What Is the Brazilian Butt Lift?

Expert Author
Ran Stark Plastic Surgeon | Facial Plastic Surgery Bryn Mawr, PA

Ran Stark, M.D. is double board-certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery and the American Board of Surgery. He completed over 10 years of training after graduating from medical school, culminating with his one-year Aesthetic Surgery fellowship endorsed by the American Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery with... more

A Brazilian butt lift can contour your body for optimal proportions, taking away a certain amount of undesired fat and redepositing that fat in better locations. If you feel your body is out of proportion — perhaps with too much bulk in the middle and not enough roundness and volume in the buttocks area, a Brazilian butt lift may be just what you're looking for.

In the following guide, we’ll go over the basics of this highly popular procedure, including what concerns the Brazilian butt lift can help correct, what to expect during surgery, and what the recovery process is like.

What Does a Brazilian Butt Lift Do?

A Brazilian butt lift reshapes the buttocks, using fat from other areas of the body — usually the abdomen, but sometimes the upper arms and/or thighs. This procedure essentially kills two birds with one stone. It reduces excess fat in places where you don’t want extra fat to be, and it increases the fullness of the buttocks, which for many individuals, is an area that looks best when it is fuller and rounder.

Because there are essentially two processes going on with this procedure, the surgery takes a bit longer and is a bit more involved than simply having liposuction or just having buttocks implants. The Brazilian butt lift procedure is a type of fat transfer surgery. Liposuction needs to take place to remove the fat, and then a separate procedure takes place when the fat is reinserted into the desired areas.

What to Expect During Surgery

The first thing to do before scheduling your Brazilian butt lift surgery is to schedule a consultation appointment with your surgeon. This appointment is critical as it will determine your candidacy for surgery. Your surgeon will ask you questions about your medical history, and it is important that you disclose any medications and/or dietary supplements that you are currently taking. Be honest about your medical history and any illnesses or conditions you have.

Essentially, in order to be a candidate (barring any other prohibitive factors), you must have enough fat to be removed and enough skin to take on fat in the secondary location.

A few weeks before your surgery, you will need to go in for a preoperative appointment with your surgeon. They will discuss several points with you. Namely, they will go through who will be there to take you home after your surgery, what supplies you’ll need at home, what prescriptions you may need to start taking before surgery, and what medications you may need to stop taking.

On the day of your procedure, you can expect your surgery to take anywhere from two to six hours. How long your surgery takes will depend on what areas will be focused on. If you only want to remove fat from one area and have it deposited into another area, the surgery will naturally take only a few hours. Focusing on four, five, or six areas, on the other hand, will inevitably cause the surgery to be a longer process.

Your surgeon and their team will be doing all of the hard work during your procedure! You will be under anesthesia. Therefore, the last thing you will likely remember before waking up after your surgery is being taken back to the operating room by your anesthesiologist.

What Is Recovery Like After a Brazilian Butt Lift?

Generally speaking, the Brazilian butt lift procedure is outpatient, so most patients opt to go directly home after their procedure. On the other hand, some facilities will allow you to stay the night, and this is an option that some patients may opt into.

Still, if you do go home after the procedure, you’ll need to come back fairly soon after for a post-op appointment. This generally occurs the day after surgery. Other postoperative appointments will take place around one week after your surgery and at two weeks and six weeks. Final appointments usually take place three months after your surgery date, and at this point, you can expect to see the total results of your procedure.

As far as recovery, when you get home on the day of your surgery, you may experience some discomfort, pain, and swelling. It's important to rest and to have someone there to help you do daily tasks, especially for the first few days. You should take time off from work or school during this time.

It is also imperative that you exactly follow the postoperative care instructions that your surgeon gives you. They will tell you how to care for your incisions and how to look out for any potential issues. Total recovery takes about six weeks, but most patients are back to a relatively normal routine at about two weeks.

Who Is an Ideal Candidate for a Brazilian Butt Lift?

Ideal candidates for Brazilian butt lifts should be in good physical health and at a healthy weight. Certainly, you may have "problem areas" that you would like to improve (excess fat in the abdomen, cellulite, and/or extra fat in the thighs, etc.). Still, you should be within a healthy weight range, which means having your BMI fall into the "Normal" range of BMIs, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s guidelines.

Furthermore, the best candidates for this procedure should not be pregnant, breastfeeding, or actively battling any serious illnesses or infections. Finally, candidates should have overall realistic expectations for their results.

If you are curious whether or not a potential plastic surgeon is the right expert for your Brazilian butt lift procedure, be sure to look at their website. Navigate to the "before and after photos" section, and take a look at past patients who have undergone Brazilian butt lifts with the plastic surgeon you are considering. If you like the results they have helped other patients achieve, consider scheduling a consultation appointment with them to discuss your candidacy and options in person.

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