Which is the safer option - Brazilian butt lift or butt implants?

I personaly think that fat grafting is a better option, if available. Even in patients with low BMI, like yours, it is, most frequently, possible to harvest enough fat grafts for meaningful buttock augmentation/shaping. Only on the basis of in person consultation, a board certified plastic surgeon with significant experience in buttock augmentation can discuss these two options in more details. Good luck.

Allow me to answer your question as best i can without any photos. However, please keep in mind that an in-person, or at least a virtual, consultation with physical exam is first necessary before any legitimate evaluation or final surgical recommendations can be made. Nonetheless, with a BMI of 21, indeed you are not even a candidate for BBL, period. Please read on.

There are currently only two FDA approved surgical options for augmenting the buttock/hip area: 1) Buttock and cosmetic Hip Implants (which are soft semi-solid silicone rubber implants that cannot rupture &/or leak) and 2)Brazilian Butt Lift (aka BBL) - which utilizes the patients own fat from liposuction then transfers this fat into the buttock. On the other hand, BBL using Sculptra is a dangerous waste of money and is NOT FDA approved. and/or hips and . So what it comes down to, like any surgery, is proper patient selection and long-term results. Implants provide the only guarantee for a sustained permanent result and tend to be ideal for perking up not only lean or deflated buttocks but also providing substantial projection to any butt, which is what every single patient wants.

Unfortunately, fat typically melts away leaving disappointing results after 12 months, often sooner. Unless your BBL surgeon is injecting only 200 to 300 ccs of fat into each buttock cheek, a large percentage of that fat is going to die. Dead fat leads to dents and dimpling like cellulite, unevenness, loss of projection, and fatty necrotic oil cysts which are hard marbles and can be very tender
Unfortunately, because ~70+ % of the fat transferred will melt away within a year, most patients are not good candidates for BBL because they lack an adequate amount of fat to harvest. Beware, if a surgeon asks you to purposely gain weight (i.e. fat) before BBL, know that the fat you lose first as you get back to your baseline weight after surgery is that very same fat that was transferred into your buttock, hence your new buttock shrinks first, the fastest, and the most...so please do not fall victim to this recommendation. Even those patients that had adequate amounts of fat pre-operatively, still end up seeking buttock implants after a year or so because most of the fat transferred melted away leaving them with minimal result. The one very serious complication that can rarely happen is "fat embolism" in which some of the fat gets into the blood stream and travels up into the lungs, heart, and/or brain causing death in about 1 out of every 5000 -20,000 patients, currently the highest death rate for any cosmetic surgical procedure. This complication is more likely to happen with the larger amount of fat being transferred. This is even more likely to happen when using fillers like liquid silicone, PMMA, Sculptra, and hyaluronic acids.

Fillers such as Sculptra are cost prohibitive, provided enough volume is injected (i.e. at least 400 cc of active ingredient costing over $300,000) and last only 12 - 18 months. So, if you're looking for a reliable, predictable, and long-term permanent option that also provides projection in the central buttock, buttock and hip implants are your solution. Please note that an extremely few number of board certified plastic surgeons specialize in buttock or hip implants, so you may need to travel far and away from home to find this particular surgeon. Glad to help.

They are both relatively safe procedures as long as you choose a board certified plastic surgeon for your procedure. With that being said, how to choose… if you have an additional 10 pounds that’d you’d like to get rid of, go for the bbl. You’d get the booty you want and snatched abdomen or thighs or wherever you choose the fat to come from. If you are happy with the rest of your body and don’t have the fat to spare, go for the implants, a simple incision in the crease between your buttock cheeks and instant volume! If you’d like to be seen for a consultation to go over in more detail, feel free to reach out for a consultation. Smith Plastic Surgery 702-838-2455

Hi madisonvvl,
Based on your BMI, you will likely achieve a more substantial result from intramuscular gluteal implants. That being said, in cases like yours, I generally also liposuction the lower back/love handles during the same procedure in order to obtain enough fat to perform a mini-bbl in addition to the implant. This allows me to camouflage the edges of the implant and fill out your "hip dips" to enhance the result. As always, it is best to consult with a BE/BC plastic surgeon regarding your individual case before making any decisions regarding surgery. Hope this helps!

Thank you for your question. Buttock augmentation with implants are an excellent option for thin patients who do not have enough fatty tissue reserves for BBL. I think the response below from Dr. Stanton is excellent. Best wishes to you.

If you are considering a Brazilian Butt Lift (BBL) or buttock implants, it is important to consult with a board-certified plastic surgeon to discuss your goals and determine which procedure would be best for you based on your individual anatomy and aesthetic desires.

In general, BBL involves the removal of fat from one or more areas of the body through liposuction, followed by the injection of that fat into the buttocks to enhance their shape and size. While having a low body fat percentage may mean that there is less fat available for transfer, it is still possible to see significant results with a skilled surgeon who can target the areas where fat is available and strategically inject the fat to achieve the desired shape.

Buttock implants, on the other hand, involve the placement of silicone implants into the buttocks to create volume and enhance shape. This procedure can be a good option for those who do not have enough fat for a BBL, or for those who desire a more dramatic increase in volume.

It is important to keep in mind that both BBL and buttock implants come with potential risks and complications, and recovery times can vary. Again, it is crucial to consult with a board-certified plastic surgeon who can provide personalized guidance based on your individual needs and goals.

Best of luck !

Hi, thanks for your question. Both procedures are safe. Be sure to contact an experienced board-certified plastic surgeon. Regularly is better to have BBL or fat transfer to the buttocks, but in some cases, when the patients don't have fat enough, implants could be a great option. Consult a board-certified plastic surgeon in your area. Good luck!

The two operations are drastically different. Gluteal implants are best placed intramuscularly, and give volume in only a very specific place. Fat transfer is far more dynamic and can help contour the entire thigh, hip buttocks to help contour a feminine S-curve in areas were volume is needed.
Individuals with a lower BMI may require liposuction of more areas to harvest sufficient amounts of fat, and some patients may simply not be candidates. A lot has to do with where your fat distribution is. I recently had a patient with a lower BMI than you. She carried all her fat on her lower extremities and by simply doing liposuction of her inner thigh and inner knee. I was able to harvest over 1000 mL of fat for an excellent fat transfer procedure.
Most plastic surgeons in the United States, do not offer gluteal implants. The procedure has high complication rates, high failure rates, and low long-term patient satisfaction rates. The number of plastic surgeons who have mastered gluteal augmentation using implants is very small and anybody seeking that procedure needs to find those plastic surgeons who do the procedure on a regular basis and have mastered it. Gluteal implant augmentation seems to be most successful, when done by providers who exclusively focus on this procedure, use implants that fit within the gluteus muscle, and place the implant intramuscularly.
Gluteal implants will not give hip volume.
Expect to get very different opinions from different doctors, depending on if they perform gluteal implants or not. Most plastic surgeons who don’t perform the procedure will paint a negative picture of the operation. Those who focus on gluteal implants will tell you all the reasons why fat transfer is not a good option.
Plastic surgeons are unfortunately quite divided, and their opinion on the appropriate use of gluteal implants.
Personally, I do not offer gluteal implants, but I do believe they can be done with success. If the above three parameters are followed. Choosing the right provider is by far the most important variable for both procedures. In the end there are generally only two variables that determine success with cosmetic surgical outcomes. The first is patient candidacy, and the second is provider selection.
Defined the best provider I recommend patients have multiple in person consultations. During each consultation, ask each provider to open up their portfolio and show you their entire collection of previous patients before and after pictures. Ask providers to show you pictures of previous patients who have similar body characteristics to your own. An experience provider should have no difficulty showing you the before and after pictures of at least 50 previous patients. Being shown a handful of pre-selected images, representing the best results of a provider’s career is completely insufficient in order to get a good understanding of what average results look like in the hands of each provider or how many of these procedures anyone surgeon has actually done. For fat transfer results patients need to make absolutely sure when after pictures were taken in relationship to the date of the procedure. Early fat transfer results can look very impressive but do not represent final results. Final results are not seen until at least 3 to 6 months after the procedure. Never assume after pictures represent final long-term results.
Delivering consistent quality, Liposuction and fat transfer results is more difficult than most people believe. Recognize that fat transfer is always to operations done at the same time. One is Liposuction and the other is fat transfer. Often when the procedure turns out poorly it is issues related to Liposuction not fat transfer the become an issue.
Anybody interested in fat transfer needs to properly vet plastic surgeons in both Liposuction and fat transfer skills.
I recommend patient start by having at least five in person consultations. If you’re considering both implants and BBL, then you may need to schedule more consultations than that since it is unlikely you’ll find someone who offers both the BBL and implants. Most plastic surgeons tend to favor, one or the other.
Safety is a relative term. Under determine safety, calms serious, medical complications, including fatal outcomes, as well as lack of quality results, including disfigurement.
The best way of minimizing risk is to find the best provider and get a clear understanding of your own candidacy regardless of what procedure you choose.
Best,
Mats Hagstrom, MD