Buttock augmentation has become a popular procedure among women who desire prominent, youthful-looking, curvy buttocks. The procedure owes much of its popularity to celebrity “belfies” which have flooded Instagram feeds. Today, women looking to enhance the appearance of their posterior have a new option – Brazilian butt lift in NYC. Unlike implant surgery where silicone implants are inserted into the buttocks, BBL adds volume and visual appeal to the buttocks using the patient’s own fat.
The Brazilian butt lift is a “dual-benefit” body contouring procedure. Fat is removed via liposuction from waist and other parts of the body which reshapes these areas, and is carefully injected into the gluteal region to enhance and improve its appearance. Buttock augmentation with autologous fat grafting, or gluteal lift (currently marketed as the “Brazilian butt lift in NYC”), is described as one of the most rapidly evolving and increasingly popular cosmetic surgical procedures. According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS), buttock augmentation via fat grafting increased 10% in 2017 over the previous year.
Women considering the procedure should know and understand what BBL in NYC involves:
- Candidate evaluation: According to NYC plastic surgeons, ideal candidates are those who are in good general health and have enough fat and an appropriate body type for fat harvesting, and make an effective change to the buttocks during transfer. The typical areas for fat harvesting include the axilla or arm pit, the mid back or bra rolls, flanks or love handles as well as the outer thighs, inner thighs, abdomen and other areas have been under consideration.
- Marking for fat transfer: The surgeon will outline the area where the fat is to be injected using a surgical marker.
- Administration of anesthesia: BBL can be performed under general and local anesthesia. The amount of fat that needs to be removed will determine the type of anesthesia you will receive. General anesthesia would required for larger areas of liposuction with more generous amounts of fat transfer. However, traditional BBL under general anesthesia can have devastating and even fatal consequences if the fat is injected into and below the muscle, either intentionally or unintentionally.
Fortunately, two plastic surgeons of bodySCULPT in NYC, Drs. Spero Theodorou and Christopher T. Chia invented Brazilian butt lift under local anesthesia (BBLULA). Local anesthesia is the safer option because it presents minimal complications or risks for the patient. Extremely successful as a safer alternative to the traditional technique, BBLULA is a relatively short procedure that allows patients to remain awake throughout the procedure, heal faster, and get back quickly to their normal routine.
However, with local anesthesia, only smaller amounts of fat are injected at one time. Dr. Chia notes that many of their patients who have it done under local tolerate it so well that they return on multiple occasions to gradually increase their buttock size in stages. BBL under local anesthesia can be done safely, comfortably and with a shorter recovery time and at a lower cost because an anesthesiologist, extra nursing staff and excess operating room costs are avoided. Patients can work with their surgeon to determine the type of anesthesia that will work best for them.
- Preparing the harvest site and the buttocks for surgery: The harvest site is the area from which the fat will be removed via liposuction. Both the harvesting site and buttocks will be cleaned and disinfected. Disinfecting these areas reduces the risks of infection.
- Liposuction is performed to harvest the fat: The fat harvesting procedure involves tumescent liposuction to provide local anesthesia to large volumes of subcutaneous fat. A saline medium is first injected into the site to deliver the medications to numb the area, and minimize bleeding and bruising. Expert plastic surgeons use advanced energy assisted methods of liposuction such as ultrasound assisted VASER High Definition Lipo that allow for smoother and easier extraction of fat with lesser trauma and minimal bruising.