Plastic Surgery for Everyone

While 71 percent of potential plastic-surgery patients make under $60,000 annually, they are employing creative means to pay for the costly procedures. Dental assistant Lara Osborne, who earns $24,000 annually, paid for $5,500 breast-impact surgery by getting financial assistance from her mother and boyfriend and working overtime. Part-time postal worker Traycee Jones, who earns $31,000, wanted a $7,000 abdominoplasty after having three children, and was only able to do so by charging the procedure on a credit card that carries a 9.9 percent interest rate that she will be repaying until 2010. After returning from serving in Iraq, LaSaundra Stuckey, who is in her 40s and makes $60,000, decided to get breast implants, liposuction, and a tummy tuck, which cost $15,000. She received a 20 percent military discount for the procedures and paid for them with hazardous duty pay. Meanwhile, law-enforcement officer Cindy Nixon recently underwent a $15,200 face, brow, and neck lift. Although she makes around $100,000 per year, she still had to refinance her house to pay for the procedures. In addition, an anesthesiologist friend provided his services at no cost.