Are you looking for a way to change your proportions or enhance your contours? A Brazilian butt lift surgery can be a great way to get the look you want, and at Nuance Cosmetic Surgery in Folsom, CA, we can use this procedure to give you a natural look you’ll love.
What Makes a Brazilian Butt Lift Special?
This type of butt lift doesn’t use implants. Instead, you contour your body using your own grafted fat. This means you not only get to change the contours of your lower body, but you can also trim fat from areas where you’d like to see a bit less. And since the fat comes from you, the results look, feel, and last naturally.
Is a Brazilian Butt Lift Permanent?
There’s an old saying: nothing lasts forever. That said, a BBL comes pretty close! And the good news is there are some things you can do that will enhance your effects and allow them to last longer.
A BBL itself involves two separate parts. The first is harvesting fat from your donor site. This fat then gets cleaned and processed for transfer to the buttocks. Then we inject the fat into your target site to enhance size and shape. After that, it’s up to you and your body!
What Can Cause the Results of the Fat Grafting Fade?
The good news is that the results in your grafting site will only fade if you gain significant weight. When you have fat removed, the cells are gone forever; our bodies only very rarely generate new fat cells. Instead, they tend to simply expand or contract our existing cells. Since there will be fewer fat cells in your donor area, any minor weight gain is unlikely to show there.
However, there is no way to predict with 100% certainty where anyone’s body will choose to store fat. If you gain enough extra weight, your body may put fat at the donor site and undo your results. For the most prolonged fat-grafting results, try not to gain more than 10 pounds after your procedure.
What Can Cause the Results of the Fat Transfer Fade?
Initial Results
It’s natural for some of your fat transfer results to fade in the first six to eight weeks. This is because only the healthiest and strongest fat cells survive the transfer process: usually around 60% or so. Because this is an expected change, we will “overcompensate” by injecting more fat than you need at the time of your procedure.
This means your initial results may look slightly larger than you’re expecting, but they will go down as some of the fat cells fail to stick. This type of fading is natural and expected, but it’s important for your final results not to fade away!
Final Results
Your final results can be expected to last for decades and perhaps for a lifetime, depending on your lifestyle and some other things that are normally within your control. Once the fat cells have settled into their new area and are being fed by your circulatory system, they will stay right where they are unless you lose a significant amount of weight.
There’s no way to tell where your body will choose to store fat, and there’s also no way to tell where it will choose to remove fat after weight loss. It’s possible that if you lose a lot of weight, your body will take some of the volume from your buttocks. For this reason, it’s important to lose no more than 10 pounds post-procedure.
In other words, to retain the best results in both your donor and transfer areas, for life, plan to stay within 10 pounds of your weight at the time of your Brazilian butt lift surgery.
Getting the Best Results From Your Fat Transfer
There are things you can do that will help you get the best possible result from your BBL, which is exciting news! It’s always a plus when you can stay in control.
Avoid Smoking
Smoking may be the single most damaging thing you can do to your body. A cigarette contains thousands of different chemical compounds, and many of them directly work against healthy skin. These compounds destroy collagen and elastin and even encourage your body to make less. You need collagen and elastin to keep up your smooth, tight skin!
All tobacco products also contain nicotine, which elevates your blood pressure. Higher blood pressure and the restricted blood flow that comes with it can compromise the efficiency of your circulatory system. You need a strong, healthy system that can build blood vessels to nourish your newly injected fat cells.
Avoid Sitting
This might sound impossible, but there are ways to get around sitting for the first month after your BBL. For one thing, there are special pillows made for this procedure that will allow you to sit while protecting your new fat. This pillow keeps you from putting too much pressure on the fat cells.
Yet if you can, you should avoid sitting even on the pillow as much as possible. Instead, try lying on your side whenever you need to get off your feet. If you need to work at a desk, consider getting a standing desk. Your results will thank you!
Avoid Cardio
Once you have fat removed from the donor area, it’s natural to feel energized by looking at your new, svelte figure and want to hit the gym to keep it up. While the gym is normally a great idea, you want to avoid it right after your procedure for two reasons.
First, it’s important to keep your blood pressure down, and cardio is meant to raise your blood pressure. Second, you don’t want to engage in too much fat burning while you’re actively trying to get newly transferred fat to stabilize in your buttocks.
However, you should take regular, gentle walks as often as possible. Walking will help you stay fit during this time while also giving your circulatory system a nice boost.
Give It Room
Tight clothing is a definite no-no during this time. You don’t want to wear anything that hugs your buttocks too tightly, as this could cause the injected fat to shift. This is the perfect excuse to wear your most comfortable clothing! For the first two months after your BBL, wear those light, flowy dresses you love or those gym shorts and sweatpants that make you feel so comfortable.
As you remember not to wear tight clothes, remember not to wear tight underclothes, either! Don’t be afraid to declare a Pajama Day regularly and make the whole thing official.
Stay Hydrated
Hydration will help your transplanted fat survive and connect strongly with your body. Not only should you drink plenty of water, but you should also prioritize drinks that contain lots of electrolytes. One great, natural option for hydration and electrolytes is coconut water.
You don’t have to drink just water, however. Tea and decaf coffee are hydrating, as are many fruits and vegetables. Fruit with plenty of Vitamin C is perfect during this time since the C will give your immune system a boost.
Eat Healthy Foods
The healthier you are, the easier it will be for your body to adapt to your new fat. This means eating plenty of the essential micronutrients available in fruit, vegetables, nuts, and even foods like chocolate. (Just remember to eat dark chocolate that’s not been Dutch-processed and to take it easy on the sugar).
In addition to micronutrients, you need plenty of fiber, protein, and B-complex vitamins. Don’t neglect high-protein meats and eggs or complex carbohydrates from legumes, sweet potatoes, and other unrefined sources.
It’s always a good idea to cook up some healthy meals before your Brazilian butt lift and then freeze them. This gives you access to high-quality, homemade meals right after your procedure. You won’t feel like taking all the effort to cook and clean up while you’re trying to recover, so having good meals ready to warm up will keep you from ordering too much junk food!
Sleep on Your Stomach
For the first two months after your BBL, plan to sleep on your stomach. It’s a good idea to practice sleeping on your stomach for a few weeks before your BBL so you get used to it.
If it’s absolutely impossible for you to sleep on your stomach, then you can sleep on your side. However, you need to find a way to ensure you won’t roll over to your back in the night. Sleeping on your back puts too much pressure on the newly transferred fat, meaning that less of it is likely to survive. Invest in a body pillow or something similar that will keep you from turning over in your sleep.
Sleep at Least Nine Hours Nightly
Speaking of sleep, the more sleep you get for the first eight weeks after your BBL, the better off your whole body will be. Every night, you cycle through phases of sleep, and the most important of these is REM or rapid eye movement sleep.
This is the most restorative stage of sleep for humans, but it takes 90 minutes of sleeping to get to this stage. A good goal to shoot for is nine hours of uninterrupted sleep per night. Every time you wake up, you reset your phases of sleep and need another 90 minutes to get to REM.
Am I a Good Candidate for a BBL?
If you’re a healthy adult and have a realistic understanding of what’s involved and what to expect in terms of results, you’re likely a good candidate for a BBL. The best candidates want to remove fat from one part of their body and also want to enhance the shape and size of their buttocks.
You should want moderate changes to your buttocks. If you’re looking for a drastic change, you should consider getting an implant rather than using fat from your own body.
The best candidates are also within about 10-20 pounds of their goal weight and have had a stable weight for a while. When you come in for an initial consultation, we’ll discuss your health, medical history, goals, and expectations. We can help you decide if this is the best way to get the results you’re looking for!
Get a Permanent Change
A Brazilian butt lift takes some commitment, but if you’re willing to take care of yourself after the procedure, you can expect to enjoy your results for many years. While it’s possible you may need a skin tightening treatment later due to the natural effects of aging on our skin, you won’t lose volume if you take care of your results.
To learn more about whether a BBL is the right move for you, contact us at Nuance Cosmetic Surgery in Folsom, CA today to learn more. We can’t wait to help you get started on a new you!