Brazilian Butt Lift Fort Worth
Getting a nicely shaped, round buttocks isn’t as simple as sticking to the right diet or exercise program. The way your body naturally deposits fat, your waist-to-hip ratio, and your tendency to build muscle in your rear all work together to give you the buttock shape you have now. If you have a naturally “apple” shaped frame, or if you tend to deposit fat in the lower back and belly, your butt may appear flat in comparison. A Brazilian butt lift is a popular body contouring procedure that can effectively change the shape of your lower body, giving you a curvier, more defined buttocks.
How is Brazilian butt lift (BBL) surgery performed?
Dr. Kirby performs Brazilian butt lift surgery by removing excess fat from the areas around the buttocks—the hips, belly, lower back, and thighs—with liposuction and then injecting a portion of this fat back into the buttock region to achieve a rounder, fuller contour. The entire procedure typically takes about 2 to 3 hours.
Although a Brazilian butt lift is a two-part procedure, femal plastic surgeon Dr. Kirby completes both the liposuction and fat injections during the same operation. Surgery is typically performed using general anesthesia, depending on the extent of the procedure.
Female Plastic Surgeon Fort Worth
- Board-Certified Plastic Surgeon
- Over 12 years of experience in private practice
- Founder and Medical Director of Kirby Plastic Surgery, Kalos Medical Spa, and City Surgery Center—a Quad A-accredited, state-of-the-art facility located onsite
- Specialist in breast surgery and body contouring, including postpartum
- Castle Connolly Top Doctor since 2019
- First female Chief of Plastic Surgery, Texas Health Resources Harris Methodist Hospital
What is the difference between a Brazilian butt lift and buttock augmentation?
The term “Brazilian butt lift” can be a little confusing. Unlike other body “lifting” procedures, no skin is removed during a Brazilian butt lift. Since your own fat is added to the buttocks, a Brazilian butt lift is technically a buttock augmentation procedure. However, as fat is removed from the areas surrounding the buttocks and transferred to the buttocks, this can give it a more lifted appearance.
Sometimes, a buttock augmentation refers to buttock implant surgery. Because of the risks involved and the tendency for less natural results, buttock implants have generally fallen out of favor with board certified plastic surgeons in the U.S., including Dr. Kirby.
“Dr. Kirby certainly seems to know what works, what doesn’t and what was best for me and my body.”
Am I a good candidate for a Brazilian butt lift?
A Brazilian butt lift can give you larger, more shapely buttocks in proportion to the rest of your body.
The best candidates are at a healthy body weight, but are bothered by a flat or shapeless appearance to their buttocks and would like to add volume. Good skin elasticity is key, and you must have the necessary amount of fat in the lower back, hips, thighs and/or belly to remove with liposuction and inject into the buttocks.
If you are happy with the size of your buttocks but would like better definition in the area, Dr. Kirby may recommend liposuction alone to achieve your desired improvements. If you have significant sagging in the buttocks or thighs, another body procedure such as lower body lift or thigh lift may be necessary to address excess skin and help improve the shape of the buttocks.
Real patient images from Board-Certified Plastic Surgeon Dr. Emily Kirby
*Individual results may vary.
How long will my results last?
Brazilian butt lift surgery results should last for many years, as long as you maintain a stable weight. Because liposuction permanently removes fat cells from an area, new fat cells will not grow back to take their place. Likewise, as the injected fat cells integrate into the existing fat in the buttock area, your enhanced buttock shape will last. Remember, though, that nothing can stop the normal aging process or the natural loss of skin elasticity that occurs—in the buttocks or anywhere else.
- Key Benefits
- Glossary
- Enhances buttock volume and shape
- Natural-looking results using your own fat
- Accentuates the waist and hips
- Offers the dual benefit of liposuction for body contouring in the abdomen, hips, or thighs
- Autologous Fat Transfer: A procedure that involves harvesting fat from one part of the patient’s body (through liposuction) and reinjecting it into the buttocks to enhance volume and shape. This is the primary method used in a BBL.
- Brazilian Butt Lift (BBL): A cosmetic procedure that enhances the size and shape of the buttocks without implants. Instead, it uses the patient’s own fat, harvested from other areas, to increase volume and improve contour.
- Cannula: A thin, tube-like instrument used in liposuction to remove fat from the donor site and then used to inject the fat into the buttocks during a BBL.
- Donor Sites: Areas of the body from which fat is harvested for transfer in procedures like BBL. Common donor sites include the abdomen, thighs, back, and flanks.
- Fat Embolism: A rare but serious complication where fat enters the bloodstream and blocks a blood vessel. In the context of BBL, it’s associated with the improper injection of fat deep into gluteal muscle tissue.
- Fat Grafting: The process of extracting fat from one part of the body, purifying it, and then injecting it into another part of the body to enhance volume. Fat grafting is the core technique used in a BBL.
- Fat Necrosis: The death of fat cells that have been transferred to a new area in the body. In BBL, this can occur when not enough blood supply reaches the transplanted fat.
- Incisions: Small cuts made in the skin to insert the cannula for fat harvesting and injection during the BBL procedure. These are typically small and strategically placed to minimize visible scarring.
- Liposuction: A cosmetic procedure used to remove unwanted body fat from specific areas by suctioning it out through a cannula. Liposuction is used in BBL to harvest fat from donor sites.
- Purification: The process of cleaning and preparing harvested fat before it is reinjected into the buttocks during a BBL. This may involve centrifugation or filtration to separate viable fat cells from other components.
- Recovery Time: The period after a BBL surgery during which the patient heals. This includes time for swelling and bruising to subside, and for the patient to gradually return to normal activities, typically ranging from a few days to several weeks. Recovery can be streamlined, but not rushed.
- Seroma: An accumulation of fluid in the area from which fat was harvested or in the treated buttock area. It’s a potential complication following procedures like BBL.
- Subcutaneous Layer: The layer of fat and tissue just beneath the skin. In BBL, fat is injected into the subcutaneous layer of the buttocks to enhance volume and shape while avoiding deeper muscle layers.
What is recovery like after a Brazilian butt lift?
Despite the dramatic results possible with a Brazilian butt lift, the procedure is often less invasive than many other body contouring options. Pain and discomfort after surgery are generally tolerable and comparable to the feelings of soreness that are typical after liposuction surgery.
You will go home after surgery wearing a compression garment for support and to help minimize post-surgical swelling. This will be worn for several weeks to assist the healing process. While you will have to avoid strenuous exercise for several weeks after surgery, light daily activities, including work at a sedentary job, can typically be resumed within a few days.
One unique modification required during Brazilian butt lift recovery involves how you sit. You will not be allowed to sit directly on the buttocks for about 10 days after surgery, except to use the toilet, while the fat injections are in the processing of integrating with your existing tissue. After this, sleeping on your belly and using a specialized thigh pillow when you need to sit will help ensure that your results take an optimal shape.
How do I prepare for Brazilian butt lift surgery?
Prior to any surgery, you will need to review with Dr. Kirby any medications or supplements you are taking, as certain substances can affect your procedure and outcome. You may be asked to stop or to adjust some medications or supplements you take in the weeks surrounding your surgery. Aspirin and aspirin products (Alka-Seltzer, Carisoprodol, Excedrin, Goody’s, Midol), anti-inflammatory medications (i.e., Advil, Aleve, ibuprofen), and herbal supplements including green tea must be avoided for 10 days prior to your surgery. You can download a list of drugs and supplements to avoid by clicking here. Dr. Kirby will discuss your medications with you at your consultation, but many patients find it helpful to create a list to bring with them to review.
Depending on your current health and any existing medical conditions, you may be asked to get lab testing or a medical checkup prior to your surgery.
Tobacco use increases the risks involved with any surgery and also inhibits your body’s ability to heal. You will be asked to stop smoking for 6 weeks prior to any surgery. Products designed to help you quit smoking continue to provide your body with tobacco and must be stopped as well. Please ask Dr. Kirby if you need help with quitting.
Be sure to arrange for a responsible adult to drive you to and from your surgery. You will need someone to stay with you the first 24 hours after your surgery as well. Dr. Kirby’s office will provide you with detailed instructions on how to prepare for your procedure at your consultation.
Dr. Emily Kirby uses Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) protocols, also known as “multimodal analgesia,” to minimize recovery time, and we see real results: our patients experience less nausea and feel more alert, mobile, and comfortable after their procedures.
“I had very hard recoveries in the past…it took me weeks to get back to caring for my family. With Dr. Kirby, I had a wonderful recovery and was back to my activities surprisingly quickly. Don’t tell the doctor, but I was at my child’s sporting event the day after my surgery, and I felt great!”
—Real patient of Dr. Kirby
What other procedures utilize fat transfer?
Dr. Kirby also performs facial fat injections and fat transfer breast augmentation in Fort Worth using your body’s own fat.
References »
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Cansancao AL, Condé-Green A, Vidigal RA, Rodriguez RL, D’Amico RA. Real-Time Ultrasound-Assisted Gluteal Fat Grafting. Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery. 2018 Aug;142(2):372-376. doi: 10.1097/PRS.0000000000004602.
O’Neill RC, Abu-Ghname A, Davis MJ, Chamata E, Rammos CK, Winocour SJ. The Role of Fat Grafting in Buttock Augmentation. Seminars in Plastic Surgery. 2020 Feb;34(1):38-46. doi: 10.1055/s-0039-3401038.
Vidal-Laureano N, Huerta CT, Perez EA, Earle SA. Augmented Safety Profile of Ultrasound-Guided Gluteal Fat Transfer: Retrospective Study With 1815 Patients. Aesthetic Surgery Journal. 2024 Mar 15;44(4):NP263-NP270. doi: 10.1093/asj/sjad377.
Wu S, Coombs DM, Gurunian R. Liposuction: Concepts, safety, and techniques in body-contouring surgery. Cleveland Clinic Journal of Medicine. 2020 Jun;87(6):367-375. doi: 10.3949/ccjm.87a.19097.
Triana L, Reddy CL, Liscano E. Complications of Fat Grafting Versus Implants in Gluteal Augmentation: A Retrospective Review and Lessons Learnt. Aesthetic Plastic Surgery. 2023 Oct;47(5):1939-1944. doi: 10.1007/s00266-023-03431-x.
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Medically reviewed by Dr. Emily J. Kirby — Updated on Apr 11, 2024