120 pounds and 5'1"tall: should I gain weight before my Brazilian Butt Lift procedure?

Dear ingridramosb,
it is hard to tell for sure without an examination. If you are considering surgery, I would suggest you consult a board-certified plastic surgeon. Only after a thorough examination, you will get more information and recommendations.
Daniel Barrett, MD
Certified, American Board of Plastic Surgery
Member, American Society of Plastic Surgery
Member, American Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery

Thank you for your question. To provide a valid medical opinion I will need to see pictures of you body from different angles. I would suggest to be treated by board certified plastic surgeon with experience in this procedure, to get the best desired results.

Respectfully,
Dr. Emmanuel Mallol Cotes.-

Thanks for your question. It is difficult to provide a proper evaluation without any pictures. I suggest uploading pictures of your front, side and back to provide proper advice. That said, the BBL includes 360 lipo, which is lipo of the upper and lower abdomen, the upper and lower back, and the flanks. If you don't have enough fat to transfer in these areas, then liposuction can be performed in other areas such as the chin and upper arms. Depending on your desired results, you may be asked to gain some weight. I recommend you schedule a consult for a proper evaluation. Make sure your surgeon you choose has extensive experience with Skinny BBLs and clean credentials. Always consult with a board certified plastic surgeon. Take care, Moises Salama MD, Board Certified Plastic

Your BMI just over 22! Need to gain 10-15 pounds to have enough donor fat to transfer. Best to virtual consult with... I also offer COMPOSITE SKINNY BBL where I combine fat transfer with injections of Radeisse/Sculptra.

Hi, ingridramosb!
Regarding your BMI (22,7) it looks that you need to gain weight.
Every patient has a different medical story.
After listening carefully to your expectations and evaluating your anatomical structure, it is most appropriate to make a special personalized planning with you.

Gaining weight for fat transfer procedures makes no sense unless you plan on maintaining the increased weight for the rest of your life. most people don’t look good being overweight.
For people who may not have enough fat for an ideal fat transfer procedure, A better option is to include more areas in the Liposuction treatment. If the entire torso is insufficient for a BBL than the surgeon can do Liposuction of the inner thighs and or arms and that’s usually plenty for even lobby in my patients.
I recommend all patients have in person consultations at which time you can get an assessment and the surgeon can easily tell you if you have enough fat for a good result and give you your candidacy in regards to results for both Liposuction and fat transfer.
Based on that you will know if you have enough fat and wet areas will be treated with Liposuction.
Delivering consistent high-quality liposuction and fat transfer results is more difficult than most people believe in this is true for both patients and plastic surgeons. Most plastic surgeons think they are better at liposuction than they actually are. Liposuction and fat transfer has more variance or difference in outcome purely based on who does the procedure than any other surgical procedure I’ve ever seen. Being board-certified in plastic surgery with an overall good reputation is not sufficient to guarantee that somebody has mastered body contouring. Personally I view the torso as a single anatomic unit and either treated the entire torso or don’t do Liposuction. There are of course exceptions but for the most part I believe in treating the entire torso. A full torso includes upper abdomen, lower abdomen, love handles all the way down to the hip dips, waist, the entire back and under arm area all the way to the side of the breast. this leaves people with a natural thin fat distribution without transition zones between treated and entrteded areas. I’ve viewed the BBL as an enhancement to body contouring creating an ideal feminine S-curve that goes from the armpit to the knee. I did not emphasize a large buttocks with liposuction of the outer thigh creating a big round butt on the small leg which I sometimes called the “lollipop look”. Instead I emphasize long smooth harmonious curves creating a slightly hyper feminized balanced figure. To find the most talented and experienced provider in your community I suggest having multiple in person consultations. I do not recommend patients travel for elective surgical procedures and I recommend patients whenever possible avoid virtual consultations. During in person consultations ask each provider to show their entire collection of before and after pictures of BBL results. Always confirm that after pictures were taken at least three months from the time of surgery. anybody who shows early postoperative pictures such as pictures with patients still showing surgical drawings on them, being in the operating room or any evidence of recently having had surgery should be immediately discounted as showing “.fake news”. Early fat transfer results can look very impressive but do not at all represent final results. Ask the provider to show you examples of excellent outcomes, average outcomes and less than outcomes. Specifically ask each provider to show as many pictures as possible‘s of patients who have similar body characteristics to your own. An experienced provider should have no difficulty showing you a minimum of 50+ sets of before and after pictures. Simply seeing a handful of pre-selected sample pictures which in reality most likely represent the best results of that providers career is insufficient to get a clear understanding of what average results look like for that provider. Highly experienced providers will have hundreds or even thousands of before and after pictures and should be willing to give you access during the consultation to see as many pictures as possible. If somebody claims to of done a lot of surgery but doesn’t have a lot of before and after pictures then you should ask yourself why? Do not commit to surgery or pay a down payment during the time of consultation until you’ve finished all your consultations and have given yourself plenty of time to think about your decision. The results from these procedures are permanent and irreversible. When in doubt slow down and schedule more consultations. Finally I recommend patients read all reviews on all various physician review websites avoiding providers for any significant number of justified negative reviews. The absence of justified negative reviews is more important and more telling and having an abundance of positive reviews. Plastic surgeons with the biggest social media profiles are not necessarily any more talented than those who have no websites at all. Famous or likable does not equal talented. Find the right plastic surgeon and everything falls into place.
Good luck,
Mats Hagstrom MD

I recommend that my patients maintain a stable weight prior to having surgery as it permits a safe recovery and minimizes postoperative changes secondary to fast weight gain or weight loss after your results. If you are a good candidate (less than 5L of fat) for a Brazilian Butt Lift (BBL), the optimal outcomes are achieved with: 1) use of VASER liposuction to harvest the fat, 2) a closed looped system such as Puregraft to process the fat, and 3) strategic micro-packet transplant technique. These three processes have demonstrated over 95% fat graft take. This means that your results will be stable as long as you maintain your weight. As an official VASER trainer, I am routinely referred unhappy BBL patients. One of the most common reasons for disgruntled BBL patients is that patients are not able to accurately communicate their desired buttocks goals to their surgeons. A buttocks assessment tool can be an invaluable tool to communicate to your surgeon the exact buttocks size and shape you are desiring. A Skype or FaceTime consultation with a BBL specialist can help you get an accurate recommendation and pricing.

Respectfully,
Arian Mowlavi MD,FACS
Realself 100 Hall of Fame Inductee