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Plastic Surgeons Salute 'Baywatch'

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It used to take weeks for recovery. "Now, I tell them they can drive in three days and work out in two weeks," he said. "There just isn't the inconvenience there once was."

The Gift of Lifts

Folks shopping for plastic surgery in the post-Baywatch era will find a new marketplace, where doctors are working at a pace reminiscent of a McDonald's kitchen. Dr. Leonard Roudner of Florida told The Associated Press he averages five breast jobs a day and is widely known as "Dr. Boobner" for his steady business. His office says he's booked solid for the next few months.

And some men think nothing says "I love you" better than a gift of saline breast implants.

"Over the years, I've had a steady stream of boyfriends and husbands coming into the office to purchase a breast implant procedure for their spouse or girlfriend for Valentine's Day," said Dr. Franklin Rose of Houston.

"This year looks to be an especially busy year," Rose added. "It's been a cold, rainy winter and I think people are looking forward to putting on a swimsuit and heading to the beach."

Rose, who has performed more than 4,000 silicone and saline-gel breast implant procedures, says it's almost always the women who suggest the gift. But it's a delicate matter. If a guy brings up the subject at the wrong moment, his sweetie may end up performing ad-hoc surgery on his face.

Still, other women may be grateful to have the subject on the table. "For many women, breast implants are something they secretly want but they're just too embarrassed to take the plunge and get them," Rose said. "In many cases, it's the fulfillment of a lifelong dream."

Were these ladies traumatized by the site of perfect bods on Baywatch? Rose says women were bombarded with bodacious body images long before Baywatch hit it big. The show, however, did have an undeniable impact.

"The big breasts, small hips, perfect buttocks look goes back to Barbie and before," he said. "Baywatch was a part of that, however. A big part."

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