Shedding excess weight can lead to improvements in your physical and mental health and improve your overall well-being. However, we don’t often talk about the negative changes weight loss can have on the body.
As the body loses weight proportionally rather than in targeted areas, people often lose weight in areas that impact their overall figures—including their backsides. The body contouring experts at Ann Arbor Plastic Surgery have butt lift treatment options like a Brazilian butt lift or a Sculptra butt lift to help you achieve a full, round backside and regain your curves after weight loss.
The Impact of Weight Loss on Your Body’s Shape
No matter how you achieve your weight loss goals, it is proportionate throughout the body rather than just in specific areas. This means that losing weight doesn’t necessarily change your body shape, you’ll just be smaller.
With weight loss often comes less desirable side effects like skin laxity or loss of defined curves. To combat skin that doesn’t bounce back after weight loss, skin tightening treatments like Renuvion are helpful. But if weight loss has affected the contours of your buttocks, our experts can help with procedures like Brazilian butt lift or Sculptra butt lift to help you reclaim your curvy silhouette.
What Is a Butt Lift, and How Can It Help?
A butt lift helps improve the contours, size, and shape of the buttocks. It is achieved with buttock implants, fat grafting—called a Brazilian butt lift, or injectables like Sculptra. It can help with loose, sagging skin and volume loss that impacts the appearance of the buttocks after weight loss, pregnancy, or aging.
It can help improve the appearance of the backside by:
- Increasing fullness, roundness, and projection
- Improving overall proportions
- Enhancing self-image and confidence
What are the Differences Between a BBL and a Sculptra Butt Lift?
There are many differences between BBL and Sculptra butt lift you should consider when determining which procedure is right for you including cost, recovery time, and overall results.
For patients with a sufficient amount of fat, a BBL is a two-part procedure to enhance the fullness and appearance of the backside. It removes excess fat from unwanted areas and purifies it. The fat is then strategically injected into the buttocks to achieve the desired fullness and shape.
A BBL can deliver permanent, dramatic results that are visible very quickly. But a disadvantage of a BBL is its lengthy recovery, including avoiding pressure on the fat grafts on the buttocks for at least 2 weeks.
For patients who do not have sufficient fat for a BBL, a Sculptra butt lift is an effective non-surgical option to enhance buttock contours and shape. Sculptra is an FDA-approved injectable filler that encourages collagen production. It is minimally invasive and requires limited downtime. Most Sculptra butt lift patients can resume normal activities within 24 hours, including sitting.
With subtle, natural-looking results, a Sculptra butt lift may be more affordable than a traditional BBL, depending on the desired volume. However, a disadvantage to Sculptra butt lifts is that they offer less dramatic results that last up to 2 years.
When Should You Consider a Butt Lift After Weight Loss?
If you are disappointed in the appearance of your backside after losing weight, a butt lift might help you achieve your desired curves. Good candidates for a surgical butt lift are close to their ideal weight but have extra fat in areas like the abdomen, hips, waist, and thighs and are willing to commit to surgery and the recovery process.
A BBL may help:
- Enhance the appearance of the lower body
- Remove bothersome fat and transfer it to the buttocks
- Create contours and add shape to flat buttocks
- Improve the fit of clothing
- Balance the body’s proportions
- Create an hourglass figure
Benefits of a Butt Lift for Post-Weight Loss Patients
After weight loss, people may experience excess skin and poor skin quality, leading to drooping buttocks that impact their new slimmer figures. A butt lift can help eliminate excess sagging skin and stubborn fat deposits to create a firmer, tighter appearance.
Post-weight loss surgeries often serve as a motivating factor to help patients maintain their results. Typically, a butt lift provides long-lasting results by maintaining a stable weight.
Other butt lift benefits include:
- Increased self-confidence
- Better muscle definition
- More proportionate curves
- Achieve an ideal silhouette
- Improved fit in clothing
The Butt Lift Procedure: What to Expect
Brazilian Butt Lift
A BBL consists of 2 steps: fat extraction and fat transfer. These steps happen in the same procedure to ensure a healthy transfer and a successful outcome. This can be performed under general anesthesia or local anesthesia with IV sedation.
The first step of a BBL is fat extraction via liposuction in donor areas that complement buttock enhancement like the hips, waist, or thighs. Our experts utilize power-assisted liposuction using tumescent anesthesia as it’s less invasive and gentler than traditional liposuction. Then, the extracted fat is prepared for transfer.
The purified fat is strategically injected to create additional buttock fullness and shape with an advanced technique that allows our experienced surgeons to create the desired shape and size.
BBL procedures typically take 2 to 4 hours.
Sculptra Butt Lift
Your Sculptra butt lift provider will apply a topical anesthetic to minimize discomfort.
During treatment, Sculptra will be strategically injected into the targeted areas of the buttocks. While patients may feel pressure or a stinging sensation; however, discomfort is typically minimal. Depending on the number of vials required to achieve each individual’s aesthetic goals, Sculptra butt lift procedures last 30 to 60 minutes.
Recovery and Results: Getting Back to Your Best Self
Sculptra Butt Lift
A Sculptra butt lift requires minimal downtime, and patients can resume most normal activities immediately. Patients commonly experience mild side effects like swelling, bruising, and redness that resolve within a few days. After a Sculptra butt lift, one important step is to massage the area 5 times a day for 5 days to ensure the product is evenly distributed.
Full results appear gradually within a few months. Patients may require multiple Sculptra sessions to achieve their goals.
BBL
After BBL, patients typically experience bruising, swelling, and tenderness that is manageable with rest and pain medications. Patients should wear compression garments to minimize swelling, support the new contours, and improve healing.
One of the most critical elements of the recovery process is to avoid putting pressure on the buttocks for 2 weeks post-surgery by resting on the stomach or side or standing. In 2 weeks, patients can modify sitting, lying, or other activities. Most patients can resume working at this time.
It may take 6 months for tissues to settle and reveal final results.
Choosing the Right Surgeon for Your Butt Lift
While it’s important to consider your results after a butt lift, keep in mind the follow-up care and level of post-operative support as key qualities to look for in a surgeon. During your consultation, ask for before-and-after photos, reviews, and testimonials.
At Ann Arbor Plastic Surgery, our expert board-certified plastic surgeons, Dr. Pramit Malhotra and Dr. Tiffany Ballard, help tour patients feel comfortable and confident throughout their butt lift journey.
Schedule Your Ann Arbor Butt Lift Consultation Today!
Are you ready to start your journey to a shapelier backside? Your butt lift journey starts when you partner with the experts at Ann Arbor Plastic Surgery. Contact us today or call us at (734) 913-5100 to learn more!
