Can you tell someone has a butt implant by grabbing their butt? Is the complication/redo rate high? (Photos)

Hello, and thanks for the question. Buttock implants can be a very predictable procedure with low complication rates if done by a board certified plastic surgeon with experience with the procedure. They are a great option for patients who don't have enough fat to transfer, or for patients who want volume that may not be possible with a fat transfer. The key to the operation is placing the implant in an intramuscular (or submuscular-below the gluteus maximus, but above the gluteus medius and minimus muscles) position where there is thicker coverage (skin-fat-and muscle) over the implant. This stabilizes the implant, decreasing the possibility of it changing position, creates a more natural look and feel, and also decreases the possibility of infection or fluid collection (seroma).The main issue with implants, however, is that the buttock will always feel slightly firmer than a natural buttock. The degree of firmness depends on how thick the patient's natural tissue is to begin with, and how big the implant is. The bigger the implant, the firmer your butt will feel, and the less it will jiggle. Even if you choose an implant that is perfect for your size, the butt will still feel a little firm, but I would compare that firmness to someone who did squats or lunges in the gym several days/week.You would need a complete examination to determine the best implant for you, but, given your pictures and height and weight, I would tentatively say that a 200-250 cc round implant would give you some nice volume without feeling too firm, and there would still be some jiggle.Hope this helps!

Choosing the proper size is key for someone of your stature.  Also, sub Muscular placement of the implant will hide the edges and create a more natural look.  You wont jiggle though.  Unlike breast implants, The buttock implants used in the US are a semi solid silicone made to mimic buttock muscle.  Be sure to choose a board certified plastic surgeon who specializes in buttock augmentation and has an extensive photo gallery. 

 Regarding buttock/hip augmentation surgery, let me start off by saying that I currently see at least 2 - 3 patients, domestic and international,  per week that failed "brazilian buttock lift" (i.e. the fat melted away after 10 - 12+ months) and are now seeking a more reliable and permanent option (i.e. buttock and/or hip implants). Allow me to share with you some information that you may not hear elsewhere. There are only two proven safe and relatively effective methods for Buttock Augmentation and Hip Augmentation: 1) Autologous Fat Transfer (using your own fat, transferring from one area of the body to the other) and 2) Buttock/Hip Implants (semi-solid silicone rubber implants that cannot rupture &/or leak). Both are options but what it comes down to, like any surgery, is proper patient selection and long-term results. Indeed because at least 80+ % of the fat transferred will melt away within a year, most patients are not good candidates because they lack an adequate amount of fat to harvest. Another tip is that if you purposely gain weight (i.e. fat) for the procedure, the fat you lose first as you get back to your baseline weight is that very same fat that was transferred into your buttock...so don't 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.

 Although overall using your own fat is relatively safe, it not infrequently melts away unevenly leaving one butt cheek bigger than the other or with dimpling or hard fat cysts.  The one serious complication that can rarely (< 1%) 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 serious problems. 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. Also fillers, when injected in large quantities, have a relatively high infection rate, guaranteed tendency to migrate away from the original area they were injected, and almost always stimulate a lot of inflammation with a subsequent and disastrous amount of scar tissue/hardening.Thus buttock/hip implants become a very good, safe, and long term reliable option for most patients seeking buttock/hip augmentation (at least in my practice). I prefer to insert the buttock implants through a 1 1/2 inch long incision along the inner curve of each upper buttock cheek at the level of the tailbone, similar to two opposing parentheses ")(" (concealed within the crevice between the buttock cheeks) and the hip implants through a ~ 1 inch incision just below the beltline above the hip region. The buttock implant should always be placed under or within (muscle thickness permitting) the gluteus maximus muscle. In this position, the implant is much less palpable & visible (ie feeling and looking like an Olympic sprinter's butt), and does not sag or shift/migrate over time unlike implants placed on top of the muscle or "subfascial".  On the other hand, hip implants are placed under just the fascia because no significant muscle exists in this region. However, because they are much smaller and lighter, their likelihood of migration is relatively low. Because all of this, it is extremely important to seek consultation with a board certified plastic surgeon who specializes in this procedure so that the implant placement is precise for both locations. And in this case too, at least in my surgical practice, the infection rate is minimized to