“Not the Results I Had Hope For.... my Butt is Almost Back to What It Was Before”

This was the most painful and uncomfortable thing I've ever been through. I've experienced childbirth, breast augmentation, a spinal tap, and a few other painful procedures in my life but nothing compared to the pain of the butt lift. I didn't start feeling relief until 10 days post op and even then it was still uncomfortable enough that I was still on pain meds. On top of all the pain I had terrible constipation from the pain meds and heartburn that I believe is from the garment being so tight and the fact that I had to lay flat all the time.

I'm 4 weeks post op and I waited this long to write a review because I was hoping that my opinion on the experience would improve once all the pain subsided and I saw the results. Unfortunately for the amount of money I paid and the pain I experienced I would have to say that this procedure was not worth it. There's only a small improvement from how I looked before (IMO mostly due to the lipo). I think that with just lipo to shape the surrounding areas I would have gotten similar results. I wanted a dramatic change and right after surgery I thought I might have it but as soon as the swelling started going down and days went by my butt got smaller and smaller.

Let me say that I DO NOT BLAME THE DR. I believe he did the best he could but for some reason my body just didn't seem to hold the fat. When I went in for my initial consultation he encouraged me to gain 20lbs in order to have enough fat to achieve my goal (I wanted a huge booty w a massive "shelf"). I gained 23lbs and was hopeful that there would be plenty of fat to give me the look I wanted but it just didn't work out. Now I'm very concerned because I'm still 20lbs over my normal weight and my butt is already almost back to what it was before so what will happen when I lose the 20lbs? All of this will have been for nothing. I also have a fat pocket on my side that is very noticeable.

I wish I had just remained my normal weight and gone into have a little lipo to shape the surrounding areas. It would have been a lot cheaper and less recovery time & effort.

My advice to anyone considering this procedure is think long and hard about whether or not you want to gamble with your money because even with a great Dr. there's no guarantee that you will get the results you want. I looked at so many before and after pictures on this site and others before I decided to have the surgery. There was one person's pictures in particular that I was so impressed with that it was the deciding factor for me. Unfortunately for me, my results did not come out like hers even though we had the same Dr and the same amount of CCs (she also paid a lot less). I guess you win some and lose some.

My understanding from what I've read is that what you see at 4 weeks is a pretty good indication of your results so I doubt I'm going to miraculously sprout a huge shelf at this point. All I can do is hope that some time down the road someone invents a less painful, less expensive procedure that has more of a guarantee for results. I have some photos that I would be willing to share through PM.

Updated on Jun 23, 2010:
I went to see the DR yesterday and I'm feeling more positive than when I wrote the first review. He assures me that there's still more swelling to go down and my "shelf" will look more defined when this happens. My before and after photos taken in his office look alot better than the ones I took at home. I was also able to go outside w/out my garment yesterday and I felt more confident in my jeans than I used to. I still feel like it could be bigger but as long as it doesn't shrink anymore I can live w the results I got. I'm still a little concerned about how it will look when I lose weight but I guess only time will will tell. I'll continue to update my progress. I also want to mention again that Dr Soto and his staff have been very helpful and caring through this whole process.

Updated on Jul 18, 2010:
It's been almost 2 months and I feel like it's shrunk a little more. IDK if it's because I'm getting used to it or it's actually smaller but either way it's not the "shelf" I had hoped for. When I went back to work everyone was asking to see it and I was kind of embarrassed cuz like me, everyone expected it to be bigger. I've only lost 2lbs so far so now I'm starting to worry that I'm going to stay this size. Thanks to the double mirrors in the dressing room at Target I've also noticed that I have some loose skin on my back just below my bra line on both sides. I can't tell if it's where it was lipoed so now the skin is loose, or if it just looks like it's loose because it's right above where the lipo was and now the fat is hanging over. It's something I need to ask the Dr about at my next appt. My goal now is to save money so I can hire a personal trainer to help me do some serious butt exercises. At this point I think my only hope to get more shelf is to do lots of squats everyday.

Updated on Aug 2, 2010:

I went to another follow up a few days ago and I guess this is it as far as size. My swelling has gone down in my back so my "shelf" isn't going to get any better. As far as the area on my back, I'm told that it is loose skin from the lipo so that sucks. I will be going back in a few weeks to have some work done on the area below my hip that has a dent in the skin. It should only take 30-45 minutes and I won't need anesthesia so that's good. There's still some issues with my scars that we need to discuss further and we'll do that at the next appt. I'm going to start taking pictures weekly because I'm convinced my butt is shrinking. Not that there's much I can do about it but at least if I take pics I know that it's not all in my head. Sorry if this update seems real negative but that's just how I'm feeling at this point. I had such a great expectation of how I would look and it just didn't work out.

Updated on Oct 17, 2010:
Getting the BBL was the WORST DECISION I'VE EVER MADE. I wanted a dramatic result and I got a very subtle one. Last month I went in to have that dent filled in that was on my side and I was awake and in pain the whole time. All I had was a local numbing solution but it burnt going in and didn't even numb the whole area so I could feel the sucking and scraping from the lipo needle. It was awful and it didn't even work, the dent is still there. As I mentioned in a prior post I have blue marks(looks like ink) in all my scars so now I have to go next month and get the blue marks cut out of my skin. YES...cut out of my skin...ugh :(

Overall I have more problems now with the way I look than I did before. I have awful looking scars, a dent on my side, loose skin and rippling on my back, and my belly looks lumpy not smooth. Oh and lets not forget that my butt isn't even close to as big/round as I wanted it.

MONEY DOWN THE DRAIN

Updated on 12 Feb 2012:
It's been a long time since I've been on this site. I try to stay away because everytime I get on here it depresses me. One positive thing I notice is that the price of the BBL seems to be dropping here in FL. I guess that's because more DR are now doing this procedure. Wish I had waited :(