Skinny BBL in Turkey

A skinny BBL is a Brazilian butt lift performed on someone who does not have much fat to move. The surgeon harvests what is available, usually from the abdomen, flanks, back and inner thighs, purifies it and injects it into the buttock. The limitation is simple: you can only move fat you actually have.

Before anything else, this operation deserves a plain warning. A Brazilian butt lift has historically carried a higher death rate than any other cosmetic procedure, because fat injected into or beneath the gluteal muscle can enter a large vein and travel to the lungs. Technique has changed to reduce that risk, and this page explains what to check. If a clinic does not raise this with you, that tells you something.

The operation is the same as a standard Brazilian butt lift. What changes is the arithmetic: there is less fat to harvest, so the achievable change is smaller and more of the work is about shape than about volume.

• Donor sites are pooled. Abdomen, flanks, lower back, inner thighs and sometimes the arms, because no single area yields enough.
• Some of the transferred fat will not survive. A proportion is always reabsorbed, which is why surgeons overfill slightly and why the final result is judged months later.
• The waist matters as much as the buttock. In a slim patient, much of the visual change comes from taking fat off the flanks and defining the waist rather than from what is added behind.
• There may not be enough. An honest surgeon will sometimes tell you that a meaningful result is not achievable with the fat you have, and will suggest waiting or not operating.

1. 1

   Marking and planning

   Done standing, marking both the donor areas and the buttock. In a slim patient the donor plan matters as much as the recipient plan.
2. 2

   Harvest

   Fat is removed by liposuction from the marked areas at low pressure, because gentler harvest gives fat that survives better.
3. 3

   Processing

   The fat is separated from blood and fluid before it is injected. How this is done varies and it affects how much survives.
4. 4

   Injection

   Placed in the layer above the muscle, in small amounts across many passes rather than in one bolus. Ultrasound guidance, where used, confirms the plane throughout.
5. 5

   Afterwards

   A compression garment goes on, and instructions about sitting begin immediately.

• Loss of transferred volume. Expected. A proportion of the fat does not survive, and in slim patients that loss is proportionally more noticeable.
• Firm lumps. Areas of fat necrosis, which can be felt and occasionally need treatment.
• Donor site irregularity. More likely in slim patients, because there is little fat to leave behind for a smooth contour.
• Prolonged swelling and bruising. Especially in the flanks and abdomen.
• Asymmetry. Common to some degree, and the usual reason for a small second transfer.
• Seroma. Fluid collection at a donor site, drained in clinic.

• How many donor areas are treated. In a slim patient several areas are usually needed, and each adds theatre time.
• Whether ultrasound guidance is used. It adds cost and it is a reason to prefer one clinic over another rather than a reason to look for a cheaper quote.
• Anaesthetic and hospital nights. This is not a day case in most hands, and an overnight stay with proper monitoring is the safer arrangement.
• Compression garments. Worn for weeks and often needed in more than one size as swelling settles.
• The revision policy. Ask what happens if a second fat transfer is wanted, whether it is included and who pays for the return trip.

The clinic list on this page shows the current price for each hospital with a label saying what it covers. On staged payment, see the payment plans page. Price should be the last thing you compare on this particular operation.

In a slim patient the change is usually one of proportion rather than volume: a defined waist and a rounder upper buttock rather than a large increase in size. What survives at a year is what you keep, and it is stable as long as your weight is. Expect a smaller change than the photographs of heavier patients suggest, and treat a surgeon who promises otherwise with caution.