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.

The Grand Canyon

Virtually all  plastic surgery patients of Stuart Linder, M.D. (who blogs as “Dr. Body”) and Robert Kotler, M.D. (“Dr. Face”) want to know how long their recuperative times after cosmetic plastic surgery will be.

According to Dr. Linder, (a Beverly Hills board-certified plastic surgeon) and Dr. Kotler (also a Beverly Hills board-certified cosmetic plastic surgeon) knowing recuperative times are important because international patients must have medical clearance before returning home or continuing on their travels in America.

Doctors Face and Body jointly belong to the following medical organizations:      

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

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Dr. Body: I don’t know about your international patients, but most of mine like to combine surgery and recovery with some sort of touring to see American sights like the Grand Canyon, Las Vegas or, in winter, Death Valley. So they like to know how much time is involved with recovery.

Dr. Face:  Same with my patients. Nose surgery patients are usually good to go between the 5^th and 7^th day; I ask most to wear a splint which protects the nose and leaves a nose like the surgeon shaped it.  But, that external splint  comes off on the 5^th day after surgery, along with the nasal packing and the inside-the-nose breathing tube. Most nose job patients look completely presentable in ten days although it can take up to a year for the nose to fully ripen and look even better.

Dr. Body: How about eyelift surgery?

Dr. Face: Our post op instructions for an upper eyelift lift mention that stitches are usually removed between the 4^th and 6^th days. Lower eyelid stitches, hidden behind the lower lid, are self-dissolving so no worries there. Most eyelid surgery patients can be seen in public again somewhere around the fifth to seventh day after surgery. Any leftover bruising or swelling is hidden by makeup or sunglasses. The upper eyelid surgery patients can back to work somewhere around the fifth to seventh day after surgery.Any leftover bruising or swelling is hidden by makeup or sunglasses. The upper eyelids incisions are hidden in existing creases and can hardly be seen in six weeks. We do ask, however, to hold off on strenuous exercise for 10 days.  We are concerned that exercise will jump the blood pressure which can cause more bruising and swelling.

Dr. Body: Having done about 14,000 breast implant operations, I usually know that my patients will be mad at me for one thing – I ask them to keep the breast area dry for at least 14 days — which means no showering.  Any stray bacteria on the skin can wash into the surgical incisions and create an infection. Breast augmentation patients also must not lift anything heavy (nor anything at all above their heads) for two months after surgery. I also recommend a bra with an under wire to support the new augmentation.

Dr. Face: The average infection rate in plastic surgery, year in, year out, is about 1 percent. Do you happen to know your breast surgery patients’ infection rate?

Dr. Body: Yes, 1/10^th of one percent. I credit that low rate to my “no shower” rule!

Dr. Face: How long before breast surgery patients can resume their regular activities?

Dr. Body: About six to eight weeks before exercising again.

Dr. Face: Many of my international face lift patients are also anxious to see the sights and enjoy some American plays and music. But from the get-go, I ask them to set aside seven  days for the surgery  and immediate recovery, before arranging any social or travel activities. A face lift also requires some post-surgery attention from the patient who sees me briefly the day after surgery for a short medical inspection and to change the dressing.  The surgical drains are removed on day three. On day four, the patient can shower after removing the dressings. Stitches come out on about the seventh day after surgery. At that point, swelling and bruising are at a minimum. By day 10, most patients are looking good and virtually all are good to go – including returning to work or traveling — at day 14. For facelifing, we also ask a hold on exercise or strenuous activity for three weeks. However, there is no prohibition on walking, a great exercise.

Dr. Body: A tummy tuck, or, abdominoplasty, is a more major procedure with a long incision across the abdomen. While the drains are removed at about day five, the patient can usually go back to work in about ten days. But the main thing is not lifting anything heavy or doing any abdominal or other vigorous exercises for at least two months. Typically, the scar resulting from a tummy tuck appears at its worse during the first several months post op. But the scar does lighten and become far less noticeable, in about a year. Tummy tuck scars are placed in locations that will later be covered by clothes, swim wear and underwear.

Dr. Face:  The breast reduction procedure also requires some external incisions, no?

Dr. Body: Yes. Within the first week, any drains will be removed. Bandages will also be changed. Within two weeks, mild exercise and non-strenuous work may be resumed, bruising will begin to fade, and swelling will go down. After a few months, the breasts settle into a more natural shape. As with any procedure, the cosmetic effects will take about a year before the final results are realized. Without the excess breast weight,  patients enjoy life much more, have far less pain and can participate in physical activities that were not possible before the procedure.

Dr. Body: The best tip to remember is asking your plastic surgeon not only how long it takes to recover but what should be done by the patient at home to promote healing. Patients can help themselves a lot.

Dr. Face: To facilitate that, most surgeons will print out directions for the patient to follow during the recuperative period.

Body: Do your best to comply; those instructions are for your benefit. After all, such directives are known as “doctor’s orders” and not, “doctor’s suggestions” for a reason!

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.

A doctor's comforting hand

Both the eminent Beverly Hills board-certified plastic surgeon Stuart Linder, M.D. (Dr. Body) and and the equally eminent Beverly Hills board-certified facial plastic surgeon Robert Kotler, M.D. (who blogs as Dr. Face) rely heavily on the sense of touch to produce rejuvenations that delight patients.

Often mentioned are the many extra years of training – four to seven years after medical school — required to become a board-certified cosmetic plastic surgeon.

Part of that education comes through hands-on experience that teaches a surgeon’s fingers and hands to walk their way around the human body, guided by the sense of touch.

Jointly, Doctors Face and Body belong to the following medical organizations, including:The American Academy of Facial Plastic Surgery and Reconstructive Surgery; the American Board of Plastic Surgery and The American Medical Association.

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Dr. Body (Dr. Linder:) I was thinking about the sense of touch yesterday while doing some liposuction. In liposuction, a plastic surgeon uses a long suction tool, known as a cannula, inserted through a very small incision in fatty areas. And the only way I know exactly how deep I am in the body is by the way the cannula feels in my hand. I can’t actually see inside the body. And there are three levels, or planes, within two inches under the skin where I remove fat.

Dr. Face (Dr. Kotler:) Can you tell if you are no longer thrusting the tool through fat?

Dr. Body:  Absolutely! It’s the sense of touch that lets me know I have left a fatty area and am approaching muscles with the tool. In fact, one of the dangers of liposuction in untrained hands is puncturing an internal organ with that long tool.

Dr. Face: So if you read that a physician trained in, say, radiology, is offering liposuction to the public after learning the technique in a weekend course, how do you react?

Dr. Body: My hair stands on end! The basic thought in my mind is “Yikes!”

Dr. Face:  With expert plastic surgery professors as your guide, how long did it take to learn it and then feel confident offering to your patients?

Dr. Body: A good six months to learn the technique and a couple more years to offer the procedure with confidence – and also to know when NOT to do it.

Dr. Face: In my area of plastic surgery – facial surgery – surgeons must often lift the skin from the underlying facial and neck muscles. That’s done over the cheekbone, jaw and neck regions. It must be done very diligently and carefully because vital nerves and blood vessels are just underneath.

Dr. Body: Is there an instrument that tells you when enough is enough?

Dr. Face:  Not exactly. After years of watching masters and doing basic general surgery, a facial plastic surgeon uses his or her thumb and forefinger to feel the skin’s thickness to gauge the level of dissection.

Dr. Body: What about the nose? You can’t lift all of that skin, can you?

Dr. Face: Again, the sense of touch tells you. The skin must be lifted from bone and cartilage, the skeleton, to modify the basic shape of the nose. In some nasal procedures, the bones of the bridge of the nose must be realigned while cartilage may need to be trimmed.

Dr. Body: Do you mean broken?

Dr. Face: Yes. And that is also done with thumb and forefinger which first feel the precise location. The other critical part is being able to visualize all the tiny and intricate structures of the nose in your mind. Again, that comes after years of training and experience.

Dr. Body: Breast augmentations and breast revisions are somewhat like that, too. No patient wants a large scar on her breast so we make the incision only as long as necessary and then rely on the sense of touch to know how much we can stretch the incision without tearing it. Then, we use our fingers to work the breast implant into the pocket and feel when it is positioned properly.

Of course, that incision must be a little larger for a silicone breast implant. We use a surgical tool to help with that but just the right amount of force must be applied. Just a tad too much and you may have an unhappy patient.

Dr. Face: Right! The last person we want to have a “Yikes!” moment is a patient!

Surgeons preparing for an operation

Two plastic surgeries at once? By two surgeons? Yes.

It’s extremely efficient for one patient to have two plastic surgery procedures by two rejuvenation surgeons — Drs. Linder and Kotler–during a single session.

It’s a common service offered by the eminent Beverly Hills board-certified cosmetic plastic surgeon Robert Kotler, M.D.  (who blogs as Dr. Face) and Beverly Hills board certified plastic surgeon Stuart Linder, M.D (the Dr. Body blogger) tell why it’s to a patient’s advantage to have several cosmetic plastic surgeries in one session when he or she wants procedures of the face and body.

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Dr. Face (Dr. Kotler):  We’ve already talked a great deal about how a patient is well served by seeing a superspecialist cosmetic plastic surgeon, one who specializes in just a handful of procedures and performs them at least weekly, if not daily.

Dr. Body (Dr. Linder): Because that surgeon performs the procedure so often, he or she is swift and efficient. That leads to less bruising, bleeding and soreness so healing is usually quicker.

Another benefit is that surgeon has seen all the wrinkles in a particular surgery. For instance, one rare complication of breast surgery is when a patient’s breast implants roll together under the skin. Known as symastia, many refer to it as a “uniboob” deformity.  It is extremely difficult to repair but many cases are referred to me because I specialize in surgery of the breast.

(See a picture of a breast augmentation that resulted in symastia.)

Dr. Face:  The two surgeon approach translates to a savings of time, money and convenience.  Two cosmetic plastic surgeons teaming up to do their respective cosmetic surgery work during one operation equals one session under anesthesia, one charge for the M.D.-anesthesiologist and one recovery and healing period. Not to mention one stay in Beverly Hills if you have traveled here from abroad as many of our patients do.

Dr. Body: Recently, a patient wanted to have liposuction of the body and cosmetic nasal surgery as well as some surgery inside the nose to correct and improve her breathing. Of course, we can’t work simultaneously. So I go first because liposuction requires vigorous movement, using long, thin tools through fatty areas of the body and that creates a little jostling. Dr. Face’s nasal surgery, however, is extremely delicate and the patient cannot be jostled.

Dr. Face: As you may know, I specialize in cosmetic procedures of the head and – on a daily basis — perform rhinoplasty and other nose surgery, face lift, eyelid lift, ear pinning, or otoplasty plus nonsurgical wrinkle removal. I was trained in all aspects of  face and neck plastic surgery but limit my practice to just the cosmetic procedures, including revision rhinoplasty.

Dr. Body: I, on the other hand, only perform procedures of the body and specialize in breast surgery, including breast surgery revision and reduction – for both men and women – plus liposuction and tummy tuck. Revision breast surgery is also one of my specialties.

Dr. Face: When the patient goes under anesthesia, one or the other of us will do our procedure and then step aside for the other surgeon. The anesthesia time considered safe in cosmetic plastic surgery is up to ten hours.

Dr. Body: But because we are both highly focused specialists, the total time for our joint procedures is usually somewhere around two and one-half hours.

Dr. Face: There are over 125 different plastic surgery procedures. It’s impossible for any one surgeon to master them all. Plastic surgeons are becoming ever more specialized. For  instance, some do only plastic surgery of the hand while still others only do reconstructive surgery.

Dr. Body:  In fact, all of American medicine is becoming extremely superspecialized.  While some surgeons specialize in chest surgery, others specialize in heart surgery only. Some eye surgery specialists only perform surgery on the retina while others limit their practice to cataract surgery.

Dr. Face: Today,  some heart surgeons super specialize in one area like the coronary arteries while another will specialize in operating on heart values.

Dr. Face: I know superspecialization is great for the patient because I was a surgical patient not long ago.

Dr. Body: What did you have?

Dr. Face:  I needed a hernia repair and choose a surgeon who does nothing but hernia repair. A neighbor of mine had the same procedure but went to a general surgeon who does many other operations.

Result? I was hiking  the next day! But my neighbor took weeks to recover.

Look at Dr. Body’s before and after breast augmentation pictures.

See Dr. Face’s before and after rhinoplasty (nose job) pictures.