I remember watching the video to the song 'Baby Got Back' by Sir Mix A Lot in 1992, and laughing at the comments of the two girls in the beginning: 'Oh, my God Becky, look at her butt! I can't believe it's just so round, it's like out there, I mean gross look, she's just so black!" I dismissed it as it's a black thing you wouldn't understand!
Let's fast forward to 2015, where women of all ages and nationalities are obsessed with a well-endowed derriere (No longer a black thing! Everyone now understands butt beauty). The behinds of celebrities such as Kim Kardashian and Nicki Minaj are as famous as they are. Every time one of them posts a picture of their own booties on social media it goes viral. There's even a term for 'butt selfies' called 'belfies.' If you search the hashtag #teamplastics on Instagram the results are staggering. But is this obsession healthy? Women are so obsessed with achieving booty nirvana, they are going to extremes to achieve it. We've all seen the horrific stories of women dying after butt injections gone horribly wrong after administered by non-medical professionals. The latest incident happened in New York City, where Maryland Resident Kelly Mayhew dies after receiving alleged silicone injection in a Queens basement.
I spoke with Dr. Christopher Johnson a board certified plastic surgeon who is also known as the 'butt doctor' because of segments that he did for TLC television show Extreme Makeovers. Dr. Johnson was also recently featured on a segment of the new reality show Ice and CoCo to clear up rumors of CoCo's butt being fake. Here are his responses regarding the dangers of illegal butt procedures
Karim Orange:
What kind of problems are you seeing from illegal implants?
Dr. Christopher Johnson:
The kinds of problem we see from illegal implants are generally the result of men and women who attend underground "pump up parties" where industrial grade silicone is injected into the buttocks, hips and parts of the face.
As you can imagine, this is extremely dangerous for a myriad of reasons. Very often these procedures morph into surgical misadventures where sterile conditions are not maintained. The final result is botched due to the development of serious infections in individuals who undergo these underground procedures. The practitioners of "pump up" often lack knowledge of anatomy. This can lead to malposition or even movement of the silicone to undesirable places on the body. The silicone can even be inadvertently injected into an artery where it then can travel to the lungs, brain or other parts of the body, often resulting in devastating consequences including death.
K.O
How hard is it go back and remove silicone?
C.J
Generally silicone only has to be removed as a result of fever/infection, an inflammatory response, migration of the silicone or if the silicone becomes hardened or unsightly due to rejection by the body of the recipient. Removing silicone can become an extremely difficult and daunting challenge. After the silicone is injected into the body it become a slimy goo that spreads throughout the local area injected. The diffuse dissemination of the silicone means that the material cannot be completely removed resulting in a lifetime of disability and discomfort to patients. Very often individual who have undergone these illegal procedures require multiple trips to the O.R pronged hospital and ICU stays, and long courses of antibiotics and anti-inflammatory medications.
So, now that we have gotten the ugly out of the way let's focus on the beauty. It's a beautiful thing that now if you want you can 'bump' your backside, safely by board certified plastic surgeons with years of experience. The most popular procedure is a Brazilian Butt Lift where your own fat cells are injected into your behind. According to the statistics taken from The American Society of Plastic Surgeons, butt augmentation was up 15 percent in 2014 from the previous year. Dr. Johnson recommends researching a doctor before you make a decision, and make sure they are board certified.
I asked one woman (who chose to remain anonymous), about why she chose to go under the knife, and here is what she said: "Growing up in Trinidad, I watched the beautiful dancing of girls with large bottoms with envy. I now have what those girls had and it's great. I underwent a Brazilian fat transfer and a tummy tuck. Most of my life I have been insecure about my butt. I was tired of wearing a butt booster, I felt that it was finally time for me to have my body adjusted."
Cheers to the butt! If you're interested in butt augmentation please make your choices wisely by visiting The American Society of Plastic Surgeons.