Black Market Buttock Augmentation – Don’t Do It!

The trends of beauty have clearly shifted toward a fuller rounder buttock, and with that comes a rise in black market beauty treatments that offer fuller buttocks at a fraction of the cost if done by a plastic surgeon.

There are now countless stories all over the United States of people who were offered buttock injections for a cheap price, in non-medical settings, by people with no medical background or concept of clean technique, using substances such as industrial silicone, concrete, mineral oil, and other unknown substances.

The consequences of these treatments is alarming, and include not just deformity or disfigurement, but also respiratory failure, amputation of limbs, and even death. This has become a real public safety issue, enough so that the American Society of Plastic Surgeons cites this as a critical safety issue in the US, as described by the recent Wall Street Journal article “Illegal Buttock-Enhancement Procedures Cause Concern After Woman’s Death”.

Sadly a quick google search reveals this is a widespread problem, and deaths have been documented in at least 7 states in the US as of last year.  Deaths have been reported elsewhere too, such as over 17 deaths in Venezuela in 2013.

If death isn’t enough of a deterrent, the cosmetic results are often not what was desired, and unfortunately the substances injected are not easily removed, and can require multiple surgeries with limited success. Certain substances such as free liquid silicone can also travel away from where it was injected, causing problems elsewhere.

The undesired effects can be varied, and include things like lumps, asymmetry, staph infections, permanent skin discoloration, scarring, and skin necrosis (death of overlying skin), etc.

So can you have buttock augmentation safely? Yes, by a board certified plastic surgeon who uses safe techniques, in an accredited medical facility. The two main techniques for buttock augmentation are fat transfer or silicone buttock implants.

Fat transfer to the buttocks is otherwise known as the Brazilian Buttock lift, and involves taking fat from somewhere else on the body like abdomen or love handles, and injecting it into the buttocks. The buttock implants are made of silicone, but are very different from injecting free liquid silicone, which is not safe.

Both types of procedures are done in an operating room, typically under general anesthesia. Quality results require quality techniques and the associated costs, but please remember this is your life and health at stake, not just a beauty treatment.

Please call to schedule a consultation to see if you are a good candidate, or simply to get more information on how to best achieve your beauty goals.