Nowadays there are two different procedures available for patients who want to increase the size of their buttocks with the help of plastic surgery. Both procedures deliver good results that are easily sustainable over time; however, the surgical plan, as well as the recovery period, are different.
The procedures we are talking about are butt lipofilling and butt implant surgery. The first uses the patient’s own fat cells to create a lifting effect and also to add more volume to the buttocks. When butt lipofilling is performed, the plastic surgeon will start by collecting fat cells from donor areas. The donor areas are generally the flanks and the abdominal wall, but could be any other area of the body that has an excess of fat. After the fat is collected, it will go through a complex centrifugation process as we need to eliminate the damaged fat cells and also the blood and impurities that might have been mixed with the fat cells during liposuction. After the purification process is completed, the plastic surgeon will use healthy, pure fat cells and inject them into the buttocks. He will target different areas of the buttocks and inject small amounts of fat cells at different depths to ensure their survival in the buttocks.
When butt implant surgery is performed, the plastic surgeon will follow a completely different plan. The procedure entails the use of gluteal implants that are inserted into a pocket inside the buttocks. Gluteal implants are medical devices that are permanent and made out of highly cohesive silicone. They can stay inside the buttocks for good after the surgery, with no need to remove or replace them later on. The procedure starts with the plastic surgeon making an incision in the intragluteal fold. Using this incision, he will create pockets inside or under the gluteal muscles and then insert the implants in their pockets. Once this step is completed, the incisions will be sutured, and the patient is ready to be moved to the recovery room.
As you can see from the description of the surgical plan for each procedure, butt implant surgery is more invasive and complex compared to butt lipofilling. This often means that patients undergoing butt implant surgery will experience more discomfort and a more intense level of pain after the procedure compared to patients getting butt lipofilling as the muscles are sectioned during the surgery.
There is a set of recommendations that are valid for the recovery period for patients undergoing both procedures. Among these instructions, patients need to avoid sitting on the buttocks or lying on the back for a minimum of three weeks post-op, otherwise the fat cells transferred might die or the incisions might open. The recovery for patients undergoing butt lipofilling is often shorter compared to patients getting butt implant surgery; however, the results that can be achieved with both procedures are also very different.