Discussing the Brazilian Butt Lift on Yahoo Life

In a recent article on Yahoo Life, the popular Brazilian Butt Lift, or BBL, was discussed. Recently on Red Table Talk, Willow Smith shared her thoughts on the BBL with her mother, actress Jada Pinkett-Smith, and grandmother, Adrienne Banfield-Norris, discussing the benefits and risks of the procedure.

Here’s what Dr. Rapaport had to say as the expert weighing in on the article about their discussion, and his own thoughts on the BBL.

What is a BBL and what can make them higher risk?

“…a Brazilian butt lift, or BBL, is a nickname for liposuction — taking fat from somewhere on your own body — and fat transfer or transplantation, to the butt. So you’re taking from areas where you have relative excess, using liposuction, and instead of having that fat as medical waste, it’s kept sterile and put back into the body, and, in the case of the BBL, into the butt.

“A large amount of fat transfer leads to higher risk, because there’s more pressure on that part of the body from that fat,” Rapaport says. “When there’s more pressure, there’s less blood supply, so a higher risk of a potentially devastating infection. An infection isn’t something that happens on the table — that’s something that happens in two days, maybe a week.”

“What can happen on the table that people took time to figure out is that people thought you should be injecting fat into the muscle of the butt because there is more 3D space and you can get more volume. Initially, they thought that was a good idea,” he explains. “Here and there, people would die from this, however. What they’ve found from injecting colored fat into cadavers is that when you go into the muscle, just the pressure of that fat can have the fat migrate into the very large veins of the pelvis, and lead to a fat embolism. That can cause death, instantly.”

Find a trusted, experienced surgeon to minimize risks

Many people are looking for the right surgeon to provide a safer BBL. They want the hourglass figure and full, round butt that the BBL can give. Rapaport stresses that it’s important to find a skilled surgeon if this is a procedure you are interested in.

“You have to go with someone who understands sterile technique very well,” he says. “This is not for the young person who just started doing this. It’s a procedure that has to be treated very seriously because bad things have happened in the world.”

Dr. David Rapaport

Dr. David Rapaport is a Harvard and NYU-trained Board Certified Plastic Surgeon who has been performing plastic surgery procedures for over 25 years. He is considered a leader in the field.

Dr. Rapaport trained in general surgery at Boston’s Beth Israel Hospital, a major teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School, where he served as Chief Resident. He then did his plastic surgery training at the New York University’s Institute of Reconstructive Plastic Surgery, which is widely regarded as the nation’s top plastic and cosmetic surgery residency program. There too, he was appointed Executive Chief Resident. He established his private cosmetic surgery practice in Manhattan, New York in 1997 and has earned his reputation as a trusted, top cosmetic surgeon who provides outstanding results for his clients.