How Much Weight Do I Need to Lose for a BBL? (Photo)

If you are convinced you want BBL, instead of buttock implants, then do not lose any weight prior to surgery because you will need every ounce of fat to transfer to your buttocks region.  

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 very good options so 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 gain weight for the procedure, the fat that you lose first when you go back down to your baseline weight after surgery is in fact that fat that you originally gained and transferred into your buttocks...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 can also happen when using fillers like PMMA and hyaluronic acids. Also fillers, when injected in large quantities, have a relatively high tendency to migrate away from the original area they were placed and tend to stimulate a lot of inflammation and subsequent scar tissue/hardening.

Thus buttock/hip implants become a very good, safe, and long term reliable option for most patients seeking buttock augmentation (at least in my practice). I prefer to insert the buttock implants through a single 2 ½ inch long incision over the tailbone (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. Therefore it is extremely important to seek consultation with a board certified plastic surgeon who specializes in this procedure. And in this case too, at least in my surgical practice, the infection rate is minimized to ~5%. Glad to help… 

I would necessarily say that you would have to lose weight.  It appears that you are a reasonable candidate for liposuction and fat transfer.  Whether you can get 1000-1200 cc in each cheek is another question.

Dr. ES

I would recommend consulting with an experienced plastic surgeon before you begin losing too much weight. Your body weight isn't the important factor here, the amount of available fat is what matters. Some patients have lots of intra-abdominal fat, which is unavailable for the fat transfer procedure (Brazilian buttock lift). A board certified plastic surgeon can examine you and determine how much "good" fat you have for the transfer. As far as how much fat can be transferred, this depends on the amount and quality of the donor fat. The amount of fat that survives is all that matters, not the amount that is injected.

Best wishes,

Dr.Bruno

     I think that you could weigh 140 to 150 lbs and still get 1200 cc per buttock if you find the right surgeon.  You will find that the results are very much surgeon dependent.  Find a plastic surgeon with ELITE credentials who performs hundreds of Brazilian buttlifts each year.  Then look at the plastic surgeon's website before and after photo galleries to get a sense of who can deliver the results.  Kenneth Hughes, MD Los Angeles, CA

Ideally the more fat you have, the more fat you can transfer. With your weight, I would estimate that your surgeon should be able to inject 1000cc to 1200cc of fat to each buttock. It is recommended to be at an ideal comfortable body weight before considering plastic surgery as weight fluctuation can effect your results. I recommend consulting with a board certified plastic surgeon who has had extensive experience in the procedure.