Many people, especially women, wish for a well-shaped, firm bottom. Often, however, diet and exercise are not enough to achieve the desired result. Especially after significant weight loss or with increasing age, dissatisfaction often sets in when the soft tissue of the buttocks slackens and sinks downwards.
With a buttock lift, excess tissue on the buttocks is removed in order to tighten the bottom. We are guided here by your wishes. The buttock lift can be carried out in combination with liposuction.
Who is a suitable candidate for a buttock lift?
The typical reason is significant weight loss. After weight-loss surgery or a diet maintained over years, excess skin is often left behind that neither exercise nor time will resolve. With increasing age, too, the tissue loses tension and sinks.
The procedure makes sense if excess skin is the main concern and your weight has been stable for at least six months.
It makes less sense if further weight loss is planned — new excess skin would then develop again. If the wish is purely for more volume without excess skin, a lift is also not the right procedure.
The procedure is not performed if you smoke within 14 days before or after the operation, in cases of poorly controlled diabetes, and with certain other pre-existing conditions that impair wound healing.
Preparing for the operation
Blood-thinning medication such as aspirin is stopped two weeks before the procedure, in consultation with Dr. Özdemir. Smoking impairs circulation and, with it, wound healing — Dr. Özdemir asks patients to stop smoking before and after the operation.
As the procedure is carried out on an inpatient basis under general anaesthesia, a blood count, an ECG and a pre-anaesthetic consultation are required, depending on age and pre-existing conditions.
Course of the buttock lift
The procedure is carried out on an inpatient basis and under general anaesthesia. The excess skin is usually removed via an incision at the transition from the buttocks to the back (standard technique). The scar fades over time and can be hidden well in bikini bottoms or swimming trunks.
After the operation, you should sit as little as possible in the first two weeks in order to take it easy and avoid widened scarring. Sporting activities should be avoided for eight weeks.
Before the actual surgery appointment, a consultation takes place in which we can discuss the desired result and clarify risks.
What are the risks of a buttock lift?
A buttock lift is a bigger procedure than many people assume: inpatient, under general anaesthesia, with a long suture line in an area that is under constant tension when sitting and walking. Dr. Özdemir discusses the risks with you individually beforehand — the most important are:
The scar. It runs across the transition from the buttocks to the back and is long. It can be hidden under underwear and swimwear, but it remains. Because the region is under tension when sitting, the scar can widen — hence the recommendation to sit as little as possible in the first two weeks.
Impaired wound healing. Because of sitting, friction and the proximity of the natal cleft, this area is more susceptible than others. Delayed healing at individual points along the suture line does occur and extends aftercare.
Seromas. Wound fluid can collect beneath the lifted skin. This is the reason for the drains placed after the operation. Larger seromas have to be drained by needle. The drains inserted during the operation are removed either at discharge or later at a follow-up appointment at the practice, depending on how much fluid they collect.
Post-operative bleeding, bruising, infection. Possible with any larger procedure; post-operative bleeding can make a further operation necessary.
Thrombosis and embolism. A serious risk with operations under general anaesthesia followed by a period of reduced mobility. Blood-thinning injections are used as a preventive measure, and getting up and moving early is encouraged.
Altered sensation. The skin around the suture line is initially numb. This usually improves over months but can remain, in part, permanent.
Asymmetry and revision. The two sides do not always heal identically. The final result, and whether a revision is advisable, generally becomes clear after one year.
Are there alternatives to a buttock lift?
Doing nothing. A sagging bottom is not a medical problem. If you can live with it, you do not need an operation — and the procedure trades excess skin for a permanent scar.
Liposuction alone. If it is the volume rather than the skin that is bothersome, and skin tension is still good, liposuction without a lift can be enough. It leaves only small access incisions.
Exercise and weight stabilisation. With mild sagging and no real excess skin, targeted muscle-building achieves more than an operation. With excess skin after significant weight loss, however, exercise does not help.
