Fillers are having what we like to call a mo-ment. Injectables are conquering new anatomical territory every week so it was only a matter of time before they hit the, er, booty. Here’s what you need to know about the non-surgical butt-lift.
Given the number of injectables filling up our social media feeds, it’s no surprise the 2016 Plastic Surgery Statistics Report from the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) lists a steady increase in the use of syringes filled with plumping formulas. Now, plastic surgeons are reporting an increase in the use of Sculptra — a poly-L-lactic acid that plumps by stimulating your body’s own collagen production — as an alternative to surgical butt-lifts.
To get a booty boost, there are three main options according to Dr. Todd.
The first is fat grafting (the classic ‘Brazilian Butt-Lift’) where you take fat from other places [via liposuction] and put it in the butt. The other surgical option is butt implants where you take actual implants and insert them.
Option three is your non-invasive route to a plumper posterior. For the non-surgical butt-lift, a plastic surgeon injects your buttocks with a filler — specifically Sculptra.
Of all the fillers around Sculptra is the one that’s best suited to this purpose because you can get a significant augmentation without using that much product, says Todd. “What it’s doing is inducing your own collagen to grow around the product.” In other words, rather than hyaluronic acid fillers, which basically just pump more volume into your skin, Sculptra triggers an inflammatory response in your body.
For many, the allure of fillers is that they often give subtle results that fade naturally over time, as opposed to enhancements that are more obvious. The non-surgical butt-lift is no different — think more of a change in contour and shape than a totally-lifted look, says Todd.
Secondly, the non-surgical butt-lift is an excellent option for patients who aren’t interested in the liposuction that a Brazilan Butt-Lift requires. A patient who does not have any fat that can be harvested via liposuction may still have an opportunity for hips and buttocks enhancement without resorting to a buttocks implant.
Finally, unlike a surgical procedure, this doesn’t really have any downtime at all. “You might be a little sore but that’s it,” says Todd. With a non-surgical butt-lift, you can go back to (almost) all of your normal activities same day. “I probably wouldn’t want someone going to the gym the first day, but resuming normal activities, like going back to work same day, I’d be fine with,” he says.
The downside
Though not as risky as going under the knife, the procedure does come with its own set of risks. “The big problem with Sculptra is that you can’t dissolve it like other fillers,” Todd says. “There’s actually a fairly high incidence — some literature suggests as much as 8 to 10 percent — of lumps and bumps with Sculptra.” In that case, you’re either stuck with a bumpy behind for a few years until the effects of the Sculptra naturally fade or faced with the possibility of surgery to cut the affected areas out — not ideal.