If you’re looking to enhance the contours and proportions of your lower body, look no further than a Brazilian butt lift at Bella Forma CSC & Medspa in Duluth, GA. This procedure will add volume and shape like no exercise ever could. Even better, you get to contour other parts of your body by having your own fat grafted and transferred to your buttocks.
While nothing lasts forever, the results of a Brazilian butt lift (BBL) come pretty close. As long as your weight remains relatively stable, you won’t notice fat gain in the fat donor sites or fat loss in your buttocks. However, several factors affect how long your results last. Today, we’re discussing everything you need to know.
How Long Does a Brazilian Butt Lift Last?
There are two parts to a Brazilian butt lift. First, fat is harvested from a donor site, cleaned, and processed for transfer. Second, fat is injected into the buttocks to enhance the projection and size. Maintaining the results of the fat harvesting is pretty simple.
When Will the Results of Fat Grafting Fade?
The results of your fat grafting will only fade if you eat and drink too many calories consistently over a period of several months. There’s no way to know where you will show your weight gain; however, there’s a good chance that the fat cells in the areas fat was harvested will expand if you gain weight after your procedure.
Depending on your BMI and where you carry your weight, you may notice weight gain after you’ve gained between three pounds of fat and eight pounds of fat. For the longest-lasting fat grafting results, we recommend not gaining over 10 pounds after the procedure.
When Will the Results of Fat Transfer Fade?
Some of the results of fat transfer will fade within the first six to eight weeks. During the BBL process, we harvest about 24 ounces of fat from at least one donor site. During the fat harvesting process, liquid is also collected. We rinse the liquid away and clean the fat. Then, we select only the whole, healthy fat cells for transfer to the buttocks.
Unfortunately, even with only the strongest, healthiest fat cells being transferred, some will not survive the transfer process. In fact, depending on your health and lifestyle, up to 40% of the fat cells injected initially won’t “stick.” At Bella Forma CSC & Medspa in Duluth, GA, we inject the fat cells close to your veins, so we have a much higher success rate than other methods can achieve.
When Will the Final Results of Fat Transfer Fade?
Like the body contouring results of fat grafting, the final results of fat transfer will last for decades. Once the transferred fat cells have settled into the injected area and are being fed by your venous system, they will remain plump unless you lose a significant amount of weight in the future.
Just as there’s no way to know which regions of your body will show a fat gain, there’s no way to know which regions of your body will show a fat loss. If you lose weight, the volume loss may occur in your buttocks, and you may need a follow-up procedure. For the best results, we recommend losing no more than 10 pounds after your procedure.
How to Get the Best Results From Your Fat Transfer
To get the best results from your fat transfer, you must follow all post-op care instructions. Such instructions include not smoking, not sitting, and not performing cardio for eight weeks post-op. Let’s take a closer look at what you should do and why.
Avoid Smoking
One of the most important things you can do to ensure the best results from your fat transfer is to not smoke. Cigarette smoke contains thousands of chemical compounds, including chemical compounds that are damaging to your collagen and elastin. Healthy collagen and elastin are important for smooth, tight, lifted skin.
Even worse, cigarettes contain a chemical compound called nicotine. Nicotine elevates your blood pressure by restricting blood flow. Unfortunately, your circulatory system needs to be as strong as possible because the injected fat needs blood to send it nutrients while it’s settling.
Avoid Sitting
During the first three to four weeks post-op, it is important that you sit as little as possible. When you have to sit, sit on a pillow specifically designed for use after a Brazilian buttocks lift. Sitting on such a pillow ensures that you don’t place too much pressure on your buttocks while the newly transferred fat cells are trying to settle.
If you don’t want to buy a special pillow, you can use a soft bath towel to take the pressure off of your buttocks when you sit. If using a towel for sitting, roll it so it looks like a hot dog and place it between your thighs when you sit.
Avoid Cardio
Many of our clients are anxious to hit the gym shortly after their BBL. They feel smaller in areas they were embarrassed by because fat was harvested from those areas for the fat transfer. They want to lose even more weight to further enhance the contours of their treated trouble areas.
However, weight maintenance is the most important things you can do to preserve the results of your procedure. If you lose weight in the first two months post-op, you will probably burn fat from your recently transferred fat cells. Avoiding cardio is also important in the first two months post-op because you must keep your blood pressure within a healthy range as you recover.
Take a Stroll
While vigorous exercise should be avoided, walking during your recovery period is strongly encouraged. Walking supports a strong circulatory system. A strong circulatory system will deliver all the micronutrients your fat cells need to properly take root in your buttocks. Walking at a moderate pace won’t facilitate weight loss and will facilitate a smooth, rapid recovery.
Wear Baggy Shorts
If you’ve been waiting for a reason to wear your basketball shorts constantly, your post-op recovery is it. One of the worst things you can do after your procedure is to wear clothing that hugs your buttocks tightly. This means that you should be wearing boxers instead of briefs and gym shorts and sweatpants instead of pants that are too tight.
We also encourage our female clients to wear loose shorts and pants during the first two months post-op. However, wearing light, flowy dresses or skirts that are loose below the waist are also acceptable alternatives. Tight underwear and pants can cut off circulation to the buttocks. Poor circulation starves the injected fat cells, and some of them will not implant themselves.
Stay Hydrated
Staying hydrated is another critical step you must take to ensure most of your transplanted fat survives. To stay hydrated, we strongly encourage you to drink beverages with plenty of essential electrolytes. Vitamin Water and Sobe LifeWater are good sources of vitamin C to keep your immune system strong during recovery.
Gatorade is a good source of potassium and sodium, and sodium is important for keeping you hydrated because it ensures you do not flush out too much water when you use the restroom. If you don’t like coconut water or sports drinks, add a few pinches of salt and No Salt to your water. No Salt is a potassium supplement you can find at the grocery store.
Eat Healthy Foods
While it’s helpful to drink beverages that are high in electrolytes, you still need to eat plenty of fruits, veggies, and other foods that are high in essential micronutrients. We strongly recommend that you make a meal plan for at least the first week after your procedure. Make sure you’re getting plenty of protein, fiber, and B-complex vitamins.
We also recommend that you cook and refrigerate or freeze meals for your first few days post-op. This ensures that all of your focus can be on resting rather than prepping and cooking your meals and cleaning your kitchen. If you don’t already get your RDA of micronutrients in your diet, ask a certified nutritionist for help with your post-op meal plan.
Sleep on Your Stomach
Sleeping on your stomach is absolutely crucial during your first eight weeks post-op. We encourage you to try sleeping on your stomach for a couple of weeks before your procedure so you can get used to the feeling. If you try to sleep comfortably on your stomach for 14 days and feel like you can’t get enough rest, sleep on your side.
However, it is crucial that you don’t roll onto your back if you sleep on your side. Sleeping on your back will put too much pressure on your buttocks, and you may have a lower fat survival rate. If you toss and turn in your sleep, mitigate the risk of rolling onto your back accidentally by sleeping with rolled-up towels pressed up against your back.
Sleep at Least Nine Hours Nightly
During the first two months post-op, getting at least nine hours of sleep nightly is crucial. At night, you cycle through several phases of sleep, including a phase known as REM (rapid eye movement) sleep. Cycling through all phases takes approximately 90 minutes. Sleeping for nine hours allows you to get six full REM phases.
However, it is very important to note that if you wake up in the middle of the night and fall back asleep, you re-set your sleep phases. Therefore, it is of the utmost importance that you sleep for 90 minutes at a time. Otherwise, you will get little-to-no REM sleep.
Good Candidates for a BBL
You may be a good candidate for a BBL if you are fairly healthy and have realistic expectations about the results. This procedure is ideal for adults who want to remove fat from one or more parts of their body while moderately enhancing the projection and shape of their buttocks.
If you’re seeking a dramatic increase in the projection and shape of your buttocks, you would be a better candidate for buttock implants. During your initial consultation, we will review your aesthetic goals and assess the current structure of your buttocks to determine which modality is ideal for you.
Discover How to Sculpt the Contours of Your Dreams Today
Only you can know if the results of a Brazilian butt lift are worth the time required to prepare for and recover from the procedure. While your skin may start to sag again 10 to 15 years after the procedure, the results of the volume increase can last forever if you can maintain your weight.
For more information regarding a BBL and how to extend the longevity of the results, please contact us today at Bella Forma CSC & Medspa in Duluth, GA to schedule your initial consultation. We can’t wait to meet you and help you sculpt the body you’ve always dreamed of.
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