Doctors Face and Body offer an expense and time-saving service to their many international patients who are in Beverly Hills for a short time only. U.S. patients also take advantage of it.

Because Dr. Face (who in real life is the imminent Robert Kotler, M.D.) only performs procedures of the face while Dr. Body specializes in plastic surgery of the body, the duo have teamed up to do patients’ plastic surgery in one surgical session. (Dr. Body is Stuart Linder, M.D.)

Two surgeons operating on a single patient in one surgical session is a rare service in American plastic surgery. Additionally, both Dr. Face and Body specialize in revision surgeries, demanding procedures that repair previous cosmetic surgery that was not done well elsewhere.

Here, Doctors Face and Body explain how the two surgeons-at-once service works.

(See a Facebook picture of Drs. Face and Body in the plastic surgery operating room.)

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Dr. Face (Dr. Kotler): Our most recent patient, a 40-year-old nurse from Japan, said she appreciated the close scheduling appointments on our two-on-one plastic surgery system.

Dr. Body (Dr. Linder): Well, she certainly knew how to research cosmetic plastic surgery over the Internet. She wanted to have cosmetic and functional nasal surgery and an upper eyelid and brow lift. Plus, she wanted her 20-year-old silicone breast implants replaced.

Dr. Face: Don’t you have a map showing the worldwide locations from which our international patients have traveled?

Dr. Body: I do. Just go to my plastic surgery website to see a dynamic global and U.S. map of the 39 nations from which our patients have traveled.

Dr. Face: Tit for tat, doctor! I think our readers should have a chance to see some of my 4,000 nose jobs, many of which are done on international patients.

Dr. Body: Anyhow, as soon as our most recent patient was finished with your consultation, all she had to do was walk right across the street where my office is located and have the consultation for her breast surgery.

Dr. Face: She came all the way from Japan because she wanted to see superspecialists, cosmetic surgeons who specialize in only a handful of procedures.

Dr. Body: Medicine is so highly specialized these days. There are even some heart surgeons who specialize in operating on just one area, like the valves, of the heart. So it makes sense for a plastic surgeon to specialize in either surgery of the neck and head or surgery of the body.

Dr. Face: When we get into the operating room, you usually do your procedures first, although this time, I did my work first. Our common patient was put under the lightest anesthesia because she had a brow lift and we needed her cooperation to bring her to a sitting position to make sure everything was nicely symmetrical and balanced in her forehead. We also needed to see her open and close her eyes.

Dr. Body: Then she went under a deeper general anesthesia so I could do her breast revision.

Dr. Face: Sum total, two surgeons, two procedures…

Dr. Body: But in one surgical session, with one session of anesthesia, and one recovery period!

Dr. Face: Right you are doctor. Think what the patient would have to do otherwise.

Dr. Body: Sure, go to consolation, pre-surgical and follow-up visits in two separate surgeons’ offices in addition to going to two surgical centers, going under anesthesia twice and going through recovery twice.

Dr. Face:  Patients often ask why I limit my practice to six most common facial procedures and particularly nasal surgery.

Dr. Body: Same for me. I am asked why I do only body and no facial surgery.

Dr. Face:  I usually explain that restricting my practice to facial procedures and performing them over and over, brings better results because repetition breeds excellence. And, developing proficiency gives patients surgery with less time in the operating room. That translated to faster healing with less bruising and bleeding and, often, a quicker return to work or the home nation.

Dr. Body: I usually explain that “revision” means touching up work that is not ideal. For instance, I have one surgery coming up in which a woman had four breast surgeries in three years in her home nation and her breast still do not sit correctly on her body.

Dr. Face: I often explain that super-specialization is a normal thing in our times. Apply it to music, for instance.

Dr. Body: Music? How?

Dr. Face:  Well, a classical violinist specializes in classical music and sometimes just the music of two or three composers only. But I’m willing to bet that violinist does not play a bluegrass fiddle. And, likewise, you won’t see a bluegrass fiddle playing tackling Mozart!

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Read more about Dr. Kotler’s International cosmetic surgery patients.

Learn more about Dr. Linder’s revision breast surgery patients who come from afar for plastic surgery.

Stuart Linder, M.D. (“Dr. Body”) and Robert Kotler, M.D. (“Dr. Face”) are both highly concerned about patient safety. (Read our previous post about

So Doctors Face and Body were happy to see that four major organizations of plastic surgeons have joined forces to help protect the general safety of patients in American plastic surgery.

Joining into the new task force, the Physicians’ Aesthetic Coalition (PAC) are:

• American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ASAPS).
• American Academy of Facial Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery (AAFPRS).
• American Society of Ophthalmic Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery (ASOPRS).
• American Society of Dermatologic Surgery (ASDS).

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Dr. Face (Dr. Kotler): The new PAC wants to help patients to make informed decisions because there is still a lot of bad information about plastic surgery procedures floating around the ‘Net.

Dr. Body (Dr. Linder): Such as?

Dr. Face:  Well, Botox, for instance.

Dr. Body: Sure, Botox and Dysport are safe enough when handled by a qualified plastic surgeon in a medical setting.

Dr. Face: That’s right. But danger rears its ugly head when marketing people help doctors give Botox in a party setting.

Dr. Body: So, hopefully, when a potential plastic surgery patient receives an invite to some group procedure, like demonstrating Restylane or Juvederm injections on patients, he or she will know it’s not really a good idea.

Dr. Face:  Another public service the PAC can do is help people know the correct medical boards to which properly trained surgeons belong. After all, there are only two. For a quick refresher, take a quick look at how we explained plastic surgery boards a few blog posts ago.

Dr. Body: I like the PAC’s goals; for instance, there are some cosmetic procedures that are best skipped altogether. Read our take on plastic surgery operations that are best avoided. But, the real trick for the PAC will be getting more of this information out there, so that people will take it seriously.

Dr. Face: That kind of information already exists; the trouble is, many first-time patients regard it as too bothersome. But when any patient chooses the wrong surgeon or the wrong procedure, you have never seen such a 180-degree change. He or she then must fix the mistakes with another properly trained and qualified surgeon. Then, you will never see a lay person who becomes as knowledgeable about procedures, surgeons and medical boards! You know, once burned…

Dr. Body: What about operating rooms? Have we not covered that, too?

Dr. Face:  Sure, that’s an exceedingly important part of patient safety. You can review good advice about safe operating rooms in our post about safer plastic surgery operating rooms.

Dr. Body: Yet another way that the medical establishment can help make plastic surgery safer is by changing the training programs before the surgeons take their board exams.

Dr. Face:  How would you do that?

Dr. Body: Plastic surgeons must have general surgery training, but do they really need two to four years? After all, once they are plastic surgeons, how many gall bladders are they going to remove?

Dr. Face: What would replace all the general surgery training?

Dr. Body: Move sooner into training programs for either head & neck surgery or plastic surgery of the body.

Dr. Face:  That’s a good point. Medicine is highly specialized in today’s fast-moving world so a surgeon should specialize in one area or the other – either face & neck or procedures of the body. That would create safer doctors who have literally seen every possible wrinkle and complication several times over. Moreover, he or she will work more efficiently because less tissue is disturbed.

Dr. Body: Sure, change the training so that any plastic surgeon first has only one or two years of general surgery after receiving the M.D. degree and then immediately move into more training on plastic surgery procedures.

Dr. Face: That sounds sensible. After all, they are going to be doing cosmetic plastic surgery so why not use as much training time as possible observing, discussing and doing the procedures they will eventually offer to the public?

Dr. Body: Doctor, you are preaching to the choir!

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Both Dr. Kotler and Dr. Linder spend substantial time performing revision surgery which is a re-do of a surgical procedure that was done elsewhere by an inadequately trained surgeon. Revision surgery often results from using bargain basement plastic surgery which can end up costing substantially more because revision surgery is difficult and requires a super-specialist.

View some of Dr. Body’s breast revision before and after pictures.

Here are some of Dr. Face’s before and after pictures of nose job revisions

Dr. Body (

But the requests and concerns for various procedures differ according to the time of life in which patients find themselves. If you are considering cosmetic plastic surgery, take a look below at what others in your age group are doing to refresh and rejuvenate their appearances.

Both surgeons frequently appear on educational television programs and are also book authors. Doctors Face and Body belong to:

• The American Academy of Facial Plastic Surgery and Reconstructive Surgery.
• American Board of Plastic Surgery
• The American Medical Association

Dr. Face: Teenagers are an interesting group, don’t you think, doctor?

I recently rejuvenated the broken noses of two 14-year-olds and they had the maturity level of 25-year-olds.

Dr. Body: Absolutely! One of the driving forces with teens is to mesh well with their peer groups. So if a teen girl under 18 comes to me with very small breasts, or conversely, with very huge breasts (medically known as gigantomastia), I will be more likely to go ahead with breast augmentation or breast reduction if her present state is causing her misery or embarrassment. Same for a too-small breast condition known as tubular breasts and breast asymmetry. I’m a bit more strict about liposuction because a person that young — given workouts and a reasonable diet — can easily lose weight. It’s usually just a matter of giving up the couch, some TV and video games and getting moving.

Dr. Face:  It’s the same thing with facial procedures for teens and for young children. Many parents are surprised to learn that when children have very large, “stand out” ears, medical science advises ear pinning, or otoplasty, at age five, before the child starts school. Otherwise, the teasing and name-calling can completely turn the child off to school and to learning.

Dr. Body: The important thing to people in their twenties is making a great impression as they enter the adult social and working world. As women go from teens to young adulthood, you see many requesting larger breast sizes with greater projection, or how far in front the breasts go. Mating and dating are uppermost in that group’s mind.

Dr. Face: I read an interesting joint survey from the ASPS (American Society of Plastic Surgeons) and ASAPS (American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery) about the changes in what’s considered beautiful and desirable according to various age groups.

Dr. Body: What did they find?

Dr. Face: In the 30s, people are hitting their full stride but may notice some age-related changes. In the 20s, 30s and 40s virtually all people find a fit, well proportioned body attractive.  In the 50s, more people are concerned with youthful, unmarred skin.

Dr. Body: I recall seeing that article and have noticed the same thing among patients who come in, asking about various body procedures. People in their 30s who answered the quiz selected their hips and waists as the main concern. That would mean a lot of tummy tucks and hip liposuctions.

Dr. Face: Yet, men and women in their twenties, forties, fifties and sixties, list the face as their main concern. That would translate into skin care in the 20s, treating acne and acne scars. Dermabrasion, microdermabrasion or chemical peels are usually just the tickets for that. Facial fillers start becoming common in the 30s along with some face lifts, starting in the 40s with even more facial and neck rejuvenation in the 50s and 60s.

Dr. Body: As women get into their 40s, I see more requests for breast explant procedures or exchanging a large breast implant size for a smaller one. Those women are usually married with their dating days behind them so a large breast size has become a pain. Also starting with 40-year-old women, I see a lot of requests for breast lifts because they are experiencing some normal, age-related sagging. In the 60s, about 25 percent of patients are concerned about their abdomen and hips and only seven percent are concerned about the breasts.

Dr. Face:  Do any other parts of the body bother women in their 40s?

Dr. Body: Their families are usually complete by then so tummy tuck requests become common.

Dr. Face: Middle age, the mid-30s through the 50s are a time when many more people start asking for correction of double chins, sagging upper and lower eyelids and wrinkling.

Dr. Body: The motivation I hear across all age groups for having cosmetic plastic surgery is boosting self-confidence. In the 20s, the main reason is to attract a mate. But in the 30s and 40s, especially among men, the reason for rejuvenation surgery is increasing professional opportunities and looking energetic in the workplace. But by the 60s, the job was the second most common reason while making new friends had become first.

Dr. Face: Check out the beauty for life website at http://www.BeautyforLife.com and learn more about what your age group is doing to look better!

Dr. Linder often repairs other surgeons’ bungled breast  surgery. Look at some of Dr. Linder’s reconstructed breast augmentation before and after pictures.

Dr. Kotler also repairs facial plastic surgery that has not been done well elsewhere. Here are some of Dr. Kotler’s reconstructed nose job before and after pictures.

Doctors Face and Body (

Among eight other minor nips and tucks, Heidi had two major procedures done over, including:

• A revision rhinoplasty

• A breast augmentation revision

Revision surgeons go back and repair cosmetic plastic surgeries that weren’t done correctly the first time.

Dr. Kotler (who blogs as Dr. Face) and his erstwhile colleague, Dr. Linder (who blogs as Dr. Body) are both board-certified Beverly Hills cosmetic plastic surgery revision specialists.

As you might guess from their blogging names, Dr. Kotler performs surgeries of the face while Dr. Linder handles many breast and body cosmetic plastic surgery.

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Dr. Face: (Dr. Kotler) Of  the breast surgery revisions you do, doctor, is there a common mistake the doctor before you has made in the first surgery? And how many breast surgery revisions are you doing these days?

Dr. Body: (Dr. Linder) Yesterday was typical; of the six initial consultations, three patients wanted breast surgery revision because the first, second or even the third were not done correctly. I saw one woman several days ago whose breasts had been operated on five times – and all five were poorly performed! Overall, I would say half of my patients ask for breast revisions.

Dr. Face: What seems to be the problem with the surgeries before you perform your corrections?

Dr. Body: I see several problems. Daily, I see patients from all over the world whose previous surgeon started the procedure with an incision in the belly button or in the arm pit. The idea is to hide the resulting scar but the surgeon is starting too far away from the breast to create a good pocket and place the breast implants correctly.

Dr. Face: Do you see other common patterns that result in unhappy patients?

Dr. Body: I see quite a few “double bubble” patients. That happens when the implants break through the skin near the breast bone and roll together. Conversely, I also see many patients whose implants are so far apart, the patient has no cleavage. After healing, their breast augmentation looks like two grapefruit halves stuck to their chests.

Dr. Face: Well, what incision do you use to get good results and repair these bungled breast augmentations?

Dr. Body: I start with an incision in the areola region, the dark area surrounding the nipple. I favor that approach because I’m working and standing right over the breast and can more easily center and balance the implants to provide natural looking results. Additionally, the important structures in the chest – directly beneath the breasts — that must be operated on for a complete, proper placement of the implants are only two inches away. I can clearly see everything relating to the internal anatomy of the breast and chest.

Dr. Face: I also see many patients for a rhinoplasty revision surgery to provide a better looking nose and to make sure their breathing is good. The most common mistake I see? Previous surgeons taking away too much nasal tissue and, often, too much of the bones and cartilage inside the nose.

Dr. Body: You have such a small area to work in doctor; it must be like watch making or building ships in bottles!

Dr. Face: The situation is close to that, but there is another factor at work — it takes many years to realize how the passing years can affect a nose job. It’s almost like there are three people involved in a rhinoplasty – the patient, the surgeon and Mother Nature whose healing process can change or complement what I’ve done in surgery.

Dr. Body:  Well, how do you account for what the healing process is going to do?

Dr. Face: One, by being conservative during the surgery. I can always go back later and perform some refinement, if necessary. Two, if there are very minor imperfections surprisingly delivered by Mother Nature, we can often correct them in the office using filler injections instead of another surgery. I have read that as many as 25 percent of rhinoplasty patients across the board are not satisfied with their nose jobs. That explains why we are seeing a record number of patents requesting we re-do the work first done first elsewhere by more inexperienced surgeons.

Dr. Body: Being that the nose is a three-dimensional structure, some of the bones and cartilage inside the nose must be the equivalent of weight-bearing walls in a house.

Dr. Face:  That’s correct — the same thing can happen to a nose as to a house. If you remove too much of the weight bearing walls, the structure can collapse or partially cave in.

Dr. Body: Then what do you do?

Dr. Face: If it’s very serious, I can take donor tissue from the rib area or an ear and recreate the wall. But sometimes, if only a divot or scooped out area shows on the outside of the nose, I can avoid surgery altogether and, again, use injections of facial fillers to make the nose aesthetically pleasing once more.

Dr. Body: If you were a patient, what would you do to make sure your nose or breast augmentation was done correctly the first time?

Dr. Face: In addition to reading everything about a surgeon’s training and experience, I would check their websites for the number and type of revision surgeries performed. Because the surgeon who repairs the work of other surgeons surely knows how and where the mistakes are made and how to get it right the first time. So patients are well served to always search for the cosmetic plastic surgeon who is the most specialized and has the longest run of experience.

Look at  Dr. Kotler’s before and after rhinoplasty revision photos.

View Dr. Linder’s before and after breast augmentation revision pictures.