What's the big difference between butt shots/injections and a butt lift?

Very good question, traditionally a buttock lift referred to surgically cutting, either on the top or the bottom of, the buttock to lift ir tuck it, respectively. However of late, the term butt "lift" is frequently used to describe the "Brazilian Butt Lift" procedure whereby the patients own fat is transferred into the buttock to augment it and give it a more perky (lifted) appearance. On the other hand butt "injections" refers to injecting foreign substances such as PMMA, silicone, and others. Butt injections should be avoided at all cost because of potentially disastrous consequences.  These substances, when injected in large quantities required for butt augmentation, 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. Many patients have even died from these injections!  Please read on for more details about buttock enhancement options. Like any booming fad or fashion, there are always scammers trying to get a peice of the pie. Buttock augmentation/enhancement has become another victim - companies and individuals promoting 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 rigorous dedicated exercise, there is no "natural" way to grow the buttock other than surgery. Please read on for more surgical details: Regarding buttock/hip augmentation, let me start off by saying that I currently see at least 2 - 3 patients 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.Indeed because at least 50+ % 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. Although using your own fat is relatively safe, 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, 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 the gluteus maximus muscle. In this position, the implant is less palpable, less visible, and does not sag or shift/migrate over time unlike implants placed on top of the muscle. 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 <2% (much lower than and contrary to popular belief by many other surgeons not experienced in buttock implants).Depending upon the amount of your current fat reserves and their distribution, you may or may not be a reasonable candidate for fat transfer. If you are wanting to utilize the fat to further augment your buttock in addition to implants, then I caution you against this. The reason being that the fat needs to be placed into the buttock muscles for optimal survival, however,a this is exactly where the implant needs to reside and thus risks infection and/or death of the fat. Because of this risk, I frequently avoid fat grafting into a buttock that has an implant. Bottom line, I recommend consulting with a board certified plastic surgeon specialist in buttock augmentation (BOTH implants and fat transfer) to determine what option is best for you. Glad to help.

A butt lift, classically, involves removing large pieces of skin to actually lift the buttock and suspended into a new position and suture it into its new place. This results in long scars which really only make sense if the degree of sag is moderate to severe. In someone who has no real excess skin, but a "deflated "buttock, as well as some excess fat of the trunk, it makes more sense to do a "BBL "whereby we perform aggressive liposuction, and inset of throwing that fat out, we injected it back into the buttock to reinflate it. This will lift the Bartok much in the same way as inflating air into a balloon tacked to a wall will lift it off that wall somewhat. The only way to determine which candidate you are, is to visit with a board certified plastic surgeon for an evaluation.Best of luck!Dr. SubbioBoard-Certified Plastic SurgeonNewtown Square/Philadelphia, PA

Hello Beautyluvs,Thanks for your question."Butt shots/injections" refer to Brazilian butt lifting or BBL surgery.  This procedure involves your surgeon performing liposuction to collect extra fat from areas of your body and then injecting the fat cells into the various layers of the buttocks to build them up and improve the shape and projection of the buttocs.A "Butt lift" is a surgical procedure that involves cutting loose skin out of the tops of each buttock to tighten up a sagging butt that developed after massive weight loss.These procedures can be done separately or can be combined to optimize the size and shape of the buttocks.  In some patients, silicone buttocks implants can also be used to maximize the outcome safely.A consultation with a board-certified plastic surgeon who specializes in buttocks enhancement would help you understand your options best.I hope this was helpful.Take care,Dr. Shah

There is a big difference between these two procedures. The gluteal hots/ injections can be very dangerous because it is liquid silicone which is often placed within the muscle and can migrate to deeper levels. Its extraction is very difficult and complicated so it is not a procedure approved for this purpose. On the other hand lifting the buttocks with own fat or Brazilian Butt Lift (BBL) is a much safer procedure where fat is then integrated there will not be greater problems in the future.