Are there any side effects of butt enhancement?

 Like any booming fad or fashion, there are always scammers looking to get a peice of the action and make quick/easy profits.  Well as the saying goes, "anything too good to be true, usually is (not true)". Unfortunately the ripe new world of buttock augmentaion has become the next victim with a bunch of nonsense magical creams, potions, lotions and pills...NONE OF WHICH WORK. It is not yet possible to take a substance that only and exclusively make your derrière grow. Other than being genetically blessed in the buttock and/or consistent rigorous exercise, there is no "natural" way to grow the buttock other than surgery. Please read on for more surgical details:

In short, a combination of sculpting your waistline with liposuction and augmenting your buttock with implants provides the best chance for a long lasting "hour-glass" figure. Please read on for more surgical details:

 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/or the projection result was grossly insufficient) 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 are a relatively very good, safe, and long term reliable option for most patients seeking buttock/hip augmentation.  Contrary to nieve claims by many other plastic surgeons, intended to scare patients away from buttock implants, my overall complication rate is only ~5%. 

It is very difficult to determine the exact size and shape implant you will require to best match your ideal butt image without an examination by a board certified plastic surgeon. Not just any board certified plastic surgeon, but one with many years of frequently performing breast augmentation surgery including different approaches, techniques and implant choices. This is because several measurements not to mention your breast characteristics are needed to determine the optimal implant size to obtain your goals. Without knowing these dimensions it would be difficult to make this determination. For example, the existing base width of your buttock will determine, in many cases, the maximal volume per implant profile that you can accommodate. Liposuction of your lower back and fat transfer is also helpful as an adjunct to implants. Using “want to be” photos however are useful if simply provided to the surgeon.

When patients ask about "side effects" of operations, they are usually inquiring about the risk of complications from a particular surgery.  In the case of gluteal augmentation, the risk of complications varies with the technique used to augment the buttocks. A more recent trend in buttock augmentation is the use of fillers such as Radiesse to add volume to the buttocks. Although we do not employ this technique, we have seen patients who have received Radiesse and other fillers to augment the buttocks.  Complications we have seen from this procedure include migration of the filler, irregularities of the the skin contour, and, most commonly, suboptimal gluteal augmentation and symmetry.Fat transfer or "the Brazilian Butt Lift" is an increasingly popular approach to gluteal augmentation.  This involves transfer oft fat, usually from the abdomen, flanks and thighs to the buttock to increase gluteal projection and width.  The most feared complication from this procedure is fat embolism, in which fat enters the bloodstream and causes damage, most commonly, to the lungs.  The incidence of this complication is exceedingly low, but when it happens, it can be quite serious, so a surgeon's level of suspicion for this complication should be high. In general, its occurrence correlates with the transfer of very large volumes of fat. The more common complications seen with fat transfer to the buttocks are resorption of the fat overtime, resulting in inadequate correction of the gluteal contour, asymmetry of the two sides of the buttock, lumpiness or waviness of the skin of the fat recipient site, lumpiness or waviness of the fat harvest site, discoloration of the skin over the fat harvest site, cysts or infections of the fat recipient sites.Gluteal augmentation with implants is another very effective way to increase the volume of the buttocks or improve its shape and contour.  The most common complication seen with gluteal augmentation with implants is wound dehiscence, i.e., an opening of the incisions through which the gluteal implant (s) was/were placed.  In the most serious cases of wound dehiscence, the implant itself is exposed, necessitating its removal.  When this occurs, the implants cannot usually be replaced again for many months.  Other complications associated with gluteal implants include, migration of the implants, asymmetry of the two sides, hematoma (a collection of blood inside the implant pocket), seroma (a collection of clear fluid inside the implant pocket), and infection.  It is important to understand that there is a risk of complications with any surgical procedure, and that this risk varies, depending on the type of procedure undertaken, the skill and experience of the surgeon, the quality of the patient's tissues and the nuances of the patient's particular anatomy, the composition of the implant or other material being placed inside the patient's body, the medical health of the patient, and the patient's compliance with postoperative instructions, to list just a few of the variables involved.

Complications of buttock enhancement depends on the exact procedure undergone, but in general include: infection, fat embolus, and unstable buttock implant. 
Make sure time is spent choosing a quality surgeon who is educated and board certified in plastic surgery, active in the plastic surgery community via memberships and peer review journals, optimally over 10 years of experience, and great reviews from previous patients.