What Are the Options for Butt Enhancement?
Women all over the world want bigger butts. The ISAPS tracks cosmetic surgery procedures around the world. According to their surveys1, the number of Buttock Augmentation procedures has increased by more than 450% during the period between 2010 and 2016! The Brazilian Butt Lift has become one of the most popular treatments that we offer at Imagen Body Sculpting! But are there other options for augmenting your backside?
(BBL) Brazilian Butt Lift
The Brazilian Butt Lift (BBL) was first introduced by Ivo Pitanguy of Brazil. This innovative procedure involves the harvest of unwanted deposits of fat from the abdomen and love handles and then placement of the fat into areas where you desire more volume. The beautiful thing about a Brazilian Butt Lift is that it can be completely customized to the desires of the patient. Want more volume in the upper buttocks? Done. Want curvier hips? Done. Want more volume all over? Done. The fat can even be used to fill deep dimples of cellulite. Sounds great, right? But what if you don’t have enough fat for a Brazilian Butt Lift?
Butt Implants
Similar to silicone implants used for breasts, buttocks implants are possible. However, because of the pressure on the area and large muscle groups with frequent movement, butt implants are at a high risk for moving or flipping. The butt implants can also cause pressure on the nerves that supply your legs, causing pain or loss of function or sensation. Many thin patients ask us about buttocks implants, but for these reasons we don’t recommend them.
Dermal Fillers
Most of the dermal fillers are too expensive to realistically be used for augmentation of the buttocks. They are supplied in 1mL syringes, which cost between 500-800 per syringe depending on the product used. Most of our BBL patients need at least a liter of fat grafted to see any significant change in their shape. That means that butt enhancement with fillers would cost $500,000 to $800,000…all for a product that will only last a couple of years…yikes!
Sculptra
Sculptra is a different type of “filler.” This has been used with good success in patients who don’t have enough fat to harvest for BBL. This is a no down time procedure which involves injecting Sculptra solution into the buttocks which then leads to collagen production, causing buttock augmentation. The butt enhancement is typically less than what could be obtained with a BBL and the results are likely temporary. Sculptra in the face has a duration of 2 years typically, however given the larger volumes used for the buttocks it is likely that this procedure will have a longer duration.
Silicone
There are horror stories of patients who have had terrible outcomes after being injected with unapproved substances like silicone, rubber cement or other products not intended for this use. Always be sure to talk with your surgeon about the specific products being used and ask about their record of complications. Remember…if they say they have NEVER had any complications, they haven’t done enough procedures.
So should you gain weight?
A common question from patients without enough fat for a BBL is whether they should gain weight to be able to have the procedure. I typically don’t recommend that. If you intend to lose the weight again after your Brazilian Butt Lift, your newly transplanted cells will shrink, diminishing the results of the procedure. Unless you intend to keep the weight on after the procedure, it doesn’t make sense to gain weight just to be able to have a Brazilian Butt Lift.
Jennifer Tighe de Soto, MD is a cosmetic surgeon who is board certified through the American Academy of Aesthetic Medicine. For more advice from Dr. de Soto on butt augmentation or other aesthetic treatments please visit www.omahaliposuction.com where you can read her blog and see before and after photos of actual patients. If there’s a topic you would like to see us cover in a blog, please Contact Us.
References:
1. https://www.isaps.org/medical-professionals/isaps-global-statistics/
