The Brazilian Butt Lift Is The Most Dangerous Plastic Surgery Being Performed Today

Within four years (between 2015 and 2019), there was over a 77% increase in the number of butt lifts performed. One such lift is the Brazilian butt lift – perhaps the most dangerous cosmetic surgery for which a woman can opt. 

The Brazilian Butt Lift Procedure

Here's how a Brazilian butt lift (or BBL) works: The surgeon removes fat from somewhere else in your body and injects it into your backside. Thus the surgery acts in a twofold manner, slimming one area and adding size to another.

The patient has to be placed under general anesthesia – which is always a risk in itself – for the liposuction and injection of the removed fat into the hip dips and buttocks.

The BBL surgery acts in a twofold manner, slimming one area and adding size to another.

Healing and recovery times are rather lengthy. The patient needs 10 days of rest following surgery. The incision sites take two to three weeks to heal. It will be a month before the patient starts feeling normal. Bruising and swelling are common during recovery.

Sounds pretty straightforward, right? Well, it’s relatively simple, but the risks are high.

Is a Brazilian Butt Lift Worth the Risks?

A 2017 report found that roughly 3% of surveyed surgeons have reported a patient death following a Brazilian butt lift, leading the researchers to conclude that "significantly higher mortality rates" are linked to BBL than other cosmetic procedures.

Fat embolisms – when fat enters the bloodstream and causes a blockage in the lungs – are a major risk for BBLs and are the leading cause of deaths related to butt lifts. Other risks include the more typical blood clots and infections.

You also run the risk of causing a “body contour irregularity” if you don’t follow the post-surgery instructions to “wear the appropriate compression garments,” sleep correctly, and get the “recommended number of massages,” says Constantino Mendieta MD, FACS, board-certified plastic surgeon. In layman's terms, you could get a lumpy derriere.

A BBL can be fatal if fat enters the bloodstream and causes an embolism in the lungs.

Some women increase their risk during this cosmetic surgery by traveling to a foreign country in an attempt to cut costs. The BBC recounts several tragic fatalities of British women who traveled to Turkey or Thailand or even an American hotel to save money on their BBL.

"The danger is the surgery being performed by unqualified surgeons outside a clinical setting without appropriate aftercare," says consultant plastic surgeon Bryan Mayou, a member of the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons. A language barrier can also hamper your ability to check the qualifications and certifications of the surgeon.

Women need to start honestly evaluating whether or not editing their bodies is worth all of the risks it poses to their health. What's more, though, they need to start evaluating the way in which they view themselves holistically. We’re not just figures, meant to be cut, grafted, and molded into some false idea of perfection and beauty.

Closing Thoughts

Plastic surgery not only unnaturally alters your physical self in order to meet the ever-changing beauty standards of society, but it also puts women in harm’s way. Ladies, let’s start prioritizing our health and wholesomeness over unrealistic, “Insta-worthy” figures. 

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