What is this procedure?
A buttock or ‘bum lift’ is surgery undertaken to remove excess skin from the buttocks which firms and tightens them. This will result in a higher, toned set of buttocks which will greatly enhance your appearance. A buttock lift can treat cellulite, stretch marks following childbirth and poor quality skin in general. This surgery can be performed with other cosmetic procedures such as thigh lift and abdominoplasty. This surgery can also be undertaken on your inner thighs which are equally prone to sagging and poor skin tone. The buttocks can also be enhanced by implantation. This is called ‘gluteal augmentation’ and involves the surgeon inserting silicone implants underneath, or on top of the buttock muscles. These help to shape and define the buttocks.
A Brazilian butt lift is a specialized fat transfer procedure that augments the size and shape of the buttocks without implants. Excess fat is removed from the hips, abdomen, lower back, or thighs with liposuction, and a portion of this fat is then strategically injected into the buttocks. A skilled cosmetic surgeon can improve the proportions of the entire lower body with Brazilian butt lift surgery, helping a patient lose fat in common “problem areas” and enhance the buttocks, with results lasting many years.
Buttock augmentation, or gluteal augmentation, is used to improve the contour, size and/or shape of the buttocks. This is done through the use of buttock implants, fat grafting or sometimes a combination of the two. Buttock implants are silicone-filled devices that are surgically placed deep within the tissues of the buttock. Buttock augmentation through the use of fat grafting involves the transfer of fat from one area of the body into the tissues of the buttocks. This technique is sometimes referred to as a Brazilian Butt Lift.
Who needs this procedure?
Patients may have a variety of reasons for requesting a Brazilian butt lift. You may be an excellent candidate for this procedure if you:
- Have achieved a stable weight
- Seek to add volume to your backside
- Want to give your buttocks a perkier and rounder shape
- Possess realistic expectations for this procedure
A Brazilian butt lift can be a great option to improve the shape and size of the buttocks; however, certain patients are better suited to the procedure, and it is important to have realistic expectations about the surgery, recovery, and results. In general, you are likely a good candidate for a Brazilian butt lift if you agree with the following:
- You want a buttock augmentation without implants
- You have good skin tone in the hips and buttocks
- You have adequate fat stores in other areas to harvest for injection into the buttocks
- You are willing and able to avoid sitting directly on your buttocks for several weeks
Despite its name, a Brazilian butt lift is not a traditional “lifting” procedure—it does not address loose skin on the buttocks. If you are bothered by excess, sagging skin on the buttocks or thighs, thigh & buttock lift surgery may be a more suitable option.
You may be a good candidate for buttock enhancement if:
- You are physically healthy
- You have realistic expectations
- You are bothered by the feeling that your butt is too small
- You are unhappy with the roundness or general shape of your butt
- Your butt is asymmetrical
What is the advantage of this procedure?
Brazilian butt lift gives you the lifted, shapelier buttocks you wish you had been born with. Doctor uses techniques to lift skin and tissue to create a perkier, lifted butt. A Brazilian butt lift has some obvious benefits and some you may not expect. They include:
- Increased confidence
- A more round, lifted butt
- More taut, contoured skin
- Better-fitting jeans, skirts, dresses, and underwear
- A more proportionate shape
Patients seeking rejuvenation of their backside have reported a number of benefits from their Brazilian butt lift, including:
- Improved or restored volume
- Lift of the lower buttocks
- Better shape and contour
- Less visibility of cellulite
- Clothing looks and fits better
- Greater satisfaction and confidence with appearance
- Better body proportion especially when combined with tummy tuck or liposuction
- The Procedure Will Improve Your Body’s Proportions
The most common reason people undergo a Brazilian butt lift procedure is to improve their body’s proportions.
The injections enhance your butt, offering you the figure you’ve always wanted. This procedure also reshapes your butt allowing you to modify the natural curvature of your body. This means you can go for an hourglass figure or simply make your buttocks bigger. The choice is completely yours. If you’re one of the many people who live a healthy lifestyle but can’t achieve your ideal body shape, a BBL could be the way to go. - BBL’s Reduce Fat Pockets in Other Parts of Your Body
Aside from making your butt bigger, higher, and more shapely, you’ll also lose unwanted fat from other areas of your body. During the procedure, surgeons make use of the fat you already have. They take it from other parts of your body and re-inject into your buttocks. Some of the areas they may take it from include your: Hips, Stomach, Thighs, Love handles. With a BBL, you lose fat from areas where you don’t want it and put it on where you do, i.e. your bum. It’s a win-win situation. - Brazilian Butt Lifts Have a Natural Look and Feel
Implants and artificial fillers can lead to unnatural looking results. This is especially true if your body shape changes. For example, if you lose weight or put it on. A BBL is the only procedure that uses real fat deposits from your body to achieve your dream shape. This means that the results are natural both in look and feel. Plus, if you lose weight or workout your butt in the gym, your body shape will change accordingly. - You’ll Get Quick Results
Are you sick and tired of spending hours in the gym every week to no avail? If so, a Brazilian butt lift sounds like the right procedure. A Brazilian butt lift is a quick procedure that offers results in a matter of hours. Instead of reaching your squat count every day, you’ll spend 2 to 3 hours in surgery. Better yet, you’ll only have to do it once to get the results you want. - Your Clothing Will Be More Flattering
There are some items of clothing that just look better with a bigger and rounder butt. You may have a pair of flairs you know would look better with a larger bottom. You may also have a dress that goes in at the waistline. Whatever it is, why not get a Brazilian but lift? Aside from looking better in your clothes, you’ll feel more confident. - It’s a Safe Form of Butt Enhancement
There are many reports of plastic surgery going wrong for various reasons. Many who want a larger butt do so at the expense of proper research. Because money is tight, they go for the cheapest plastic surgeons. Unfortunately, they can end up with a plethora of health issues. Injections limit the possible health risks. You won’t be at risk of incision ruptures. Also, a BBL does more than add volume to your butt, it reshapes it. Additionally, implants tend to feel like tight muscles. Injections, on the other hand, add fat to your butt. With this procedure, your butt will feel softer and more natural. Not only this, the procedure doesn’t involve inserting any foreign objects into your body. This means that the chances of rejection and infection are lower. - Cellulite Is Less Visible
While your butt will feel soft it will also be firmer and fuller. This means that it will help reduce any visible cellulite you may have. Also, because the procedure lifts your buttocks it can help reduce the cellulite on your thighs. With a BBL procedure, your legs and butt will look toned. They’ll also look more shapely rather than dimpled from cellulite.
Are there non-surgical treatments?
The old way of
Option three is your non-invasive route to a plumper posterior. For the non-surgical butt-lift, a plastic surgeon injects your buttocks with a filler — specifically Sculptra. What it’s doing is inducing your own collagen to grow around the product.” In other words, rather than hyaluronic acid fillers, which basically just pump more volume into your skin, Sculptra triggers an inflammatory response in your body. As part of that, you create a combination of scar tissue and fresh collagen.
Collagen Stimulating Injections or Filler Injections
Many people seeking the non-surgical options to a Brazilian Butt Lift often inquire about Brazilian butt injections. These are technically referred to as collagen injections, which are comprised of poly-L-lactic acid. It is injected just below the skin and is intended for use in people with healthy immune systems as a one-time treatment regimen of up to four injection sessions that are scheduled about one month apart. The poly-L-lactic acid helps stimulate your skin’s own natural collagen production to help restore its inner structure and increase volume that has been lost to aging. However, the change is subtle and takes place over time, gradually thickening the skin up to four times thicker, which is the main source of the enhancement. The final results will be seen after several months and will last two to three years. Some of the main drawbacks of this option are that it is not a permanent or dramatic change. Secondly, it is very costly with the promise of only minimal to moderate results. However, this Brazilian butt lift injection is still popular because it is a non-surgical procedure—usually taking only about thirty minutes—there is no need for anesthesia, and there is essentially no downtime afterwards. You can go back to work or about your normal routine immediately.
Skin Tightening Lasers
Another option for improving the appearance of your buttocks is the use of skin tightening lasers and technology. This methodology is exactly what it sounds like. It uses skin tightening lasers and technologies to tighten the buttocks skin and stimulate collagen production to create a fuller, rounder and more lifted appearance. As women age, they produce less estrogen and collagen, and the skin loses elasticity. This technology combats that with non-invasive procedures that offer noticeable results that typically last a few years. This technique does not allow you to modify the natural shape of your back end, but it does help to restore it back to its more youthful, shapely form. This improvement takes time, though, because it relies heavily on the gradual increase in collagen. It may be a three to six months before you see your final results.
Popular methodologies that employ this technology are Thermage, Ultherapy, and Titan therapies. There is some variance between each of these therapies, but the overall goals and procedures are similar, and none of them require much, if any, downtime.
Brazilian Butt Lift Compression Garment
Brazilian Butt underwear: This is a quick way to augment the appearance of your bum—without actually augmenting it. In this case, the Brazilian Butt lift garment is a great option.
Exercise: There are specific exercises you can do to enlarge your gluteal muscles and give your backend a more natural lift. However, these results are gradual and are dependent on your consistent and long-term effort. The many recommendations are below: Brazilian Butt squats, Brazilian Butt lunges, Brazilian Butt Massage, Brazilian Butt training, Brazilian Butt Lift band.
Brazilian Butt Diet
Supplements: Some supplements claim they can steer your body to store more fat on your hips and butt. However, it’s important to note that these claims have not been verified by any clinical studies to prove their efficacy.
Other Options
In addition, you can try some at-home avenues, such as: Topical creams: There are creams that have been formulated to plump up your fat cells over time, which creates a small enhancement to the size of your butt.
There are many things to consider when you’re choosing which option is going to be the best fit with your long-term goals and desires. While we definitely recognize the BBL to be the safest and most attractive procedure, we also know that it is not always an option for all of our patients.
What is the surgical treatment like local or sedation?
There are many things to consider when you’re choosing which option is going to be the best fit with your long-term goals and desires. While we definitely recognize the BBL to be the safest and most attractive procedure, we also know that it is not always an option for all of our patients.
Since no general anesthesia is used in BBLULA, the patients are awake. Local anesthesia is then carefully injected into both the areas where fat is to be removed and used for numbing. In contrast to the sleep patient under general anesthesia who is completely non-responsive, the patient acts as the best possible monitor reducing the chances of complications.
Advantages of BBLULA: No implant related risks, Minimal side effects, Minimal downtime, No hospital stay, faster recovery, Minimal scarring and discomfort, Soft consistency of the skin.
What is the recovery like?
Recovery time is about four weeks, with most patients being cleared to go back to work within 1-2 weeks after surgery. It is additionally required to have someone accommodate you for the first twenty-four hours.
The full length of recovery after a Brazilian butt lift, from the date of the procedure to the time that swelling has fully subsided and the final results are visible, is approximately two months. However, there are steps to look forward to along the way. Bruising and discomfort should subside within one to two weeks after surgery. Most patients can resume work and limited sitting after three weeks, and many can recommence light to moderate exercise after four weeks. Most major swelling will subside after six weeks. The final results are typically visible by two months after surgery, which means that after only two months, your recovery will be completed in its entirety.
How long does it take?
A Brazilian butt lift involves three basic steps:
Fat is removed from the hips, lower back, thighs, abdomen, and/or other areas with liposuction The extracted fat is purified and prepared for transfer. The cosmetic surgeon injects fat into specific points on the buttocks to increase volume and improve shape .
Surgery is typically performed as an outpatient procedure, using general anesthesia or intravenous sedation and local anesthesia. It is typical for a portion of the injected fat not to “take” in its new location—an experienced cosmetic surgeon will take this into account and may initially inject a slightly greater amount of fat into the buttocks than is needed to ensure your final results most closely achieve your goals.
How long has it been around?
It is worth remembering that while genetics play a role, a healthy lifestyle with a balanced diet and sufficient exercise can also help to maintain the appearance of the skin. Avoiding smoking and limiting alcohol intake, stress, sun exposure, and contact with pollutants can all help extend the youthful appearance of skin. The same habits can help maintain the effects of facelift surgery.
Are there non-surgical treatments?
Several surgeons experimented with grafting fat to the buttocks, but the credit for the procedure’s invention is usually given to Brazilian plastic surgeon Dr. Ivo Pitanguy. The author of more than 2000 peer-reviewed medical studies, Dr. Pitanguy is arguably the most famous plastic surgeon from Brazil and has made wide-ranging contributions to the field of aesthetic plastic surgery. He became a celebrity in his native Brazil, owned an island where he performed his cosmetic surgery, and died one day after carrying the Olympic flame through Rio de Janeiro in 2016 at 93 years of age.
Dr. Pitanguy first described a related surgical technique to correct buttock ptosis or sag in a 1964 edition of the well-regarded medical journal Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery. Other surgeons also experimented with buttock implant placement in the latter decades of the 20th century, at first using breast implants in the buttocks. Fat grafting to the buttocks, the modern day Brazilian Butt Lift, gained more widespread practice in the 1980s. Dr. Pitanguy published research on aesthetic surgery of the gluteal region in 1971 and 1984, and we found reference to other surgeons using the fat grafting technique starting in 1985.
However, before the year 2000, the procedure was relatively uncommon. The American Society of Plastic Surgeons only began keeping statistics on it in 2000. Since then and especially after 2010, buttock augmentation has seen an explosive growth in popularity. Arguably due to celebrities such as Jennifer Lopez and Kim Kardashian, aesthetic surgery ideals have shifted towards larger, fuller buttocks in recent years, with a research study in June 2016 in the journal of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery formalizing that finding.
What are the complications?
Although it’s considered the safest way to alter the shape of your butt cosmetically, there are still some risks involved because it is an invasive surgery that requires anesthesia. There is a small risk for infection, hematoma and seroma formation, but these risks are greatly reduced as you follow the thorough post-op instructions provided.
Any surgical procedure has some risks. According to the ASPS, the risks associated with fat transfer buttock augmentation include:
- Bruising
- Stretch marks
- Infection
- Blood clots
- Excessive blood loss
- Cardiac and pulmonary complications
- Deep vein thrombosis
- Fat embolism (fat is injected into the bloodstream and travels to the lungs)
- Complications associated with liposuction or anesthesia
- Necrosis of fat or surrounding tissue
What can you do to speed up recovery?
10 Ways To Maximize BBL Results
- Wearing the right garments
- Feed the fat
- Creative sleeping
- No driving
- Sit on your thighs
- No smoking
- Exercise starting around week 8
- PRP/Stem Cells
- Stay Hydrated
- Keep a stable weight
Having an operation on the buttocks requires some special modifications during recovery. While pain is typically minimal and easily controlled through pain medication, you will not be allowed to sit or lie directly on your buttocks for about 2 weeks after a Brazilian butt lift.
During this time, you will need to sleep on your stomach or side, and either lie this way or stand for all activity except using the toilet. When you are ready, your cosmetic surgeon will allow you to sit in a modified position, using a “donut” seat or placing a pillow under your thighs to avoid pressure on the buttocks. Normal sitting activity is typically allowed after 8 weeks or so.
Given you follow your cosmetic surgeon’s instructions, you should be able to resume light daily activities within 1 week after surgery and return to work within 10 to 14 days.
Do you need to rest up afterwards and for how many days?
- On the day of the procedure, make arrangements for someone to drive you home after surgery.
- Immediately after the procedure, you may experience some drainage from the incisions. It can be controlled with the aid of drainage tubes.
- Patients may experience some bruising and swelling after surgery.
- You should avoid driving or sitting on your buttocks
- Patients may return to work or school after 3 weeks. Avoid vigorous physical exercise for about 6 weeks after surgery.
- In some cases, it may take up to 6 to 8 months for swelling to completely subside
FIRST WEEK
Potentially significant swelling and bruising, therefore, patients may choose to avoid others in a social or professional setting.
SECOND WEEK
Bruising will begin to subside, but patients will still experience swelling.
THIRD WEEK
The overall appearance and swelling will improve greatly. Patients can typically resume their normal, day-to-day activities.
FOURTH WEEK
By this time, the swelling will have subsided enough for you to begin to appreciate your beautiful new curved shape. However, some swelling may persist for a few more weeks.
Before & After Gallery
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Body Procedures
Mommy Makeover | Liposuction | Brazilian Butt Lift | Gluteal Implants | Tummy Tuck (Abdominoplasty) | Arm Lift (Brachioplasty) | Vein Treatments | Weight Loss Surgery