russo said. “Now I feel like I look like everybody else.”

For more information, visit drschulmanplasticsurgery.com.