Butt Augmentation – Shape Matters!

Butt augmentation is the trend in cosmetic surgery for body contouring in Trinidad and the Caribbean. The term butt augmentation only insufficiently describes the scope and purpose of the procedure. Just as tummy tuck is the procedure to reshape the the front of the torso, butt augmentation reshapes the back of the torso. It is thus all about shape and not about making something bigger or having a butt injection. The term butt augmentation is a left over from the time when buttock implants were the only way to enlarge the buttocks. Gluteal sculpting is nowadays the preferred term in the plastic surgery community when referring to butt augmentation. With the advent of large and mega volume fat grafting it is now feasible to reshape the buttocks, not just enlarge them. Brazilian butt lift is the term originally assigned to gluteal reshaping with liposuction and fat transfer as the procedure creates the visual impression of lifted buttocks.

The results can be truly stunning if the procedure is performed by those rare plastic surgeons who have matured to become technically perfect artists.

Gluteal sculpting means give and take – some areas of the buttocks and their surroundings are made smaller with liposuction, others are enlarged with fat transfer until shape and size both appear aesthetically ideal. While gluteal sculpting is an artistic undertaking, setting the objectives for the procedure (what shape ? more round, more heart shaped or what ? and what size) is as much art as sociocultural exploration. Gluteal sculpting for butt augmentation can and must be highly individualized. Shape and size preferences do vary across ethnicities. What looks good in terms of size on Afro-Caribbeans, Latinas or Creoles may be too much for East Indians or Caucasians.

In terms of shape the preferences in butt augmentation are more uniform. Across ethnicities the preferences are either heart shaped or round buttocks. These shapes represent aesthetic ideals. Square or V-shaped (the opposite of heart shaped) have to be sculpted into one of the other two per client preferences. Such shape transitions represent the true artistic challenge in butt augmentation. This challenge cannot be met with buttock implants alone.

Buttock implants still do play a role in butt augmentation. Gluteal sculpting with the Brazilian butt lift requires a considerable amount of usable fat. As the priority is reshaping available fat is preferentially used for this purpose. In thin clients one may run out of fat before even getting to the enlargement step. With sufficient experience such an event can be anticipated during the consultation. Then butt augmentation can be performed by placing buttock implants in addition to the sculpting step consisting of liposuction and fat transfer. Only in a very small fraction of clients are buttock implants alone the ideal solution. This would be the case if the buttocks are aesthetically ideal, very little fat can be harvested from other parts of the body and the buttocks need increased projection in the side view only.

Butt Augmentation – Is It for You?

As a principle everybody is a candidate for gluteal sculpting with the Brazilian butt lift, barring any serious underlying medical conditions. You subjectively desire an improved shape of your buttocks and buttock enlargement. You have realistic expectations as to what the procedure can achieve and accept the small risks of the surgery, insignificantly higher than those of an outpatient liposuction. Reviewing actual experiences of our clients with butt augmentation will also help you to learn what to expect from the procedure in terms of results and recovery. You have sufficient fat available in your lower back, waists and belly or can gain some weight to increase the amount of available fat prior to the procedure. You are willing to comply with three days of no sitting / lying on your back postoperatively and a slow increase of these activities thereafter and you can afford the procedure. Then you are close to an ideal candidate to butt augmentation with the Brazilian butt lift.

Buttock implants require more extensive sitting restrictions and somewhat surprisingly carry a higher operative risk than butt augmentation with fat transfer / liposuction, which needs to be accepted along with the placement of silicone gluteal implants (foreign bodies forever). If you are very thin buttock implants may be the only option.

Butt Augmentation – What Are the Specifics?

During the preoperative consultation process with our board certified plastic surgeons with extensive experience in all types of body contouring procedures procedure selection, objectives and possible results of buttock augmentation along with before and after pictures will be reviewed. A lot of emphasis is placed on your ethnic preferences and understanding of the postoperative restrictions. Butt augmentation with the Brazilian butt lift is performed as an outpatient procedure. Buttock implants require at least an overnight stay at the hospital. Both require a general anesthetic.

Follow-up visits with the operating surgeon assure that everything is going well after the procedure. In the early postoperative phase the surgeon closely monitors compliance with sitting restrictions. Otherwise the postoperative course is very similar to an outpatient liposuction and common sense measures apply – avoiding injury to the buttocks, wearing the compression garments, attending the follow-up visits with the plastic surgeon and not placing any incisions under stress. After three weeks most clients will have experienced resolution of swelling and postoperative discomfort (if any), all precautionary measures are removed, scar treatment with silicon gel sheets is begun. At this time clients start to experience the full benefits of butt augmentation.

Trinidad Institute of Plastic Surgery – the superior choice for butt augmentation  in the Caribbean, Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Montserrat, Saint Lucia, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Turks and Caicos Islands, Miami, New York, Toronto, London