Are butt injections legal?

Question

I keep hearing about women having butt injections, however I havent been able to locate a doctor that does them. That leads me to believe they are illegal. Can someone clear this up for me, or give me some information on this procedure.

Richard H. Tholen, MD, FACS · Answer

There is a good reason you are having difficulty finding doctors who advertise or market "butt injections." You are using the wrong search words, unless you are really thinking about multiple cases of non-physician "practitioners" injecting liquid silicone (New York, 2015, and Texas, 2013) canned tire inflator, and glue (Florida, 2012) into women seeking black-market bargains.Instead they bought death from non-qualified individuals who did not have the training and expertise (as well as safe practices) of American Board of Plastic Surgery-certified plastic surgeons.You might have better luck if you searched for BBL (Brazilian Butt Lift--a terrible acronym because it is not "Brazilian" nor is it a "Lift"). This is actually buttock enlargement via buttock fat grafting, and for this to work properly, the fat must be harvested carefully, and injected in tiny tunnels so that there is ample living tissue surrounding the grafts to allow as much transferred fat as possible to survive long-term. 30-70% is the maximum that can be expected to survive under the BEST circumstances. Many surgeons quote larger and more impressive numbers, but are, frankly, exaggerating. You can expect huge volumes injected to ultimately die and gradually be reabsorbed over time. Truly living fat that persists takes precision, care, and usually more than one session.Unfortunately, since it takes the body months to reabsorb dead fat, by the time the patient sees her gradual loss of correction, it's too late to find an honest practitioner!The only other procedure that works for buttock enlargement is placement of silicone implants (solid soft ones, not breast-like implants). These can be felt, can get infected at the time of insertion, but do not reabsorb, and provide reliable permanent enlargement.One final option is an actual buttock LIFT, which you can find out about by clicking on the web reference link below. But I suspect you are asking about buttock enlargement.Instead of trying to research yourself (not a bad thing, but plastic surgeons spend 6-10 years after medical school, not to mention years of experience in their surgical practices and ongoing education, so how can online research replace that length of full-time training and degree of expertise?), why not see one or more ABPS-certified plastic surgeons for the advice I just gave above, in much more detail. That's what consultations are for. In my office we offer them at no charge! Best wishes! Dr. Tholen

Ryan A. Stanton, MD · Answer

The only buttock "injections" for augmentation that are reasonably safe is autologous (your own) fat transfer (aka BBL). All other substance injections have time and time again been proven to result in major deforming complications and to be very dangerous, even life threatening. However, in my 15 year experience, the only reliable,  predictable, and permanent surgical method of buttock augmentation is buttock implants. Glad to help.

Carolina Restrepo, MD · Answer

Although I can't answer to regulations around the world buttock aguemantaion thrugh a brazillian butt lift is a very common procedure here in Colombia. The plastic surgeon harvests fat carefully through small incisions in the target areas. They then select and prepare the fat they will use to augment the buttocks.  The harvested fat is processed and then injected through tiny incisions into multiple layers under the skin to create a rounder, fuller, more curvaceous bottom. One nice advantage of the fat harvest from nearby regions is that is can accentuate the curvaceous appearance overall if the area next to the buttocks gets even smaller while the buttocks get fuller.  The surgery is performed as an outpatient procedure.

Dennis Dass, MD · Answer

Buttock augmentation can safely be performed by transferring your own fat.  Typically fat is removed from the midsection by liposuction and injected into the gluteal region.  Please seek a board certified plastic surgeon for this procedure.

Mats Hagstrom, MD (license on probation) · Answer

Doctors have been giving people butt injections for many, many years.  The question is what are they injecting. The most popular gluteal enhancement procedure is fat grafting for a Brazilian butt lift. In this procedure, fat is removed using liposuction and re-injected into the buttocks. The second most common form of gluteal enhancement is the placement of implants. This is not considered an injection. The injection of free silicone has been done numerous times, at times with disastrous consequences. Few, if any, plastic surgeons in the United States would be willing to inject free silicone in someone's buttocks. A consultation with a board-certified plastic surgeon could help explain various options for a gluteal enhancement.Best of luck,Mats Hagstrom, M.D.

Are butt injections legal?

Answers (5)

Answer: Buttock Injections

Answer: Buttock Injections

Answer: Injecting what

Answer: Injecting what

Recommended reading

Everything you need to know about Nonsurgical Butt Lift

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

Are butt injections legal?

Answers (5)

Answer: Buttock Injections

Answer: Buttock Injections

Answer: Injecting what

Answer: Injecting what

Browse related questions

Recommended reading

Everything you need to know about Nonsurgical Butt Lift

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