Would butt implants give me my desired results or would I be disappointed ? (Photos)

Question

I am 5’2 and 105 lbs. got breast augmentation a year ago. I want a bigger butt . Would butt implants combined with skinny bbl (donor areas would be my thighs, arm, belly and flanks) give me the desired results? Or would it look very obvious and fake and barely any difference? I want to go as big as I can and want to have wide hips and projection all around. or should I just get hyaluronic acid fillers? Also, would I be able to travel long distance on the plane for this surgery by myself or would I have to stay there for weeks and bring someone with me? Is it a difficult recovery?

Ryan A. Stanton, MD · Answer

Allow me to answer your question as best i can based upon your 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.

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 fillers such as hyaluronic acids, Sculptra, etc… is a dangerous, guaranteed waste of money, and is NOT FDA approved. 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. Typically a combination of sculpting the waistline with liposuction and augmenting the buttock with implants +/- the hips with implants provides the best chance for a long lasting and desirable "hour-glass" figure.  Based upon your photos, a Stanton Anatomic®️ shape buttock implant may serve you best.

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 or two, 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.  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.  Additionally, any physician promoting “biostimulators” for buttock enhancement is just a joke, and any board certified plastic surgeon promoting such, should not be trusted with your butt.

So, if you're looking for a reliable, predictable, and long-term permanent option that also provides projection in the upper, central and lower buttock and hips, buttock and hip implants are your solution. Procedures marketed as “supercharged BBL” or “hybrid BBL” that add fat at the same time of implants are simply marketing ploys. Fat that is added at the same time as a buttock implant is doomed to melt away 90+ percent. Thereby rendering it completely useless.  The reality is, when buttock implants are properly placed 100% intramuscular (i.e. surgically and precisely positioned within the gluteus muscles, not subfascial and not dual-plane and not on top of the muscles), there is absolutely no need for fat transfer.

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.  Getting it done right the first time around is not only the best chance for success, but also will save you from a lot of headaches and money in the future. Glad to help.

Paul E. Chasan, MD, FACS · Answer

Thank you for your question.  You are an excellent candidate for buttock augmentation with implants. Often times, I combine buttock augmentation with implants and fat transfer/BBL. In your case, you appear not to have enough fat for a BBL.  I have heard patients gain weight so that they can have a BBL then when you lose the weight, you lose all the fat that was put into your buttock.  You should be able to have an excellent result.  Make sure that you seek out surgeons who have extensive experience with buttock augmentation with implants.  Best wishes to you.

Would butt implants give me my desired results or would I be disappointed ? (Photos)

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Would butt implants give me my desired results or would I be disappointed ? (Photos)

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Everything you need to know about Butt Implants

Our mission is to create a world where every investment in modern beauty is Worth It.