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Dr. Michaels' Blog

Brazilian Butt Lift; what is it?

The term Brazilian Butt lift is confusing. It is not a surgical lift of the buttock; no skin or fat is removed or repositioned. In fact, skin resection and repositioning is a very useful technique to improve the appearance of the buttock after massive weight loss when the buttock is deflated and sagging. But that is not a Brazilian Butt Lift. Popularized in South America, the Brazilian Butt Lift is a buttock augmentation.

The Brazilian Butt Lift is performed by transferring fat to the buttock from other body areas. This is a significant improvement over older buttock augmentation techniques. Before fat transfers, buttock augmentation was done with silicone or silastic implants. These implants are foreign objects that can become displaced, infected or cause an excessive inflammatory response. Once healed, your own fat will not do any of those things. But if you have no excess body fat available to transfer to the buttock some plastic surgeons still use implant augmentation.

Besides avoiding implants, the Brazilian Butt Lift avoids significant scarring and recuperation. By using less vacuum and friction than usual liposuction techniques, the fat is harvested, not destroyed. The donor sites are usually from the abdomen, hips or thighs which are improved as well. Then the living fat is separated from the rest of the harvested tissue through centrifuge or filtering techniques. This purified fat is then injected into the buttock to improve contour and projection. The scars are small and discomfort is limited. Most people say it feels like your muscles are sore after a big workout.