Can I Have A Brazilian Butt Lift If I Am Diabetic?

Q: Dr. Eppley, I would like to know of you can take fatty tissue from another part of your body and inject it into your butt to make it rounder where it has dropped due to loss of elasticity. I am a 50 year old lady and I am a diabetic.

A:  Transferring fat, usually from the abdomen and flanks, into the buttocks is a very common procedure today. Known by the name of a Brazilian Butt Lift, fat is obtained by liposuction, concentrated and then injected into the gluteal muscle and subcutaneous tissues for an augmentative effect. While the inadvertent body contouring benefit from the procedure is assured (fat reduction), how well the fat that is transferred into the buttocks is not. Survival rates vary widely from 10% to 90% with most patients having an approximate 50% survival rate. What factors affect survival of the injected fat is not precisely known. But having diabetes may be a factor that adversely affects survival, particularly if you have insulin-dependent diabetes. Diabetes that is treated by oral medication is less likely to have a significant impact on fat graft survival.

Another treatment consideration besides fat injection is a lower buttock lift. When the buttock falls over the lower skin crease where it meets with the upper thigh, it may be better treated by excision and re-establishment of a well-defined skin fold. This can also be combined with fat injection for volume increase for an enhanced effect.

Dr. Barry Eppley

Indianapolis, Indiana