Can I Get A 1000cc Per Buttock Brazilian Butt Lift?

Q: Dr. Eppley, I am interested in the brazilian butt lift. I originally booked the procedure with another doctor. However, he will not be available for the procedure now and he mentioned you as one of the doctors I should see. I am hoping to get the same service as he was providing, which was liposuction of the arms, back, abdomen, flanks and inner thighs with a minimum 1000cc injected into each buttock.

A: I certainly do a fair number of Brazilian Butt Lifts. The key question, however, is whether you have enough fat to harvest that could be filtered and concentrated to be able to inject 1000ccs per buttock. That would be exceptionally unusual. To be able to get 2000cc of injectable fat, you would have to have close to 6,000cc (6 liters) of fat to harvest. That may be possible in you but since I have never seen your body I could not tell if that was so. What most patients don’t understand is that only concentrated fat should be injected not just the liposuction aspirate. Taking the liposuction aspirate and getting rid of the blood, broken fat cells, free lipids and the tumescent solution usually results in a 60% to 70% shrinkage of volume of ‘fat’ that has been harvested. Thus only about 1/3 to 40% of the lipsuction harvest ends up being useable for injection.

For most Brazilian Butt Lift patients, the maximal amount of fat that can be harvested and injected is done as most patients have an overall deficiency of fat for the procedure (based on their goals) rather than an excess. For this reason, I do not promise any patient that a specific amount of fat will be injected as that is an unpredictable number until the fat is harvested. I would have  a good feel for an approximate amount that could be done in looking at one’s body and thus an estimate could be given before surgery.

Dr. Barry Eppley

Indianapolis, Indiana