Question: I think I need buttock implants. I don’t have a lot of fat. Are buttock implants safe?
Answer:
Yes – recent advances in buttock implants have made this is better operation.
That said, for women with enough fat, liposuction and transferring the fat to the buttocks is better because the fat is soft like our natural buttocks. This procedure is called a BBL (Brazilian Butt Lift).
However, a BBL requires at least 2000 cc of harvested fat, or about 2 quarts. Slim women don’t have this much fat. For them, buttock implants are better.
Buttock implants used to have a poor reputation because of poor cosmetic results and high rates of infection. The good news is that has changed.
Better cosmetic results – Lower Infection
- Putting buttock implants in the muscle
- Buttock implants used to go under the fascia (lining of the buttock muscle), on top of the muscle. Implants here are prone to infection and tend to droop with time. Today, buttock implants are usually placed in the buttock muscle – with muscle over and under the implant to hide, support and protect it.
- Avoiding implants that are too big
- Although everyone wants the biggest implant possible, these can stretch tissues so they can’t heal. The implant should not be wider than your own buttock.
- Having better implant materials
- Buttock implants started by using round gel breast implants. These could rupture. Solid silicone implants were hard and unnatural. Today we have a new material – a soft solid silicone in a natural contour shape.
- Using two incisions, one for each implant
- Buttock implant incisions go in the crease, but the tissue in the crease may not be soft enough to sew easily. Today we often use an incision on each side of the crease – where tissues close easily over the implant, but remain hidden from view.
- Knowing that recovery takes time!
- No sitting for 3 weeks
- Back to normal daily activity in 6 – 8 weeks
- Back to exercise in 8 – 10 weeks
- Pain control with Exparel, an injection done in hospital – this reduces the muscle pain, making your early recovery easier.
So if you are slim, want more shapely buttocks, but don’t have much fat – buttock implants are recommended instead.