The Brazilian butt lift is a popular procedure that delivers effective and reliable aesthetic results. However, there are always patients who will need touch-up fat injections down the road. After the original fat transfer, you can expect your butt to appear smoother, projected, and shapelier. The texture of the skin on the butt will also be enhanced.
Whether a revision surgery is necessary after the Brazilian butt lift depends on a number of factors. There are patients who never need revision surgery after the procedure, and they continue to enjoy having improved buttocks for a lifetime. There are also patients who may need revision surgery or touch-up fat injections to make up for lost aesthetics or lost fat. Your body may consume some of the fat injected in your butt, affecting the results achieved with fat transfer.
Factors that determine the need for revision surgery
• Surgeon’s experience and skills: If your plastic surgeon is highly experienced, board-certified, and has the required skills, chances are the fat transfer to your butt will survive on a long-term basis. The survival of the fat depends to a greater extent on how the fat has been extracted, purified, and grafted into the fat recipient areas. If an inexperienced surgeon or practitioner has performed your operation, the fat may not survive. This will make your butt appear aesthetically unwelcoming. A revision surgery will be necessary to fix the aesthetic problems.
• Microfat grafting: If your doctor has used the microfat grafting approach, you may not necessarily need a revision surgery in future. The micorfat graft is an extensive and time-consuming process that makes certain that most of the fat cells injected in your butt are of the best quality and will survive for a lifetime.
• Vascularization: After injecting the fat into your butt, your body establishes the blood supply to them. This helps them stay alive and healthy. If the vascularization has happened and all fat cells have received blood supply, the results achieved will be permanent. However, there is always a portion of the fat that may not necessarily be vascularized. If the percentage of such fat cells is higher, you may require touch-up fat injection or revision surgery in future.
Revision surgery after Brazilian butt lift
Despite performing the surgery to the best of the surgeon’s capabilities, not even the best plastic surgeon can guarantee that you will not need a revision surgery or touch-up fat injections in the future. Like all other procedures, there are risks associated with the BBL. There is always a risk that your body may absorb a portion of the fat transferred, necessitating a revision surgery for you.
The good news is that most patients who had the BBL are happy with the results and didn’t need a revision surgery. There is also a probability that your aesthetic desires may also change. You may start feeling that you need a larger butt. To make your butt larger, you will need a revision surgery during which the doctor will add more fat.
There is also the likelihood that after the fat transfer surgery, you may realize that your desired aesthetic goals have not been achieved. Your butt may not be contoured or sized as per your desires. In such a case, you may consider revision surgery. However, the doctor may recommend you to wait for several months before seeking a revision procedure.
Weight loss after the Brazilian butt lift can affect the achieved results. However, it takes substantial weight loss to change your butt aesthetically. Mild weight loss will not introduce major aesthetic changes.
The fat transferred to your butt behaves just like the fat in other areas of your body. This means they will be affected by weight loss in the same manner as other areas of your body. When a major weight loss occurs, the fat cells in your butt will shrink or your body may absorb a portion of the fat.
When your butt shrinks due to weight loss, they will not look aesthetically pleasing. In order to restore the size and shape of your booties, you will need a revision surgery during which new fat cells will be transferred to make up for the lost fat cells.
If fat is not available for revision surgery
If you need a revision surgery or touch-up fat injection after the original BBL, you will be required to have excess body fat. The procedure involves the use of your own body fat to enhance your backside. However, in thin patients, excess fat may not be available.
So, how will the revision surgery be performed in very thin patients who have lost the results achieved via fat transfer? Well, the surgeon may make two suggestions to the patient: gain weight or get butt implants. If you gain weight, enough fat will grow in your body that can be transferred to your butt.
However, this is very time consuming, and there is never a guarantee that you will add the required volume of fat. As such, most patients opt to go for the butt implant, which is a prosthetic device made of highly durable, semi-solid silicone material. The implant is inserted and placed within or below the gluteal muscle through an incision. The result of butt implant surgery is permanent as long as complications like capsular contracture, infections, and implant migration don’t occur.
Conclusion
Even though the Brazilian butt lift has a good record of delivering lifelong results, there is always a risk that some of the fat transferred to your butt may not survive. Factors like the surgeon’s experience and skills, your body’s tendency to treat the fat cells, weight loss, and your aesthetic goals are some of the dominant factors that may necessitate a revision surgery after the fat transfer procedure.