5 Things You Should Do To Ensure a Smooth BBL Recovery

The Brazilian butt lift (BBL) has been associated with polarizing headlines and lots of notoriety since its inception. 

If performed incorrectly, the procedure can result in severe outcomes, especially for those patients who travel to receive cheap, discounted BBLs. New research, including a pivotal survey published in the Aesthetic Surgery Journal, demonstrates that the procedure is now much safer as long as specific safety steps are followed.  

In fact, the BBL's most up-to-date mortality rate has fallen by several hundred percent in recent years thanks to advances in modern body contouring.

In this piece, we'll outline essential rules that patients should follow before and after surgery to enhance the safety of their BBL and ensure a smooth recovery.

1. Ask The Right Questions During Consultations

The importance of asking questions before undergoing surgery is usually understated. Most patients feel embarrassed to address concerns or get answers for certain doubts they may have.

If you've picked the right surgeon, they will have no problem answering your questions. One part of the job is doing the surgery. Still, the more important aspect is making their patient feel comfortable by giving them a clear understanding of the procedure and realistic expectations.

2. Have Realistic Goals

Having realistic goals is a must before undergoing a BBL. 

If you approach this procedure for dramatic changes to your buttock's volume, most doctors will tell you what is and is not possible.

In the past, it may have been more commonplace to provide the patient with significant changes to their volume; in truth, it wasn't the best or most innovative strategy.

Staying within a specified range of fat transferred to the buttocks will allow for safer results, reducing the risks of complications such as lumps and fat necrosis.

If a surgeon injects too much fat, the pressure will make it difficult for blood to establish a new connection and nourish it. This would result in poor lymphatic drainage and could necessitate a revision procedure to remove fat cells that don't take. 

Nowadays, innovative BBL techniques enable surgeons to remove fat in precise quantities, seamlessly allowing them to even out asymmetries and avoid injecting too much fat. Even though certain thresholds should not be breached, patients looking for a substantial augmentation can usually do so as long as they have enough harvestable fat.

3. Proportions over Volume

While a Brazilian butt lift focuses on adding volume to the buttocks, you should take a more holistic view of the changes your figure will undergo. 

The procedure will directly or indirectly affect the hips, lower back, and thighs. Therefore, the best option is to create a shapely rear by removing more fat from the surrounding areas and placing less into the buttocks to create a proportional hourglass silhouette. 

Skilled surgeons should be able to detail the range of realistic outcomes during pre-procedure consultations. Then, during the BBL treatment, they should be able to work with their patient to ensure their personalized results are achieved. Some patients opt for modest augmentation via a Skinny BBL approach, while others seek to add significant projection to their buttocks.

4. Prepare for Recovery

As with any surgical operation, your surgeon will give you a complete pre-operative plan to follow the weeks before surgery. These plans include supplements and dietary advice. It may also be recommended to take a laxative a day or two before surgery to deal with BBL-related constipation.

Other preparations include halting nicotine consumption in any form. Nicotine can cause several issues for small blood vessels. These blood vessels must be as healthy as possible to ensure that the fat graft succeeds.

If you have nicotine in your system, less fat will survive the graft, rendering your surgery less impactful. Therefore, cut out nicotine as early as you can before surgery.

The first few days of the Brazilian butt lift recovery tend to be "messy." It's common to have fluid leaking from incision sites. Patients may even opt to trade underwear for adult diapers during this moment. 

It's also essential to have a "recovery bed" with old sheets to avoid staining your favorite sheets and to have clean towels ready.

Fluid intake will be necessary to replenish your lost fluids with water and food. 

Also, get your prescriptions filled in advance of surgery and preorder a pressure-reducing pillow that will allow you to sit for short periods without adding pressure to the buttocks. 

At Elite Body Sculpture, patients will be provided custom-tailored advice for their recovery process, including being provided complimentary compression garments that facilitate healing. Because this approach uses tiny entry points the size of a lead pencil eraser, no drains are needed, and fluid leaking is minimized.

5. Follow Your Surgeon's Post-BBL Recovery Guidelines

Post-operative guidelines are built and revised based on years of experience, and they aim to keep patients safe and problem-free. While every surgeon's plan will be somewhat different, they have commonalities to ensure that the fat transfer is as successful as possible.

Surgeons will prescribe various medications to combat discomfort at the start of recovery. Most pain will arise from swelling from fat removal rather than fat injections.

Surgeons will also usually have their patients wear compression garments for up to eight weeks to keep swelling down and get the fat to place itself within the buttocks strategically. However, with the precise AirSculpt® approach, this period is cut to as little as two weeks.

The Brazilian lift recovery process is crucial, given that you must prioritize efforts to ensure the fat survives in its new location. Therefore, when a surgeon says you must follow instructions to the most specific detail, it's usually in your best interest.

Getting a BBL With AirSculpt®

Delivering a successful BBL is a specialty of the surgeon-artists working with Elite Body Sculpture.

We proudly provide patients with the optimal Brazilian butt lift thanks to the advanced nature of AirSculpt® technology. Using automated tools that pluck fat delicately, like berries off a bush, we maximize the amount of fat that survives after a BBL while minimizing discomfort or side effects. Patients are always fully awake, whereas general anesthesia is often used with conventional approaches. 

The AirSculpt® Power BBL™ doesn't require scalpels, stitches, needles, or general anesthesia to transfer fat to the buttocks in exact quantities. AirSculpt® fat transfers require two days of downtime and simplify post-op guidelines and recovery. Because we don't depend on invasive surgical techniques like traditional liposuction, patients experience minimal drainage post-procedure. 

For more information on how we can help you achieve your body goals, call the Elite Body Sculpture office nearest you for your complimentary consultation.