Congratulations! We’re sure you’re feeling pretty uncomfortable right now, but rest assured: you’re on your way to your new self! But first. you’re going to go through some ups and downs during your Brazilian Butt Lift (or BBL) recovery Thankfully, Dr. Barrett has curated a whole host of BBL recovery tips, best practices, next steps, what you should expect, things you should be concerned about, as well as what to do and what not to do while you recover from your Brazilian Butt Lift.
● Drink up. Staying hydrated will help your body recover the fluids lost from surgery. Things like water, Gatorade Pedialyte and soup are great choices.
● No sitting around. After your BBL, it’s important to not sit on your buttocks for at least two weeks in order to minimize compression and help those new little fat cells to develop blood supply. If you can’t avoid a seated position, make sure to alternate sides and use your BBL pillow
● Get your beauty sleep. Sleep either on your stomach or with pillows under your thighs and back to ensure there’s no pressure on your buttocks. If you didn’t have any fat transferred to your hip dips, you can also sleep on your sides
● Swelling is, of course, very normal. Also very normal: swelling that extends downwards in your genital area and into your legs. Even more normal: swelling that lasts three to six months
● Things may look worse before they look better, particularly with your liposuction results through the first two weeks.
● Still normal. Anxiety and even depression are all completely normal after Brazilian Butt Lift surgery
● Speaking of normal, clear or slightly bloody drainage fluid from your incision sites is completely normal. In fact, you should probably take your favorite sheets off your bed before your surgery and keep a towel handy to place under you
● Things may appear bigger at first. Remember that you can expect to lose anywhere from 20%-50% of the fat transferred, so your doctor will transfer more to compensate
● ven if it extends upwards or downwards. Swelling, especially around your incisions, may take up to a year to completely subside
● It’s OK if your steri-strips fall off; you can simply replace them with a band-aid. Swelling may occur, causing a blister to form under your steri-strip—this is totally OK; just apply antibiotic ointment twice a day and the strip will be removed in-office. If you develop an allergic reaction to your steri-strips, remove them all, wash with gentle soap and water and take Benadryl or Claritin and avoid steroids or hydrocortisone
● Work it out—or don’t (at first).
○ Starting the day of your surgery, and for the first two weeks of your recovery, it’s important that you do some light waking. Aim for three times a day, every day—but keep it under a mile. This will help to prevent deadly blood clots, in addition to the compression socks you’re likely wearing (and should keep wearing for about three days)
○ After two weeks you can slowly resume normal activity, increasing as your body tolerates it. Remember to listen to your body and take it slow—don’t jump right back into your normal workout routine
○ For the first two weeks, just do some light waking. You don’t want to raise your heartrate, so no strenuous activities and be careful walking up stairs.
○ After two weeks, you can resume some exercise: walking upstairs, incline workouts, isolated leg workouts. Avoid any upper body workouts.
○ After four weeks and beyond, you can do some light jogging. And at week six, you can resume upper body and core workouts.
○ Most importantly, pay attention to your body! If something hurts, take a day or two off before easing back.
Brazilian Butt Lift recovery do’s and don’ts:
1. Do take a shower 24 hours after your BBL surgery, but avoid baths, hot tubs, swimming, or any bodies of water —the bacteria and pressure of the water can cause an infection
2. Do be your healthiest self. Things like meditation to lower stress, avoiding smoking for at least six weeks and avoiding any alcohol for at least two weeks will all help aid in your Brazilian Butt Lift recovery process
3. Don’t smoke for at least six weeks
4. Do avoid alcohol for at least two weeks
5. Don’t forget the patch! Take off the scopolamine patch behind your ear as soon as you get home—but make sure not to touch your eye and wash your hands immediately after doing so. Leaving it on will cause blurry vision.
6. Do take your antibiotics as soon as you get home, and make sure to finish the full course—most infections occur when patients don’t take all their antibiotics as prescribed
Pick up the phone. Call us if you:
1. Notice your buttocks is excessively red, warm or irritated;
2. Have any drainage that seems infected or pus-filled;
3. Have a fever over 101 degrees;
4. Have significant bleeding or drainage from any incisions;
5. Grapefruit-size abdominal swelling;
6. Haven’t urinated in the first 12 hours post-surgery;
7. Have persistent nausea, vomiting and can’t keep anything down
What to buy for a Brazilian Butt Lift recovery?
To ensure you have the best possible outcome, Dr. Barrett has some supplement must-haves he recommends for all his patients. CBD is a game-changer for pain management, anxiety and sleep. CALMg is also essential to control the muscle spasms that may occur as you recover from your BBL. It can also help with constipation and sleep. Arnica+ contains both arnica and bromelain, and is an effective, holistic way to decrease the inflammation after surgery that occurs in your body without causing a leaky gut that can happen with traditional anti-inflammatories like ibuprofen or aspirin. Formulated to provide the optimal level of nutrient support, for enhanced recovery after surgery, After Post Op Surgical Recovery Optimizer gives your body the necessary nutrients to heal and helps you detox from anesthesia, in addition to also reducing swelling, bruising and inflammation, and aiding in pain control. MassZymes, a digestive enzyme supplement, breaks down the debris created from the wound healing process, improves tissue remodeling and actually reduces the lab markers of inflammation, making it one of the best supplements for healing after surgery. Finally, starting at two weeks post-op, you should start using scar gel. Skinuva® is surgical scar healing cream that’s backed by science and uses highly selective growth factors which are shown to be twice as effective as silicone cream. What you don’t need are compression garments. If you feel more physically comfortable wearing them, great, but they won’t impact your final results. So feel free to take them off if they’re giving you a rash or causing you any discomfort, blistering.
Dr. Barrett has also curated an ultimate recovery kit to set his breast reduction patients up for surgical success with the least amount of down time and discomfort possible.
How long is BBL recovery?
A minimum of two weeks of downtime is needed for your initial recovery—but keep in mind that it’s really dependent on the individual; some may need longer than two weeks of downtime. The most important thing is to listen to your body and take things as slow as you need.
Note: The following video is intended for only Dr. Barrett’s patients exclusively. If you have had surgery by another surgeon please follow up with that surgeon for particular details about your surgery.
You can also check out this video to hear tips, tricks and post-op instructions from Dr. Barrett himself.