The popularity of a procedure known as a Brazilian Butt Lift or BBL has risen over the last few years. For those that aren’t aware, a BBL is when a plastic surgeon performs liposuction on different parts of the body and then injects that fat into the butt and sometimes hips. This sounds simple in theory.
The blood supply to the gluteus Medius and Maximus is what gives your butt its shape. To safely perform a BBL, you not only have to give the patient an aesthetically pleasing shape, but you must make sure that you avoid other complications such as fat embolisms. A fat embolism is when a piece of intravascular fat lodges in a blood vessel and blocks the flow. They are common and can disappear on their own but sometimes, fat embolisms can cause inflammation, dysfunction in the organs, and even neurological changes.
The part about BBLs that seems the most alarming is that there’s not really a blueprint for doing one. It depends on the surgeon and how much experience they have since essentially the doctor is going in blind when doing liposuction. Most of the liposuction goes by what a doctor can feel. Much like when they are injecting the fat into the butt or hips, surgeons can only go by what they feel to make sure they are at an appropriate depth or location to inject safely.
Despite developing safety standards for BBLs over ten years ago, there are still a high number of deaths associated with them. The mortality rate is 1:3000, which is the highest of any other cosmetic surgery. Postmortem, surgical fat is often found in the heart or lungs or there is damage to a gluteal blood vessel. Medical professionals take the Hippocratic Oath and vow to keeps patients safe. This is why many flat-out refuse to offer the surgery.
With images of photoshopped bodies, enhanced by lighting, touch-ups and so much more, it can be easy to fall into the trap of wanting the perfect body. But the reality is that there are very high risks associated with following the beauty standards that mostly come from Instagram. Some people realize the damaging effects of being constantly bombarded with these images which have caused some accounts on Tiktok to spring up. The purpose of these accounts is to show enhanced and touched-up photos compared to what the person actually looked like at that point in time.
There is nothing wrong with wanting to enhance your experience, but when it comes to something that can cause death, maybe hit the gym to grow those biscuits instead.
– Kaitlan Darby
Kaitlan Darby is a recent graduate of UL Lafayette. She has a B.A. in Mass Communication with a concentration in Public Relations and a minor in promotional management. She is a publicist, writer, and aspiring actress. She is the founder of Black Mamba Creative, which is her own creative arts/services outlet.
Instagram: @blackmambacreative
LinkedIn: Kaitlan Darby
Website: kaitlandarby.wixsite.com/portfolio
