Having a larger and more shapely buttocks is a very popular beauty trend today. Numerous celebrities have helped drive this societal desire which has strong ethnic appeal, particularly in African-American and Hispanic women. Plastic surgery can help achieve that look through two specific buttock enhancement procedures using either your own fat (Brazilian Butt Lift) or actual buttock implants. But these procedures can cost anywhere from $6500 to $9500.
While safe and generally effective, some people are driven to try and achieve a larger buttocks through an illegal and dangerous method. There is a whole world of black market buttock injections going on in which almost every week (or at least it seems like it) some woman somewhere in the country has suffered major complications or death from having had these injections.
No one knows for certain what black market injections consist of as it is a very secretive world. Most of these appear to consist of industrial grade silicone oil which should not be confused with medical grade silicone which is more pure and a lot more expensive…not to mention FDA-approved. But cases have been reported where compounds such as hardware store caulking materials have been used for injection.
Why would anyone subject themselves to such an injection procedure? The reason is obviously cost. For a few hundred dollars one can have their buttocks injected often done in a hotel room by appointment. Who is doing it and what they are injecting appears to be overlooked by the promise of an instantly bigger buttocks at a very cheap price. It has also become clear to me that some women don’t understand that injecting anything into the buttocks or elsewhere is a medical procedure not a beauty treatment.
But such a decision can have serious complications. Infection, tissue necrosis, pulmonary embolus and death have been commonly reported. At the least, the body’s reaction to the material often leads to pigmentary changes at the injection sites, hard knots and lumps, scar contracture and even significant buttock deformities. The number of actual complications that occur from these injections is not known as many affected patients will nor surface or report problems to physicians. I know of two deaths right here in Indianapolis over the past two years that never even made the news.
What many women who have been injected are also not aware is that this is an irreversible problem. While these compounds are dispersed troughout the buttock tissues, they can never be removed…short of a partial buttock amputation procedure. There is no plastic surgery procedure to remove, not even liposuction.
Black market buttock injections is a disturbing trend that shows no sign of abating. For those who want buttock augmentation, stay with the established plastic surgery approach. Put your buttocks and your life in the hands of board-certified plastic surgeons who have spent much of their life perfecting cosmetic procedures that offer the greatest effectiveness and safety.
Dr. Barry Eppley
Indianapolis, Indiana