Buttock Augmentation & Lift

Denver Butt Enhancement Plastic Surgery

Buttock augmentation is a prime example of how a person’s silhouette can be recreated through surgery. The so-called “ideal” size and shape of the buttocks varies from culture-to-culture, with what is fashionable at that time and even what movie starlet’s figure is currently being admired. Even accounting for cultural variations, however, the full, round firm, smooth and non-sagging buttocks is what we recognize as being youthful and attractive. It’s usually an issue of how “projecting” that buttock is that will vary culturally and with celebrity fashion.

Not only does the buttock shape vary from person-to-person, it changes over time. With aging the buttocks deflate, sag, flatten, and develop cellulite-anointed puckering that we at Grossman Plastic Surgery® commonly refer to as “hail damage”.
In addition to exercise that is concentrated on toning and increasing the buttocks volume to create an appearance that we see and admire in professional ballet dancers, all other methods similarly focus on adding to the volume.
There are essentially 2 forms: 1- uses the patient’s own fatty tissue if it is available in sufficient volume. This is the so-called “Brazilian Butt Lift”. While the origin of that name is not clear, anyone who has visited the beaches of Brazil and noted the “occupants” of the “dental floss bikinis” understands the origin; 2- uses an ultrasoft  solid silicone implant placed in each buttock within the gluteus maximus muscle, beneath its fascial covering, or on top of the muscle. The intra-muscular and sub-fascial locations are the preferable ones.

Brazilian Butt-Lift
The “Brazilian Butt-Lift” (BBL) is accomplished by harvesting a large volume of fat from the abdomen, thighs, and back, and, after cleansing and preparing this fat, reintroducing it into the buttocks in numerous tiny volumes and locations to create the desired contour. The success of the “Brazilian butt lift” relies on the transplanted fat “taking” or remaining alive in its new location. For this to occur, the transplanted fat cells must develop blood supply from the surrounding tissues. And to accomplish this, the area must intrinsically have good blood supply and the transplanted fat cells need to be undisturbed by trauma or pressure. Therefore, post-operatively, the patient must not sit or lie on the area for about 6 weeks. Some surgeons will accomplish their BBL in 2 stages so as both to compensate for fat lost following the first procedure and to “top off” and finesse the final result.
The ideal BBL patient needs to have an ample amount of excess body fat in the abdomen, back and/or thighs but should be otherwise in good shape. Also, such a patient needs to be very patient as she or he will not be able, as mentioned earlier, to sit or lie on the buttocks for 6 weeks.

Silicone Buttock Implants
The other type of buttock implant surgery uses a very, very soft solid silicone implant. The implant is positioned surgically within the region of the gluteus maximus muscle. Especially if the selected position is within the ill-defined space between the gluteus maximus and medius muscles, but also in the other muscular positions, there needs to be great care to avoid injury to the sciatic nerve, the nerve which controls movement and sensation in the lower leg.
The surgical incision is usually placed in the groove/crease between the buttocks. Post-operatively, sitting or lying on the buttocks is forbidden for 2 weeks, after which gentle and careful sitting is allowed for another 2 weeks. By that time, it should be possible to sit or lie normally, although there may still be tenderness, however, for several months.

Anesthesia & After Surgery
At Grossman Plastic Surgery ®, we prefer to perform both types of buttock- or gluteoplasty under general anesthesia, although buttock-plasty with a silicone implant could be done with a spinal anesthetic. The BBL can be accomplished as an out-patient, although most patients in Denver ask to spend the night in the Suites at Rose Medical Center (6 North Suites). In contrast, the silicone buttock implant patient needs to spend several days in hospital and make arrangements to be able to manage at home without any sitting or lying on the buttocks. Eating needs to be done standing and using the toilet requires some degree of athleticism crouching over the toilet. Any external sutures (stitches) will be removed at 1 week after surgery. We recommend that all patients remain active starting immediately after surgery and designing their exercise regimen to account for restrictions. Walking is their major form of exercise during the healing period.