Your question contains two questions in one:- How much healing takes place in 2-3 weeks?- how much am I risking by sitting in a narrow airplane seat for 7-10 hours at a time?As with everything we do in life it comes to a risk-benefit analysis. How much gain to how much risk.Brazilian Butt Lift (BBL) is simply the AUGMENTATION (not lifting) of the buttocks with fat after the butt and its surroundings were shaped with Liposuction. The idea is NOT to simply pump fat into a smaller unattractive butt and transform it into a much larger uglier butt but to create a more harmonious, attractive looking butt which happens to be larger.What constitutes an attractive butt?I suggest you google the image BUNDA (Portuguese, spoken in Brazil, for Butt). The ideal, youthful female butt IS :- DISTINCT, It has clear borders of where it starts and ends.- HEMISPHERIC, it looks like a full round hemisphere NOT a pear or a blob- has a V ZONE, V shaped depression where the upper butt cheeks diverge (Some have 2 dimples)- has a SHELF or a BACK SCOOP ( medically a lumbar lordosis) in the lower back with- THREE mild muscle LINES of the lower back created by the ERECTOR SPINAE musclesSculpting liposuction AROUND the buttocks can create much of this without putting fat into the buttocks. But, to get fullness and fill the lateral (Trochanteric) depression, some fat is required (i.e. BBL).FAT AS A FILLERUnlike other fillers, fat is quite different. Although it makes the skin appear much younger and in some cases radiant due to its content of stem cells it has several considerations. Fat survival in its new location depends on:- how much trauma did the fat suffer in the process of liposuction and transfer into the buttocks? The more trauma, the more cell loss- How fast did the blood supply of the buttocks reach and attach itself to the grafted fat cells? The longer it takes the fat to be nourished, the more fat cells will die and volume will be lost (This is caused by putting huge amounts of fat into the buttock, greatly increasing the pressure and blocking the blood supply. This is seen by putting the fat in in large clumps instead of small droplets. By doing so only the surface gets oxygen and the inner fat dies. This is caused by people sitting on their butts increasing the pressure and shear forces and occluding the blood supply).We THINK that by three weeks much of the graft has stabilized and although some BBL surgeons tell their patients they can sit on the grafted butt in 3 weeks' time, I know several very well known experts who request up to 4-5 weeks off the grafted butt. Could you "get away" with only 3 weeks of butt off-loading? Maybe. Would longer assure you of MORE grafted fat survival? Definitely.How would sitting on the freshly grafted fat for nearly 20 hours affect the graft? There is no scientific proof to it, but personally, after so much work, I would rather not stress or risk the result.Finally, who in your native country would assume over your care and see top it that everything is addressed? It is always preferable to plan your post-operative care way past the first three weeks because unforeseen problems may come up and your American surgeon will not be able to handle them from afar.Peter Aldea MDMemphis, TN
