When patients come to sit down with me for a consultation and they want to know how they are going to look after they have a BBL, I tell them that one of the most important things they can do is to make sure their expectations for the outcome of a BBL are realistic to their body type and that they share the same surgical eye. It’s important for a plastic surgeon and a patient to share the same vision and to arrive at realistic expectations for what the surgery entails and what their outcomes could be.
What doesn’t help for realistic expectations is having ‘wish pics’, photos of my prior surgeries, or your own photos that you have edited with Photoshop. I see this all the time, and it simply doesn’t work to give you an accurate perspective for the outcome of your BBL. None of these take into consideration the components that make us individuals and directly affect the outcome of your BBL. You could be looking at a wish picture that is not your body type at all and your BBL could look even more amazing!
Each person is unique in that they have:
- Different body heights
- Different shapes to their skeletons
- Larger or smaller waists
- More or less fat in the hip area
- Low, medium, or high “soil” (which affects the survival of fat in the hip)
- Gluteus muscles that attach in slightly different locations to the pelvis
- Different shapes and heights of the pelvis
Another problem with comparing yourself to photos you find online and misconceptions has to do with BMI or “Body Mass Index”. While it provides some general guidelines and can eliminate patients who are just not good candidates, it’s not the be-all and end-all.
The Solution Is The Ogee Line
So what’s the solution? The solution is the Ogee- and I know you may think that my solution for everything is the Ogee, but it’s true! When you’re looking at getting a realistic perspective of your body for BBL we have to look at it through the lens of the Ogee Line and following the principle of the Ogee. What does that mean exactly?
Since I begin Ogee Lipo high up in the back that is where I start to assess your unique and individual components and how the Ogee pertains to you… What I’m looking for is where your true Ogee Line is. We will go through things in sequence from top to bottom, I will talk with you about:
- How much fat do you have in the back?
- What can we do with your hips?
- What’s your soil?
- Where do I think the point of maximal projection is going to be?
- What is skin and what is fat?
- What is your true waist? (Which you will see after liposuction)
The takeaway from all of this is that you shouldn’t rely on outside photos for a realistic expectation of your BBL surgery. (It’s fine to do your research and gather information, which will allow you to formulate some questions and to be better prepared.) I think the best way to understand how you’re going to look is to come in, have a discussion, examine your body, and come out with a really true and realistic expectation for your BBL.
