Buttock Implants

Some plastic surgeons are calling buttock implants the new "it" surgery. Such a new development, the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery does not even have statistics for buttock implants prior to 2002. In 2003, the number of buttock implants increased 533 percent from the year before, with around 3,885 procedures performed compared to the 533 in 2002. Popular in South America, like breast implants have been to Americans, buttock implants have just started to make waves in the U.S.

Starting in South America in the 1960s, the popularity of buttock implants has finally reached the U.S. due in part to the quickly growing acceptance of cosmetic surgery procedures and the fashion trend shifts. The availability of buttock implants is believed to be just at its taking off point, with more surgeons learning how to perform the surgery and more awareness among patients increasing. Buttock implants are achieved by having a cosmetic surgeon place implants into the patient's gluteal area so that a fuller, more rounded behind can be enjoyed.

The procedure is very complicated and expensive, and surgeons caution patients not to jump into the surgery without first fully evaluating the risks and benefits. A reputable and qualified cosmetic surgeon will not perform buttock implants on a patient until full consideration has been weighed and the patient completely evaluated. The tremendous surge in cosmetic surgery has resulted in a high number of unqualified doctors trying to cash-in on the highly lucrative market. As always, if considering buttock implants, a patient should make sure he/she becomes educated about the procedure and about the surgeon chosen.

A cosmetic surgeon will usually create a vertical incision between the cheeks in order to insert the implant or the patient's own fat under or over the gluteal muscles and under the connective tissue. Silicone gel is not approved for use in the U.S., so semisolid implants are used in buttock implants, which has its drawbacks. The buttock implants do not have a soft, natural feeling to it, rather a harder, more muscular feel, though the look will be very pleasing to patients.

Buttock implants are very risky and require a lengthy recovery period. Since the incisions are made for the surgery in easily infected areas, potential complications can occur. Patients must understand that following buttock implants they will not be able to sit down for at least ten days and will not be able to resume most normal activities for a month. More rigorous activities will not be able to be enjoyed for about two months after the buttock implants. Still, for patients unhappy with their backside appearance, the growing availability of buttock implants has allowed them to achieve a more pleasing figure.

According to a prominent buttock implants surgeon, there appears to be two different groups of patients seeking the procedure. One group of patients is younger and has goals of transforming their bodies into more curvaceous figures like popular Hollywood stars J. Lo or Beyonce Knowles. The other group of patients is women that have aged and would like to restore a more youthful backside with buttock implants to replace now sagging areas. Men have also been requesting buttock implants as well.