Failed BBL 10 months post op. Should I try this again or consider other options?

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, post-deflation sagging, 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. Also, it is NOT the buttock implants that caused your fat to melt away, this is just pure nonsense. Thus, going back for round 2 BBL most often produces the same disappointing results but at another financial loss. It would be very helpful to see your current photo results to help assess the position of your buttock implants. Possibly a change in implants position, and/or shape will likely be the best solution. Please keep in mind that an extremely few number of board-certified plastic surgeons specialize in 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.

Dear ana90,
I understand your concern. However, without a proper assessment, it would be difficult to determine what went wrong. It is best that you visit your plastic surgeon for further assessment or ask for a second opinion. Only after a thorough examination, you can get proper recommendations and advice.
Daniel Barrett, MD
Certified, American Board of Plastic Surgery
Member, American Society of Plastic Surgery
Member, American Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery

Without even posting any photos impossible to advise....Best to seek virtual consults with.... Revision BBL requires enough donor fat to use in transfer.

You didn’t include pictures which without we can’t make an assessment.
Ideally any patient who has concerns about the outcome of a procedure should include before and after pictures. If they’ve had multiple procedures in the same area then they should include all before and after pictures for each procedure.Without those we can’t make an assessment and without any pictures there’s no way to even begin.
Grafting fat does not work well to put A substantial amount of volume in a small place. grafting fat requires having an abundance of host tissue to support the graft. to compensate for the substantial increase in volume from your gluteal implants immediately adjacent to the hips that tends to be thin to start with there’s no way the grafting fat is going to compensate. A good surgeon should’ve seen the problem coming when you consult for the gluteal implants. The best approach would’ve been to do gluteal and hip implants together.
I say that but I haven’t seen pictures so that may not be correct either.
Most likely if you’re going to go gluteal implants then you need to go hip implants as well.
Most likely the reason the fat grafting failed is because the area is lacking in host tissue. when that’s the case and volume needs to be increased and there’s no alternative patients and doctors should plan on doing this in stages grafting conservatively each time around and slowly building up the volume through multiple grafting sessions placed at least six months apart.
It’s not uncommon for patients to want fat grafting at the edge of an implant often because the implant shows in certain anatomic positions. The main reason for that was the implant wasn’t placed intramuscularly. correcting problems with implants using fat transfer typically doesn’t work well.
I don’t think anybody is going to give you a quality recommendations based on your post because you didn’t include enough information for us to make an assessment.
Consider reposting with complete sets of before and after pictures of each of you to procedures. If you don’t have proper before and after pictures and ask your surgeons to forward the ones they took. While you’re at it you should also ask to get copies of your operative report. You should have those and bring them with you for any future consultation you may have with a third surgeon.
Go back and talk to the surgeon Who did your gluteal implants about the possibility of adding hip implants.
Removing gluteal implants is not a simple straightforward thing. Unlike breast implants it is not something you just remove and put back in.
Simply taking out your implant can cause your entire skin and fat layer to move due to gravity on your behind because the connective tissue that anchored the skin and fat layer to the muscle fascia have been severed during the placement of the implant.
People can be left disfigured by simply removing gluteal implants.
Because the majority of plastic surgeons in the United States don’t do gluteal or hip implants you’ll have to work with the ones that do.
Start with the one who did your first procedure.
Best,
Mats Hagstrom MD