Making sense of Brazilian Butt Lift (BBL) results

The Brazilian Butt Lift, or “BBL”, has been quite popular over the last few years. I did my first liposuction with fat transfer as a medical student in 1989. It was amazing to think that you could move fat from one part of the body and have it survive and live elsewhere.

I do between 150 and 200 BBL’s a year. I have probably done close to 2000 by now. Experience has taught me how to do the operation technically well, I have learned how patient care afterwards can affect the final results, and how to give a realistic expectation to a patient. So how come some people are disappointed with the results? I have broken it down into a few categories which I will share with you.

Sometimes the response from significant other or friends and family is not as great as the patient is looking for. You spend money and hope that the whole world will be positive and supportive. Unfortunately, people can be jealous or cruel, and the only way to not operate on these patients is to meet there whole social circle- not practical.

Others are looking for the impossible, despite them yessing you to death when you explain the limits of the procedure. You need to be realistic and understand what is expected if you truly want to be satisfied. Satisfaction comes from within you, and it is a choice.

Lastly, sometimes the result is less than what the surgeon expects, given body metabolism or quality and quantity of fat. This is an unfortunate possibility in a procedure where no matter how well the fat is placed, for some reason the body can’t support it. I always explain this possibility.

I would say 100% of my patients have improvement, and 90% are satisfied and happy with the change. If social support systems were good, and patients were all realistic, I think it would be 99%. I still think it is an amazing procedure, and I love making curves.

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