COSMETIC TOWN JOURNAL



Expert Doctor

Stem Cell Brazilian Butt Lift

Nathan Newman, MD

Beverly Hills, CA

Stem Cell Brazilian Butt Lift

A Brazilian butt lift (BBL) is the term given to a butt augmentation procedure that makes the buttocks more enhanced and shapely by using liposuction and fat grafting techniques. It is a buttock implant procedure using the patient’s own natural body tissues. The tissues used are mainly the fat in order to contour the buttock and give it a more lifted and fuller appearance.

Some people get the Brazilian butt lift to increase the buttock size while others just want a better shape. The amount of fat that is put in decides how big the buttocks get. The bigger a patient wants the butt, the more fat the doctor need to put in.

 

STEM CELLS

Stem cells are regenerative and reparative cells found in every tissue of the body. Stem cells are most concentrated in the fat tissues. There is around a 100-to-500 fold increase from fat tissues to bone marrow. These stem cells are in the fat. Because there are so many of them, doctors do not have to take them to the lab and grow them. They can just take the fat, separate the stem cells, concentrate them, and then inject them back with the fat.

The job of the stem cells is to repair tissues. They allow the fat that is being injected to stay alive because the graft is a live cell that needs to get a blood supply. It needs to have a scaffold so it can sit in the collagen matrix. The stem cell is what makes that happen because without the stem cells, the fat does not stay alive and it does not work. The more stem cells put into the patient, the better the results are for the patient. The whole process takes about four or five hours depending on how extensive the liposuction is.

 

DIFFERENT TYPES OF STEM CELLS

There are stem cells found in every tissue of the body and they are called adult stem cells. There are also cord blood stem cells which only come when the baby is born. Lastly, there are placental stem cells which are also from the birth but they are usually not the patient’s own stem cells so they are not used clinically.

A patient wants to use their own stem cells. The ones from the fat can be used without having to go into the laboratory and grow them. It is the safest way of doing it because they are the patient’s own stem cells. The patients do not have to worry about rejection, cancer, or other sorts of problems that come along with making them in a laboratory.

What the doctor is doing is taking the fat in order to put it into the buttocks to give it a lift and a better shape. In order for that to work really well, the doctor has to put in the stem cells. When the procedure is done without stem cells, there is only a 20% or 30% chance the graft will take. Doing a Brazilian butt lift with the stem cells gives the patient about an 80% chance the graft will take.

 

LIMITATIONS

The patient needs to have fat. If they do not have fat, the doctor cannot do the Brazilian butt lift because they need fat to put in the area. That is the main limitation. If a patient has some fat, the BBL can be done. The minimum amount of fat they need to get some sort of change is about 200cc for each buttock. It all depends on how big the patient is and what their size is.

 

LIPOSUCTION

In order to shape the butt, the patient needs liposuction on the lower back as well as the flanks and the thighs to give it a better shape. If the thighs are big, it makes the butt look wide. If a patient has a lot of fat on the lower back, it does not give a definition between the back and the buttocks where it curves. The butt and the back sort of blend in together and it will not look as aesthetically appealing.

Sculpting through the liposuction process involves sculpting the lower back and thighs. The doctor can take that fat, get the stem cells concentrated, and then inject those cells into the buttock. This gives a much better-looking buttock where it is lifted because it is fuller and shapely. Of course, the rest of the body looks good because of the lipo.

 

RISKS

Most people do a BBL under general anesthesia. However, statistics show that 1 out of 100,000 or 1 out of 200,000 patients die just from the anesthesia. They could have an allergic reaction or they simply do not wake up.

The other risks associated with Brazilian butt lift include infection, bleeding, bruising, and swelling.

Specifically with lipo and fat grafting, there might be some lumpiness or unevenness depending on how everything heals. These are very rare complications.

The stem cells themselves reduce the risk of not having the graft take because graft failure is one of the risks of the procedure. Putting in the stem cells reduces that risk and helps to give a better result.

 

RECOVERY

This procedure is knife-free so there is no cutting, no stitches, and no major healing time.

Most people feel swollen and sore similar to soreness from working out.  The soreness lasts for about two weeks. Their buttocks area will be a bit sore from the injection and they may get bruised but in  a few weeks, the pain and bruising will subside.

The patients are able to get up and resume normal daily activities that same day. Within a week or two, the patients may engage in sports and more intense physical labor.

 

RESULTS

It takes about three months for the swelling to really go down and for the cells to take. In three months, those are the results that are going to stay for a long time. The results can last for 5 or 10 or 20 years depending on the patient. Gaining and losing weight and the aging process can affect the results.

 

FINAL THOUGHTS

A Brazilian butt lift is an alternative to doing buttock implants. Buttock implants have scars and can also move. They are usually uncomfortable and any problems with them can require surgery to take them out. A BBL looks more natural because it is really sculpting and not just putting in an implant and bulking it up. A BBL can be used to sculpt the area and give the buttocks a wider and rounder shape. Whatever the patient wants to accomplish can usually be done because it is a very dynamic procedure.

 

Written by Cosmetic Town Editorial Team - MA

Based on an exclusive interview with Nathan Newman, MD in Beverly Hills, CA