Butt augmentation: plastic surgery

Just like breast augmentation, there is butt augmentation plastic surgery.

With the recent popularity of the butt with Beyonce's bootylicious and Jennifer Lopez's mega butt, many women do not want their butts to be left behind.

Plastic surgery offers a solution to women who have a small butt or a flaccid butt.
According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, "Plastic surgeons have adapted standard techniques and are developing new ones to address patients' desire for firmer, higher, rounder buttocks.

Plastic surgery to get a larger butt
Plastic surgeons have a couple of procedures to enlarge the butt. Among these are:

Fat transfer
One tried-and-true procedure, that is now being used to enhance gluteal contours, is an autologous fat injection. This is grafting fat from one body part to add volume to another. Usually the fat comes from the abdomen, hips, back or thighs. The fat cells are removed via lipoplasty (liposuction), and then injected in "layers" into the buttocks.

This procedure is relatively simple and since the fat is from your own body, it does not reject its own fat. The disadvantages of this technique are that the body re-absorbs the fat; therefore, it is difficult to predict how much fat the body will reabsorb and what will be the final size. Multiple procedures may be necessary to obtain the desired butt size. The fat removed can be stored for future procedures.

Butt Implants
Just like the breast implants, there are butt implants to increase size or to correct shape. This procedure is not used to correct saggy butts. The implants are made from silicone. The procedure is often performed by making an incision in the fold between the buttock "cheeks" and inserting a solid silicone implant into the pocket below the gluteus muscle and above the pelvic bone. The implants do not move.The procedure takes about an hour and a half and it uses general anesthesia.

Advantages of a butt implant plastic surgery:
On the positive side this procedure will give you a precise shape and size.

Disadvantages
As with all implants the body may reject them. They may also present all the problems associated with implants.
Some doctors prefer not to perform this procedure, because they think the results look unnatural.

The butt implants may feel too hard to touch, so even if you do not have scars, your partner may figure out that your butt is not a gift of nature.

The recovery period is long and can be problematic. As Doctor Jan Adams from the TV program "Plastic Surgery - Before and After" said, "You do not walk with your breasts." But you do use your butt to walk, sit, and sleep. Dr Adams was referring to the fact that butt implants have some unique challenges to heal during the recovery period. For instance, you cannot sleep on your back or sit for long periods of time, and that can make the whole process of recovery somewhat challenging for most women.

As with most implants, it is a life long commitment. You have to maintain a stable weight and you may need to change the implants after a 10-year period. Pregnancy may affect the original results as well.

This is a plastic surgery procedure and as such it may have the usual complications such as bleeding, infections, etc.

How much do butt implants cost?
Depending on where you live they can cost from $3,000 to $10,000. About $4,500 is more common.

According to ASAPS 2004 statistics, Americans had over 2,100 buttock augmentation procedures. There were nearly 11.9 million surgical and nonsurgical procedures performed, up 465% from 1997.

Premium Health Search Engine