Home > Heart Surgery Blog > Recovery > Open Heart Surgery Scars For Women: Jenny's Picture Request

Open Heart Surgery Scars For Women: Jenny's Picture Request

Written By: Adam Pick, Patient Advocate, Author & Website Founder
Page Last Updated: June 8, 2025

Jenny must be tired of seeing my scar sprinkled throughout this website. She asks, "Adam - Do you have any pictures of incision scars for women who have had open heart surgery? I'm getting ready for open heart surgery and would like to see what my chest scar might look like."

Well, I do have two pictures of women which show an open heart surgery scar at different stages of the recovery. The picture below shows a woman still in the hospital (shortly after surgery).

Woman showing median sternotomy after heart surgery

The next picture shows a lady who appears to be fully recovered. You need to look real close to see the incision scar which is no longer red (as shown above) but white. Yes, this picture is a little artsy but it does a good job showing just how well the skin can heal.

Scar of women in between breasts after open heart surgery

I hope that helps show what an open heart surgery scar looks like for a woman. If you have any pictures that you would like to add to this blog, please leave a response.

Written by Adam Pick - Patient & Website Founder

Adam Pick is a heart valve patient and author of The Patient's Guide To Heart Valve Surgery. In 2006, Adam founded HeartValveSurgery.com to educate and empower patients. This award-winning website has helped over 10 million people fight heart valve disease. Adam has been featured by the American Heart Association and Medical News Today.

Follow 450K