It’s not only true, the practice is booming! According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, the number of “buttock lifts” increased 283 percent nationwide between 2000 and 2005, from 1,356 to 5,193.
An American pioneer of the so-called “Brazilian Butt-Lift,” Dr. Anthony Griffin , a Beverly Hills plastic surgeon, said the most popular form of buttock enhancement, or gluteal augmentation, involves taking fat from the abdomen via liposuction, then injecting it into the muscles of the rear end.
And it’s not just West Coast women, or women from South American or African cultures that value curvy bottoms, who are embracing the trend.
“We are getting more and more demand for fat injections,” said Dr. Richard Ehrlichman , a consultant in plastic surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital and a plastic surgeon in private practice in Wellesley.
Over the first year, in 10 percent to 30 percent of cases, the transplanted fat tissue can get reabsorbed by the body instead of staying where it was put, which means the procedure may have to be repeated, said Ehrlichman. But Griffin said his transplants last on average 10 years. Making sure to inject fat into muscles, which have a good blood supply, boosts survival of fat tissue, he said.
It’s not cheap to get that curvy look, though. Depending on how long the surgery takes, it can cost $12,000 to $18,000 for the fat transfer procedure, which is not covered by insurance.
In addition to creating more curvy behinds with fat, plastic surgeons can put in silicone implants, though these tend to shift around and may become quite hard.
Further boosting the demand for plastic surgery on the derriere is the boom in gastric bypass surgery; when a person loses massive amounts of weight, the skin on the derriere sags. Plastic surgeons can correct this by pulling up the skin and cutting off the excess; some surgeons combine this with a tummy tuck.
But before you leap, remember that plastic surgery is real surgery — with all the risks that accompany other surgical procedures.