‘Buff Lift’ anyone? Women turning to surgery to enhance intimate areas

A small but steady number of women have been heading to operation rooms seeking fuller intimate contours through fat-transfer surgery. At the end of it, the patients appear to be born and bred residents of ‘Buff Bay’.

Plastic surgeon Dr Jan Hochtritt of Prosurgicare Services Ltd. says the treatment is informally dubbed the ‘Jamaican buff lift’.

“It's something that we come across regularly enough that we gave it its own name,” the surgeon shared. 

The procedure involves transferring a patient's own body fat from one area to another, a technique widely used in cosmetic surgery. Similar to a Brazilian Butt Lift (BBL), fat is removed through liposuction and then injected into targeted areas to increase volume. In this case, the focus is on the external genital area and surrounding tissues.

“The full proper medical term would be an autologous fat transplant,” Hochtritt said. “That is basically when you take your own fat that you have, harvest it with liposuction somewhere and you put it somewhere else. You can do that anywhere, so it doesn't really matter if it's on the butt or if it's in the breast, or if it's in scars, or if it's in the face,” Hochtritt explained.

According to Hochtritt, the demand for the procedure is modest, mainly because people are not aware that it exists. He said many patients request it while already having another cosmetic enhancement performed, though some seek it out specifically.

“For many patients, it's an add-on procedure, but there are others who come in asking for it directly,” he said.

The surgeon believes cultural standards of beauty may be contributing to the growing interest.

“It's a cultural thing, how the heavy front is perceived as something sexy, youthful,” he said.

While patients tend to be younger women, Hochtritt said the procedure attracts individuals from a wide cross-section of society.

“I would say it's women mostly below 40, but it's not only like the early 20s. So I would say it's mainly below 40. But, out of all socio-economic groups, it's not a particular type of woman,” he said.

According to the surgeon, the Jamaican buff lift is not considered a major surgery and generally carries limited risk. He said the harvested fat is placed beneath the skin in the labial and surrounding areas. 

However, he has encountered patients seeking corrective work after procedures done elsewhere.

“The most common issues are infections or scarring, which can happen with any surgery. But I saw a couple of people that were overfilled, where the labias were so big that they had problems sitting,” he said.