Better sex from the knife? An intimate look at the effects of cosmetic surgery on sexual practices

Abstract

The positive effects of aesthetic plastic surgery with respect to body image and self-esteem have been reported in the literature. However, the possible effects of aesthetic surgery on the sexual practices and characteristics of patients have been largely unexplored. Objective: This paper seeks to examine the degree to which a major aesthetic procedure affects the patient's postoperative psychosexual life. Methods: An anonymous questionnaire regarding preoperative versus postoperative psychosexual health and sexual behaviors was mailed to 330 male and female patients who had undergone a major aesthetic procedure by the senior author (G.M.S). Major procedures were defined as breast augmentation and/or mastopexy; facial aesthetic surgery, including face lift, brow lift, and rhinoplasty; and body contouring procedures, including abdominoplasty with or without lipoplasty, or lipoplasty alone. Results: Of the 330 surveys mailed out, 54 were returned as undeliverable. Seventy completed surveys were returned. All the respondents were women, with a mean age of 38 years. More than 95% of respondents reported improvements in body image. Eighty percent of breast augmentation respondents and 50% of body surgery respondents declared improvements in sexual satisfaction. Fifty percent of breast and 60% of body respondents had changed to more provocative attire. Approximately 70% of the breast and body group testified that their partner's sex life had been enhanced. More than 30% of breast patients and 50% of body patients reported an enhanced ability to achieve orgasm. When body and breast respondents were compared with face surgery respondents, statistical significance (P < .01) was found among most psychosexual variables investigated.