In a woman the scar is hidden in the hair and close to the ear. Where the incision follows the sideburn, it is usually hair-thin and can be all but invisible to the untrained eye.

For part of the tightening of the skin underneath the chin, a three-quarter inch incision will be hidden just underneath the chin. Suction lipectomy is sometimes used to aid removal of fat from this area.

Scars improve in appearance as the healing process continues. At first your incision lines will be pink, lumpy and slightly swollen. As the swelling subsides, the scars become thinner and fade until eventually, in most cases, they become hair-thin white lines.

Complete scar maturation can take up to one year, with most of the improvement occurring in the first two months. Usually, your hair will hide the scars right away, even if your hair is short.

Now it's time for a little tough talk about scar placement. Not every plastic surgeon places the face lift incisions in the positions that we describe here.  If you are getting second opinions from other plastic surgeons about your upcoming face lift, you need to discuss scar placement and see before and after photographs of the plastic surgeon's patients to see for yourself if you like how his scars come out. The following photographs will illustrate the two most common incision placement errors that Dr. Denenberg sees in patients who have had face lift operations elsewhere.