Will There Be Many Scars If I Get My Webbed Neck Fixed?

Q: Dr. Eppley, I have searched for a long time for a doctor who operates webbed necks. Due to the pictures of your homepage, I think you are very talented. So my question; I have a webbed neck and I would like to fix it with a operation. What do you think about my webbed neck? Would it be possible to fix it without many scars?

A:The proper term in webbed neck surgery is improvement of the webs rather than complete elimination of them. Such improvements are done by a posterior neck approach where the scar is on the back of the neck, half of which is hidden in the hairline. While there is a resultant scar in a female with hair it is largely hidden as the attached intraoperative pictures show on the back of the neck.