Ask Dr. Pane: What Are My Options to Fix My BBL?

The Question

Although cosmetic surgery including the Brazilian butt lift, or BBL, is becoming more popular every year around the world, it is not necessarily a panacea and doesn’t always turn out exactly the way the patient had hoped. There are a number of possible reasons for this, and a great deal of determining the proper corrective measures lies in what the underlying issue is and how it came to be. A good example is the focus of this week’s Ask Dr. Pane segment, which comes in from our Instagram followers. The person asks, “What are my options to fix my BBL?”

The Case

The person had a liposuction fat transfer into the buttocks, also known as a BBL or Brazilian butt lift. The “before” pictures the person provided showed a heavy volume of subcutaneous fat around the waist and abdomen. The backside was not totally flat; it did have some shape to it. In the “after” pictures, there is some improvement of the fat deposits around the waist and abdomen, and the backside demonstrates more volume. However, Dr. Pane says the improvement is not what he would consider significant, and there are a great many missing pieces in the history of this case which make it difficult to give a comprehensive answer, including how long ago it was done and what the intended outcome was. 

RealSelf Patient Reviews of Thomas A. Pane, MD

The Answer

In this case, and going solely off the information the patient provided, Dr. Pane feels the best option to correct this issue is to perform a more aggressive liposuction of the abdomen and waist area and apply as much of the harvested fat as possible into the buttocks. However, this assumes the buttocks will accept the additional fat volume being added without complications, which is never guaranteed especially when doing a revision of a previous procedure. Also, this is all speculative until and unless an in-person clinical evaluation and discussion of what the patient’s desired outcome is occurs. 

With a second procedure, it’s important to give the scarring from the first procedure enough time to properly resolve before trying again. Usually about a year out from the original procedure, the scarring will have settled enough to make a second attempt viable, but this depends heavily on the patient’s healing ability and overall health, the quality of the skin in the target area and a number of other factors. 

Another important consideration is whether the patient has adequate fat available for the procedure. In this case, Dr. Pane says he feels confident there is, but reminds viewers that photos are a poor substitute for actually being able to see and examine the areas in question at firsthand. In addition, the abdomen would not be fully addressed by the secondary procedure by itself. There are some slightly elevated risks of skin irregularities and other issues as well which must be taken into account. 

With that said, Dr. Pane says even a second BBL is not terribly difficult, but it would be wise to have the second procedure done by someone who has the experience and knowledge to address potential issues, ideally before they have a chance to get started. Not every provider has that skill set, and a revision procedure is not something one wants to gamble on not getting right the first time. This is particularly true of BBL and other lipo-based techniques, because if a third procedure is necessary, the patient simply may not have enough harvestable fat to be able to undergo the procedure safely and still garner the results they’re looking for. 

 

As with any other form of surgery, cosmetic procedures do have certain innate risks, which increase significantly if the procedures need to be redone. Practicing good self-care before and after the procedure, and adhering diligently to any care protocols assigned by clinical and surgical staff, can vastly improve the odds of a good outcome and minimize the chances of postoperative complications, whether it’s an initial procedure or a revision to a previous surgery.

If you have a question about any facet of cosmetic surgery, Dr. Pane and the staff of Atlantic Coast Aesthetics welcome the opportunity to discuss your needs, desires and concerns. Simply call us at (561) 422-4116; email us through our Contact page; and follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and Twitter. Your question might even help us educate and inform others who share your interests as the focus of an upcoming Ask Dr. Pane segment, where your questions are answered live on the air by Dr. Pane personally. Remember, at ACA we believe the only bad question is the one you don’t ask!