You may have already thought about increasing your gluteal volume but before embarking on such an operation, which it is more advisable to plan at least three months before exposing your buttocks on a beach, you should know the different techniques , the cost and the risks of such a procedure. Friday in "Without appointment" on Europe 1, Dr. Philippe Levan, plastic surgeon, and member of SOFCEP (French Society of Plastic Surgeons) explains everything you need to know about buttock surgery.
The craze of young French women for the beautification of the buttocks
If Dr. Philippe Levan observes a craze for the buttocks beautification for fifteen years, he notes a steady increase in requests for four years. Time during which "the number of procedures has been multiplied by four", even if this represents "niche surgery" compared to breast surgery or other parts of the body. "For the moment, there are 12,500 procedures in France including 20% of prostheses, the rest being injections", he explains in "Without appointment" on Europe 1 Friday.
As with other surgeries, 90% of the patients are patients. The plastic surgeon notes that "the average age of requests for buttock surgery is around 30 years, even in the range of 25-30 years". If this surgery has existed since the 1950s / 60s, it was not as codified as it is now. "The real supervised buttock surgery, regulated, with specific prostheses for the buttocks dates from the early 2000s," he explains.
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The plastic surgeon distinguishes two types of requests. "80 to 90% is extremely reasonable," he explains. "These are young women who are complexed with not having enough buttocks and she is asking for something quite reasonable in terms of increase, therefore prostheses of medium volume with an absolutely natural result," he said. Only "10 to 15% of requests" concern women who already have enough volume but want to "look like some stars of social networks and who ask for a rather particular morphology".
Three techniques to increase your glutes
Currently, there are three serious techniques: buttock implants or buttock prostheses, fat injection or fat transfer and the use of hyaluronic acid fillers, therefore a synthetic substance. If there are few surgeons specializing only in buttock surgery, "all plastic surgeons know how to inject fat", emphasizes Dr. Philippe Levan. But they are "less numerous to know well the techniques to put prostheses" because it is a "more complex" technique, of which "the technical learning curve is longer".
The placement of implants requires "one hour of surgery under general anesthesia" and hospitalization including one night in the clinic. "The surgery is done by two scars that are in the interfessor fold so it is absolutely not visible," he details. There are no different forms of implants. "If you have buttocks of a certain shape, you will have larger ones in the same shape. We cannot change the shape of the buttocks but we can make them more plump, perhaps less drooping, but we recognize the original buttocks, "he adds.
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Regarding fat injection or lipofilling , "the ambulatory is quite possible with lipofilling of modest volumes". Just like for prostheses in people without particular health problems. For the injection of fat, the surgeon needs "quantities large enough to increase the buttock volume" that he takes where there is: on the breeches, thighs, hips, abdomen ... But beware, if you have little fat, you are thin, "you should not go on this technique" because otherwise you risk having "consequences on the types of sample".
Note that "techniques can be combined": we can put prostheses, and a little lipofilling around. Regarding the final result, it takes up to a year but the result is "fairly stable" from three to six months. In France, it takes between "6,000 and 9,000 euros all techniques combined" to increase your buttocks.
10 to 15 days convalescence
After an operation to increase the gluteal volume, convalescence is more or less long and can go up to ten or fifteen days. "You have to allow two weeks in front of you to recover from this type of intervention, if only to sit normally," explains Dr. Philippe Levan. Implants can be a little more painful than injections where pain can come from areas where fat has been removed rather than areas where fat has been injected.
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Recovering from this type of intervention simply requires self-rehabilitation. It is "important to take enough pain relievers," he notes. "The first days, we work a little flexion of the thighs on the trunk. We support ourselves and we flex a little more each day depending on the flexibility of the area," he explains. "And after five days or a week, we can sit normally."
"Walking can be done the next day" but "it is not recommended to take long walks," warns the plastic surgeon. And concerning the resumption of a sporting activity, depending on the type of sport practiced, people who have undergone surgery can recover "four to six weeks" after their operation.
The risks of buttock surgery
If all surgeries are risky, concerning buttock surgery, the major risk concerns not prosthetics but fat injections. "Over the past five years, there has been an increase in demand around the world," notes Dr. Philippe Levan. If this technique seems less invasive than the placement of implants, "this type of surgery can be risky".
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"Fat injected in any way, in too large quantities in fragile patients can lead to death," he warns. "There is one death for this technique for 3,000 cases worldwide, which is absolutely huge!" Alarmed the plastic surgeon.
If the technique is legal in France, it is also supervised. "It is all the interest of learned societies like SOFCEP which brings together highly qualified surgeons and registered on the council of the order", supports Dr Philippe Levan. "It is nevertheless a pledge of seriousness compared to what we can offer", he summarizes.