Cosmetic Injections for Butt Lift
Butt lifts are one of the most publicized cosmetic procedures in recent years. There have been countless news reports about their popularity and tabloid speculation about celebrities who have undergone the procedure.
This is largely driven by patient interest. Genetics and aging change the buttocks’ appearance over time. For many individuals, no amount of exercise or dietary changes can tone and shape the buttocks to their satisfaction.
Previously, the only options were acceptance or invasive surgery. Traditional butt implants and lifts involve incisions, inserting synthetic material into the body, and long recoveries. The risks were relatively high and results were not guaranteed.
The rise of cosmetic injections offers a less invasive and lower-risk alternative. Doctors can now shape the buttocks, increase volume, and create the desired curvature with fillers that stimulate growth or behave closer to our natural anatomy.
Butt lifts via injection are still a medical procedure and therefore carry some risk. Successfully reshaping your buttocks requires a thorough understanding of the procedure. That way, you have the necessary knowledge when seeking a trusted provider.
What is an Injectable Butt Lift?
An injectable butt lift is a cosmetic procedure in which a doctor uses a dermal filler or fat to change the shape and curve of your buttocks. It offers a customizable approach because the amount of filler can be adjusted to suit your goals.
Their results are often more natural-looking than butt implants. They are a viable solution for patients who lost volume and shape to weight loss, pregnancy, or aging.
Types of Injectable Butt Lifts
Proper medical evaluation is critical for determining the correct buttock enhancement procedure for you. You need to be forthcoming with your doctor about your desires and medical history to select the buttock implants that best suit your needs.
Sculptra
Collagen is a protein necessary for the health and strength of the underlying tissue that creates the skin’s foundation. It also provides shape and structure to the buttocks. Collagen production naturally falls off with age, allowing the butt to flatten and sag.
Sculptra is a dermal filler whose active ingredient is poly-L-lactic acid, which stimulates collagen production. The butt’s volume and rounder shape return over the following months as collagen reactivates.
Brazilian
A Brazilian butt lift is technically a surgical procedure. Instead of a dermal filler, liposuction is used to harvest fat from your abdomen, hips, lower back, or thighs. The doctor then uses the extracted fat as the filler, injecting it into the buttocks.
BBL carries more risk than Sculptra injections because of the liposuction, which requires incisions. This butt augmentation procedure was first performed in 1996 and has since been refined.
Who is an Ideal Candidate?
Cosmetic injections are most successful for patients in generally good health who do not smoke.
Good candidates should be within their target weight range. Smoking negatively affects collagen production, making it especially detrimental to Sculptra.
Ideal candidates for Brazilian must have a high enough body fat percentage to safely permit liposuction.
How Does an Injectable Butt Lift Work?
Sculptra works by reactivating collagen production, which naturally slows down with age. Its effects develop over time, usually taking six months. Sculptra’s final results last for about two years depending on your health, age, and anatomy.
A Brazilian is essentially a transplant. You’ll see the restoration of lost volume or new curvature immediately. Full recovery takes about two months. You’ll then see the buttocks’ final shape.
Benefits
Every procedure carries risk, but injections do not require undergoing anesthesia or deep incisions. Cosmetic injections are low-risk and minimally invasive. The risk of infection is also lower than a traditional implant.
Sculptra uses a naturally-occurring acid that stimulates the body and a Brazilian uses your own fat, so the injectables are natural.
Patients treated with Sculptra can also have follow-up injections after six months if the initial procedure does not adequately augment the butt’s volume and shape.
Cosmetic injections also require far less downtime than surgical butt lifts or implants. Patients return to normal activity almost immediately with Sculptra and within two months with Brazilian.
Risks and Side Effects
Both Sculptra and Brazilian carry the risk of injection site pain and infection, like with every medical procedure. Severe side effects or complications are rare, except when the injections are performed in a non-medical setting by non-licensed providers.
Sculptra’s most common side effect is temporary injection site pain. Bruising, swelling, soreness, itching, redness, and temporary acne breakouts are possible. There is a chance of blood vessel breakage. The filler may also align and settle in a way that causes unevenness.
Sculptra is irreversible. Patients must wait for its effects to wear off on their own. It’s important that you go into the procedure with realistic expectations.
A Brazilian is more invasive and carries a higher risk. Pain, infection, and scarring are all possible where liposuction is performed. Media reports of death associated with Brazilians are usually caused by an injection of fat into the bloodstream, which can lead to embolism.
These are generally a result of patients receiving the treatment from untrained personnel at a salon or non-medical spa.
If you experience any of the following effects, you should seek immediate medical attention:
- Fever or yellow drainage at the liposuction or injection site, which may indicate infection
- Shortness of breath or respiratory distress, which may indicate an embolism
- Dizziness or nausea
How to Find a Provider
You should only receive treatment from a licensed and board-certified cosmetic surgeon. The American Board of Cosmetic Surgery has a database of providers which you can filter by location.
Your doctor must conduct a thorough consultation and go over your complete medical history first. You should ask about their experience providing cosmetic injections for butt lifts and request before-and-after photos of their actual patients.
Preparing for an Injectable Butt Lift
The specific injection you and your doctor choose will dictate all of the pre-procedure parameters involved. They will ask you to:
- Suspend ibuprofen, aspirin, and other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs because they affect the blood
- Stop herbal and dietary supplements for two weeks before your treatment
- Quit smoking and vaping
- Abstain from alcohol for the 48 hours preceding treatment because it can affect clotting
What Should I Expect at my Procedure?
Sculptra is an outpatient procedure that generally takes 30 minutes. You must be able to lay on your stomach. Following the consult, the doctor will prep the injection site and administer a topical anesthetic. They will then inject the filler, monitor your response, and then discharge you.
A Brazilian involves two phases. First, your surgeon will prep and anesthetize the area where the excess fat will be harvested. They’ll then make incisions and extract the fat using a tube.
The fat is sterilized and prepped for injection into the buttocks. The buttocks will be sterilized and numbed before injecting the fat, which is combined with saline and plasma. The procedure takes at least an hour.
What to Expect After an Injectable Butt Lift
There is little to no mandatory recovery time following a Sculptra butt lift. Still, you’ll be instructed to avoid alcohol, exercise, and strenuous activity for a few days. Results take four to six months to materialize because collagen production must reinforce the tissue.
Over time, the body absorbs the Sculptra. Its enhancement effects usually wear off within two years.
More steps are necessary after a Brazilian butt lift procedure to maximize the results. Bruising and swelling are common where the liposuction was performed. You cannot sit for at least eight weeks post-procedure because it can harm or misshape the transplanted fat.
You’ll also have to sleep on your stomach or side for eight weeks after your buttock lift. At first, the intensity and extent of your activity must be limited. You can slowly increase it over the first month after the injection. Usually, you can return to normal activity after two months.
Conclusion
Aging, weight loss, and genetics cause the buttocks to flatten and sag over time. Plastic surgeries with dermal fillers or fat transfers offer a viable alternative to implants. Plastic surgeons can now augment the butt’s curve and shape with an outpatient procedure.
Injections are less invasive than implants and low-risk when performed by experienced surgeons. Your anatomy, the extent of your volume loss, and your overall health will dictate if Sculptra or a Brazilian butt lift is the buttock augmentation procedure thats best for you.