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Realistic Result of Scar from Facelift?

I'm a 54-year-old male who could use a facelift. However, I am afraid that the scars in front of the ears will become too obvious. I'm not a smoker and fair skinned. What is a realistic outcome for the scar in front of the ears?

Asked 30 months ago by David Paul in Pomona, CA

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Facelift Scarring

Both men and women are concerned about the facelift scar in front of the ear. That is why we place the incision within the ear. This is especially important in men, who rarely style their hair so it covers the ear.

Doctor's Website

Richard W. Fleming, MD

Beverly Hills Facial Plastic Surgeon

Scars for male facelift

It is not necessary to perform the facelift incision in front of the ear in men. A retrotragal incision can be made (inside the ear), and the hair follicles reduced from underneath. This avoids the need for an incision in front of the ear. While it is not possible to remove all the hairs, most men have hair on their tragus anyway. The same principle applies to the area behind the ear in men, where removal of hair follicles is also possible. Facelift incisions define the surgeon. It is a... more

Doctor's Website

Brent Moelleken, MD

Beverly Hills Plastic Surgeon

ASAPS ASPS

Excellent facelift scar in the hands of a good surgeon

The incision should be placed in little wrinkles in front of the ear for a male. The secret to having minimal to no scarring in the long run is in the technique of the surgery. When a good lift is done the deeper tissues are pulled tightly and skin just comes along with it. This way only the excess skin is excised and the incisions are closed with no tension at all, resulting in very thin lines. When the skin itself is pulled tight and sewn together, the risk of thicker, wider scars is... more

Doctor's Website

Andrew Miller, MD

Edison Facial Plastic Surgeon

Facelift scars

For a male, it is critical to have inconspicuous scars especially in front of the ears. This requires excellent artistry on the part of the surgeon, a proper choice of placing the scar entirely in front o the ear or behind the tragus (the middle portion), absolutely no tension on the skin and with all tension placed on the deper layers of the tissue. Generally the "mini" procedures place more tension on the skin and are not as good for scars as are the proper full facelifts... more

Richard P. Rand, MD, FACS

Seattle Plastic Surgeon

ASAPS ASPS

Facelift and scar results

The skin in the face is relatively thin and well vascularized. This means that incisions in the face typically heal very well and an experienced surgeon can position the incision so that it is barely noticeable. The incision is usually concealed in the hairline. Techniques can be used to minimize hair loss. I typically use a retrotragal incision in order to conceal it even more. There are a few patient related conditions that increase the risk of scarring. These include patients with a... more

Todd C. Miller, MD

Orange County Facial Plastic Surgeon

Male facelift scars

If the incision is well-placed in the natural crease just in front of the ear and closed without tension the scar should be barely perceptible. When visiting a plastic surgeon for a consultation you should ask to see some pictures of male facelifts so that you can evaluate the scars for yourself. It is uncommon to have visible facelifts scars if the surgery is done by an experienced facelifts surgeon. Make sure that you are comfortable with the capabilities of your chosen surgeon and that... more

Johan E. Brahme, MD

San Diego Plastic Surgeon

ASPS

Scarring After Facelift

Most scars after facelifts are not an issue. They can be hidden in the pre and post auricular sulcus scar so that they are imperceptible in most cases. The scars are hidden around the earlobe and in front of and behind your ear. If you have eyelid surgery the scars will also be in the natural lines and creases of your eyelids. These will be minimally visible in most cases in 6-8 weeks. But wound healing depends on how you, as an individual, heal. As a board certified plastic surgeon, my goal... more

Rod J. Rohrich, MD

Dallas Plastic Surgeon

ASAPS ASPS

Facelift Incisions

One of the biggest concerns for patients, in particular short haired patients or men, is the appearance of the facial scar. In men, I still perform a retrotragal incision (which is an incision behind the ear), as I find that the scar is much more difficult to see than a straight lined pretragal incision (incision in front of the ear). The keys in a male facelift are concealing the scar, avoiding hair loss, and achieving a robust change to the face and neck. Seek... more

Anil R. Shah, MD

Chicago Facial Plastic Surgeon

Face Lift scars should heal well enough that they are not perceived

In non-smokers, the incisions lines can be performed so they are hidden in the hairline, inside the ear canal and behind the ears so that even with a short hair cut or the hair in a pony tail they cannot be seen.

Andrew Jacono, MD

New York Facial Plastic Surgeon

Facelift scar can be hidden in the ear canal and almost invisible with good healing

Careful surgical technique by an experienced board certified plastic surgeon should create very well healed scars that are not conspicuos. There is a specific technique for hiding the visible portion of the facelift scar inside the ear canal which can make the visible portion of the facelift scar almost invisible.

Doctor's Website

Brooke R. Seckel, MD

Boston Plastic Surgeon

ASAPS ASPS

Scars from a face-lift are inconspicuous

Scars from a face-lift surgery should be inconspicuous when performed properly. It is important that no tension is placed on the skin during the facelift procedure. All tension is placed on the fascia and muscle layers underneath. This will result in a nearly imperceptible scar. Placing undue tension on the skin will cause the skin to pull apart and leave wide, noticeable scars. Sutures should be removed early in the postoperative phase to prevent railroad tracking incisions. The... more

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William Portuese, MD

Seattle Facial Plastic Surgeon

Facelift scars in men

By the your description of your skin type, you should heal well with minimal scar visibility. Incisions in front of the ear can be placed in front of the tragus or behind the tragus (inside the ear canal). The incisions behind the tragus are least visible. However, when such incisions are used in men, the beard bearing skin can end up very close to the ear. There are solutions such as laser hair removal if this becomes a problem. I find that most men do well with the facelift incision... more

Maurice M. Khosh, MD

New York Facial Plastic Surgeon

Facelift scar depends on the technique

If a modern variant of the procedure is performed, there is very little tension in front of the ear, so the scar in this position tends to look very good. Older techniques that place a lot of tension on the skin are prone to widened scars that will be more visible. Best regards, Dr. B

Doctor's Website

Michael A. Bogdan, MD

Dallas Plastic Surgeon

ASAPS ASPS

Male Facelift

A male facelift should take into account several things that are different than women. There are several parts of the procedure that a surgeon does differently to give men a natural long lasting result. So I would not be particularily overly concerned. One example is to place the incision that is close to the ear just in front of the ear, whereas in women we place the incision just in the ear. This prevents bringing any hair bearing skin into the ear area. Hope that helps you.... more

Farbod Esmailian, MD

Orange County Plastic Surgeon

ASPS

Face lift incision and scarring for men & women

David, More men are obtaining surgery to reduce the signs of aging. The turkey gobbler neck is very common, especially in men. Men have 3 general options with increasing degree of aesthetic success, as well as recovery time. The first is simple liposuction of the neck, which not only removes fat under the chin, but also helps tighten the neck over time. Although recovery is quick, the results may be minimal, especially for patients with severe turkey neck sagging. The 2 other cosmetic... more

Doctor's Website

Houtan Chaboki, MD

Washington DC Facial Plastic Surgeon

Ask your doctor to show you some post-operative photographs

This is an excellent question that often worries men considering facelift surgery. The scar will be placed in your temporal area, in front of your ear (so that hair-bearing tissue will not be brought onto your ear), around your earlobe, then behind your ear. If you are completely bald, this may pose a problem. As you describe you are a non-smoker and fair-skinned, chances are likely that you will heal very well. Ask your surgeon to show you photos of male facelift scars. You will be... more

Theda C. Kontis, MD

Baltimore Facial Plastic Surgeon

Facelift scars.

Hi! 1) In a well performed facelift, the scar behind the sideburn and inside the ear is truly not noticeable. 20% of the facelifts we do are in men, and this is our experience. 2) The scar BEHIND the ear can be more noticeable. So this scar has to be very carefully placed and closed with no tension. 3) Better yet, in selected patients, the scar behind the ear can be avoided entirely with a short scar facelift. This works when there is not too much looseness in the neck. more

George J. Beraka, MD

Manhattan Plastic Surgeon

ASAPS ASPS

Male facelift

Scar placement is of critical importance in facelift surgery as well as placing tension on the deep tissue and keeping it off the skin. This is how fine almost imperceptible scars can be achieved. Incisions about the ear should be placed within the contours of the ear and along areas of color change. Using these landmarks and placing incisions on the margin of the tragus, area which covers the ear canal, will yield nearly imperceptible incisions. The male hair pattern is also important to... more

Robert W. Kessler, MD

Orange County Plastic Surgeon

ASAPS ASPS

The scar can be placed in the ear and not show.

I have had a facelift myself. I didn't want the scar in front of my ear. We do men and women the same in that we place the scar inside the ear so it doesn't show. Find a surgeon who does this well.

Toby Mayer, MD

Beverly Hills Facial Plastic Surgeon

Well-placed facelift incision and careful closure results in little show

In my experience. the male incision can be better than the women's. There is usually a normal fold in front of the ear in an area of depression. The incision is placed in this area. When the face is lifted, the extra skin is removed so that the hair bearing side is beveled. Then the hair will often grow through the incision virtually completely hiding it. The incision behind the ear is also easier, provided the incision is placed so that after removal of the extra skin, there will be hair on... more

Nathan Mayl, MD

Fort Lauderdale Plastic Surgeon

ASAPS ASPS

Male Facelift Scars

Scars are always a problem whether male or female. The goal of a plastic surgeon is to put the scars in the most inconspicuous spot and then do a great job so that even these are barely perceptible. It is a little easier in women because they can wear makeup but men do have an advantage. Sometimes the beard skin at the edge of the beard can hide a scar very nicely and In spite of that I still will place my incisions inside the tragus to minimize the scar visibility. I try to remove the hair... more

Steven Schuster, MD

Boca Raton Plastic Surgeon

ASAPS ASPS

Should be fine

If you have fair skin, and scar well, then the residual face lift scar should be not that noticeable. You will always have a scar however.

Scott E. Kasden, MD

Dallas Plastic Surgeon

ASAPS ASPS

Scars in front of the ear from a facelift

These scars heal very well. If someone is standing on your side in a grocery store checkout line and look closely they will see them. Your hair dresser will see them. However, for daily interactions nobody will notice them. Take a look at the link below http://facialplastics.net/photos/pfacelift.htm

Tanveer Janjua, MD

Bedminster Facial Plastic Surgeon

No such thing as a board certified facelift specialist

Hi David You should be very concerned about the scars. Closing the face is often an after thought for some surgeons. They are frankly in a hurry to get to the next case. I think they also delude themselves with the thought that it is hard for you as the patient to see those scars so why put a lot of effort into closing the face. Some proprietary facelift procedure omit any customized closure of the face-cookie cutter you might say. The results can be concerning. It is essential that the... more

Kenneth D. Steinsapir, MD

Los Angeles Oculoplastic Surgeon

Facelift scars

There is always a trade-off in surgery. Unfortunately, there are only a couple of options for scar placement in males. The incision in front of the ears generally heal very well although sometimes there is a noticeable transition between skin of one texture and color and skin of another. The incision in the ear or at the top of the tragus cartilage will transfer hair-bearing skin closer to the ear and will sometimes feminize that area of the face. The real question is whether the change you... more