Patient: Cosmetic surgery boosts confidence

Alicia Hunter, a single 43-year-old mother of two, had breast augmentations, weight loss treatment and a few "tweaks of Botox™" after she separated from her husband.

She told ABC News: "If I hadn't lost weight and done some tweaking, I don't think I would ever set foot outside the house.

"I don't think I would have the guts to go out and be in the dating scene."

But Ms Hunter is clearly not alone, with a recent survey from the Transform Cosmetic Group suggestion that more than a quarter of patients visiting their surgeries are newly divorced women.

In response to the news, Dr Marina Peredo, a dermatologist who has herself had cosmetic surgery after a divorce, told ABC that the treatments allow women to feel like they are "doing something for themselves for a change" after years of as a wife and mother.

Cosmetic surgery news : 17 May 2011