A recent ABC News report highlighted a mother and daughter who had plastic surgery in Los Angeles on the same day. The mother opted for a facelift while the daughter had a breast lift and a tummy tuck. This mother and her daughter had done many activities together before, usually adventures that one typically engages in on vacations. But plastic surgery would never be construed as a vacation adventure or an evening out on the town.
While this mother-daughter plastic surgery experience may sound highly unusual, and it is not an everyday occurrence, but ‘couples plastic surgery’ is far from rare. Whether it is mother-daughter, husband-wife, boyfriend-girlfriend or even twins, different variations of couples undergoing some face and body improvements at the same time has some real psychological and practical advantages.
The main advantage of a couples approach to plastic surgery is that one has a very familiar support system. Hanging out together recovering undoubtably has a unique bonding experience, particularly in such lasting and life-changing activities. At the least, one can really sympathize with the other and they can ‘suffer’ together during the early phase of their recoveries. While neither one is up to full strength, helping each other out allows other family members to be more free to work and do other everyday life chores without the constant worry of leaving a solitary patient alone and wondering how they are doing.
The most common couples plastic surgery that I have seen is either mother-daughter or husband-wife. Sometimes they do the surgeries together on the same day while other space them out by a few days or a week. The mother-daughter combo usually consists of facial rejuvenation procedures for the mother (e.g., facelift, eyelid lifts) and some mommy makeover approaches (breast reshaping and tummy tucks) for the daughter. When married couples do the procedure together the procedures done are highly based on their ages. Younger couples will have the wife getting a breast augmentation and the husband some stomach and love handle liposuction. Older couples will have the wife usually doing face procedures and the husband may also. Most older couples that I have done both have had face and neck lifts.
Couples have always gone on vacations and enjoyed many leisurely activities together. The concept of duet treatment was usually thought of as being reserved for massages. But every now and then a few couples today gone on a little nip and tuck adventure…without having to leave home.
Dr. Barry Eppley
Indianapolis, Indiana