Do I have enough fat for a 1000cc transfer to my butt and hips? (photos)

Dear chelseapp,
based on your photos, you look like a good candidate for a BBL. Liposuction of your abdomen, back and flanks should give you more curves and hourglass shape and fat transfer to buttocks should give you more projection. I would suggest you to consult a board-certified plastic surgeon because only after a thorough examination you will get more information and recommendations.
Daniel Barrett, MDCertified, American Board of Plastic SurgeryMember, American Society of Plastic SurgeryMember, American Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery

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.


For starters, I can tell you that you actually have very little fat on your back. What you, and many other patients, think is fat, is rather thick back skin and connective tissue. So do not depend on this area for much quality fat harvesting.

In general, you are in good company with many others who had high hopes for BBL but instead received disappointing results (lumpiness, unevenness, lack of projection in the central and/or lower buttock, insignificant hip augmentation, post-deflation sagging, fatty necrotic cyst or scar tissue, etc.) as most of the fat melts away. It is not quite as much the quality of the doctor nor liposuction technique but rather the quality of the procedure that is a large part of the problem. Thus, going back for additional rounds of BBL most often produces the same disappointing results but at another financial loss. 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.

Fillers, such as Sculptra and hyaluronic acids, for augmentation of the buttock/hips are a rip-off, period!

Buttock/hip implants, however, provide a more reliable, predictable, relatively safe, and permanent result, especially for adding projection to the hips and central buttock, and often help smoothing out lumpiness. Occasionally a lower buttock tuck may be advantageous for lower buttock fold asymmetries and/or sagging. When considering buttock implants make sure that the surgeon is going to be placing the implants within gluteus muscles , (a.k.a. “intramuscular pocket”), and that they are using anatomically correct, oval-shaped implants, such as Stanton Anatomic ®️ implants.
Please keep in mind that an extremely few number of board-certified plastic surgeons specialize in these buttock implants so be sure to consult with one that is reputable and experienced. Unfortunately you may have to travel long and far away from home to find this particular surgeon. Glad to help.

To make an assessment on someone who has had previous surgery, we generally need to see a complete set of proper before and after pictures.
Secondary Liposuction typically only delivers about 25% of the amount of fat harvested during the first procedure.
I generally did not recommend anybody gain weight for the purpose of having a fat transfer.
While it’s true that many plastic surgeons do not do proper or sufficient liposuction of the back when doing abdominal liposuction your main problem on your back is skin laxity not excess fat.
I always recommend having in person consultation well in advance of surgery for permanent and irreversible body contouring procedures.
Best,
Mats Hagström MD