A Brazilian butt lift uses fat harvested from elsewhere on your body to enhance your buttocks’ size and shape.

It can take up to six months for results from a BBL to fully take effect. During this time, your self-care best practices will significantly impact your results’ appearance and longevity. While in our care at Milda Clinic, we will fully prepare you for recovery from your Brazilian butt lift procedure to help ensure your experience and results meet all your expectations.

BBL PROCEDURE EXPLAINED
Board-certified plastic surgeon our doctor uses advanced liposuction techniques to carefully harvest fat cells from preselected areas of the body — typically the back, thighs, or waist. This first step provides the added benefit of sculpting a secondary location, which will dramatically enhance your silhouette by giving you a sexy hourglass figure. Next, he purifies the harvested fat cells to prepare them for the buttock augmentation. Once prepared, he injects the solution into targeted areas of the buttocks to create the ideal dimensions.

WHAT TO EXPECT DURING BBL RECOVERY
BBL recovery takes approximately six weeks. For the first two weeks, you should avoid sitting or lying directly on your backside. You can sleep on your side or stomach, and sitting will require an inflatable doughnut-shaped seat or a pillow.

Most BBL patients can resume light activity within seven days post-op and return to work within seven to 10 days. Avoid strenuous exercising until you feel fully recovered, at around six to eight weeks. At this time, you will return to our office for a follow-up visit where we can assess your progress and recovery and make personal recommendations to help ensure your comfort and results.

BBL RECOVERY TIPS
We hope we’ve eased some of your concerns regarding Brazilian butt Lift recovery. Here are a few helpful tips you can follow to support your body during its healing journey.

Take extra time off work: Most people’s jobs require them to sit for extended periods, but too much sedentary time can affect the fat cells’ ability to survive. To ensure your results, spend as much time as possible standing or lying on your side or stomach.
Eat a healthy diet: Follow our doctor dietary advice, such as eating a balanced diet and reducing your sugar and carbohydrate intake. Avoid high-sodium foods, which cause your body to retain fluids.
Drink plenty of water: Water is an all-natural way to flush toxins from your body and help alleviate swelling. Plus, drinking water keeps you hydrated, which speeds the healing process.

Many women seeking out a BBL and seeing the incredible before and after results other patients obtain from the procedure often ask us: How long does it take to recover from a Brazilian butt lift?

The short answer is, it should take approximately one month for patients to return to most day-to-day activities. But below we will detail the recovery stages a patient typically experiences after a BBL.

Initial Recovery
Immediately following a BBL, patients can expect to have bruising and swelling in the hips and buttocks. Pain can be managed with medication prescribed by your surgeon. Every patient recovers differently from surgery, but most can expect to be up and walking a day or two after the procedure. During this time, you may find you are draining fluid from the incision sites. This is completely normal and can be managed with post-surgical massages.

Compression garment
After the surgery, your plastic surgeon will put you in a special compression garment to treat the areas where liposuction was performed. The compression garment will also help maintain the shape and contour created via during procedure. The patient should wear the garment for at least eight weeks to ensure proper healing. The garment also helps to minimize swelling, decrease discomfort and help the skin retract.

Sitting
One of the most important recovery tips after a Brazilian butt lift is to avoid sitting directly on your buttocks for at least eight weeks after the procedure. Patients are often advised to sleep on their stomach or sides. If you absolutely do have to sit, it is recommended to use a special BBL pillow, which you can purchase at your cosmetic surgery clinic. This is very important to achieve long lasting results from your surgery, as sitting directly on the buttocks can affect blood circulation in the area. Reduced blood circulation could destroy the fat cells transferred to the buttocks. It should be noted that up to 40% of the transferred fat may not survive, regardless of whether or not the patient has sat down. After the first eight weeks of recovery, it is important to still use a cushion when sitting, and to avoid sitting for prolonged periods of time. It is also advised to continue to avoid sleeping on your back for the first eight weeks after your surgery.

Physical Activity
Because the Brazilian butt lift centers around a high-movement area, recovery involves significant activity restrictions. Patients should plan to take up to two weeks off of work, and possibly more if their works involves a lot of sitting. Patients should also avoid strenuous exercise or activities for at least four weeks, and avoid pools, the ocean and hot tubs for at least four weeks. Patients should stretch their legs frequently and move as often as possible to reduce the risk of you developing blood clots.

Final Results
Generally speaking, you can expect to see the permanent results of your Brazilian butt lift four to six months. That is to say that the volume you gain within four to six months after the procedure will be permanent and long-lasting. Unlike other options, a BBL will provide as much fullness as you had at the six-month mark even 10 years after having the procedure.