Sex wasn't what Lori Driscoll had in mind when she opted to have a tummy tuck and a breast lift a year ago.

It just proved to be an extra, added benefit.

Since the operation last February, "I have a more positive attitude," said Ms. Driscoll, 35, of White Oak. "I wear nicer, sexier clothes. I catch my husband looking at me and I like that. He touches me more.

"I have bonded more closely with my husband sexually," she said. "It's been just a really, really good thing."

It doesn't require a big leap of imagination to suggest that cosmetic surgery, such as breast augmentation, face lifts and liposuction, might translate into an improved sex life. Greater sex appeal, after all, would seem to be a motivating factor for many, if not most, cosmetic procedures.

Still, it begs the question of whether these procedures really do translate into a better sexual relations, as they did for Ms. Driscoll.

A new study by Pittsburgh plastic surgeon Dr. Guy M. Stofman, appearing in the January-February issue of the Aesthetic Surgery Journal, offers an emphatic answer:

Oh, you betcha.

A survey of 70 of Dr. Stofman's cosmetic surgery patients found that more than 80 percent of women who had breast augmentation and 50 percent who had body contouring procedures, such as liposuction, said they had enjoyed greater sexual satisfaction following surgery. More than half wore more provocative clothing and about 70 percent of those undergoing breast procedures or body contouring said their partners were more sexually satisfied.

About a third of the breast patients and half of the body patients said they were better able to achieve orgasm. Many indicated they were more open to trying new sexual positions following surgery.

"I don't think any of them in the back of their mind think that [sex] is a primary reason to do this," said Dr. Stofman, who conducted the survey with Dr. Timothy S. Neavin and his other surgical residents at Mercy Hospital. Most people -- men and women -- seeking cosmetic surgery are doing so because they want to feel better about themselves, because they want a better self-image, he said.

"This is just another perk," he added.

Patients who underwent facial procedures, such as face lifts and nose jobs, were less likely to report an enhanced sex life following surgery, but they also were an older group -- most in the 51 to 60 age group -- compared with those undergoing breast and body procedures, who generally fell in the 41 to 50 age group.

The findings are hardly surprising, Dr. Stofman acknowledged. From his experience, people who undergo cosmetic procedures feel happier and more confident. "The clothes change, the shoulders are back, their personas change," he said. That this improved self-confidence leads to more and better sexual activity is not hard to believe.

But Dr. Kenneth C. Shestak, chief of plastic surgery at UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital, said Dr. Stofman's study is enlightening nonetheless because few surgeons have frank post-surgical discussions with their patients about such intimate matters. And few scientific studies have addressed the impact of cosmetic surgery on sexual quality.

"I think this is a very provocative study," he said. "They were very imaginative and did a good job of putting the questionnaire together."

To some extent, the process by which a good plastic surgeon evaluates patients for cosmetic surgery should ensure that most will be happy with the results. "Really skilled cosmetic surgeons spend a lot of time listening to patients, understanding where they're coming from and what they want to get out of it," he explained. Good surgeons won't do cosmetic surgery if the patient doesn't have realistic expectations of what it can achieve.

In other words, cosmetic surgery isn't necessarily going to make an unhappy person happy. So even if a survey of Dr. Stofman's patients shows that they generally enjoyed greater sexual satisfaction, that doesn't mean that similar results would occur for anybody from the general population who underwent cosmetic surgery.

The anonymous surveys were sent to 330 of Dr. Stofman's patients who underwent cosmetic procedures in 2001 and 2002. Seventy -- all of them female -- responded. Men, he suggested, tend to be more apathetic about such surveys, but other studies have shown that they enjoy the same improvements in self-esteem and body image as women.

The researchers found that women undergoing body enhancing surgery weren't much more likely than those receiving facial enhancements to have sex more frequently. But 73 percent of the body patients reported more sexual satisfaction, compared to 37 percent of the facial patients. Two-thirds of the body patients perceived that their partners were more satisfied, compared to 37 percent of the facial patients.

A whopping 88 percent of the women undergoing shape-enhancing surgery said they wore more revealing clothing after surgery and 41 percent of those patients said they were trying more unconventional sexual positions.

Understanding how cosmetic surgery affects the lifestyle of patients is growing important as the popularity of cosmetic surgery increases, Dr. Shestak said.

"In the last 10 and certainly 15 years, cosmetic surgery has really come out of the closet," he explained. "Good cosmetic surgery -- well-done cosmetic surgery -- can have very powerful psychological and emotional effects on patients."

Ms. Driscoll said she sought cosmetic surgery to deal with the aftermath of childbearing. She had two children, back to back, soon after she was married 13 years ago and gained 100 pounds on her five-foot-10-inch frame, boosting her to 255 pounds.

After many attempts at dieting, she eventually was able to get down to 190 pounds, "but I was at a standstill. I just couldn't do any more." What's more, she had folds of loose skin that she found embarassing. "I would go out of our room to change my clothes at night," not wanting her husband to see her. "I was just very insecure."

But the tummy tuck and breast lift by Dr. Stofman removed the pounds she couldn't lose and tightened up what was left. "He just made me look absolutely incredible," she said.

She felt better about herself, as she had expected. But she hadn't anticipated that it would rejuvenate what had become a routine sex life. Now, no longer inhibited by how she looks, she enjoys sexual relations "not just with the lights out, but during the day, anytime we're together."

"I thought this was just for me," to increase her self-esteem, she said. "I never thought I would make out in two ways."