Craving curves: Celebrity posteriors are behind swell in augmentations

Iggy Azalea

Jennifer Lopez

Kim Kardashian

Baby likes back.

Buttocks implants are big (pun intended). According to figures released recently by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, they are the industry's fastest-growing procedure.

Actually, the number of all cosmetic butt surgeries -- implants, augmentation with injected fat, implants -- were up anywhere from 15 to 98 percent between 2013 and 2014, according to society numbers. Buttock implants wedged themselves into the top spot, jumping 98 percent from one year to the next.

But while some women obviously want a little more junk in their trunk, as with many national trends, Chattanooga is on the back end of this one.

"Derriere procedures are on the rise, but perhaps not as steep a rise here in Chattanooga as in large metropolitan areas," says Dr. Mark Brzezienski, a local plastic surgeon. "There's not a big population of women in Chattanooga who come to my office asking me to make their bottom 'bigger.'"

Reginal Sherrill, a plastic surgeon in Dalton, Ga., says he doesn't perform many buttocks procedures. The last one was several years ago, he says.

In general, Botox injections and breast augmentations are still No. 1 in terms of overall numbers in plastic surgery, although breastwork dropped a tiny bit. For Botox, about 6.7 million procedures were done in 2014, up 6 percent from 2013, while about 286,254 breast augmentations were performed, a drop of 1 percent, the society says.

Overall in 2014, 15.6 million cosmetic procedures, covering both minimally invasive and surgical, were performed in the U.S., up 3 percent over 2013, the society reports.

The swelling fascination with the fanny can be traced to the backsides of celebrities like Kim Kardashian, who received weeks of attention for her champagne and buttocks cover shoot for Paper magazine and whose family also has a line of clothing -- Kardashian Kollection -- sold at Sears.

Then there were all the songs this past year, so many songs -- Nicki Minaj and her cheeky "Anaconda," Iggy Azalea's "Booty" and Meghan Trainor's "All About That Bass."

"The media effect, Kim Kardashian, Jennifer Lopez, are having a phenomenal effect on what patients want, what they are coming in and asking for," American Society of Plastic Surgeons President Dr. Scot Glasberg said in a statement.

Suzanne West, owner of Frankie & Julian's fashion boutique on Frazier Avenue and someone who keeps up with fashion and cultural trends, says "curvy is becoming more and more acceptable, probably because of the Kardashians."

But the focus on the buttocks is crossing cultures, she says.

"We are becoming more and more of a melting pot of a country, and now bigger butts is crossing cultural lines, too," she says. "Not only are black and Spanish women getting butt lifts and enhancements, but more Caucasian women are, too."

As for guys who like big butts and cannot lie, there's a scientific study that says it knows why -- and it's rooted in primal DNA. Unsexily called "Lumbar Curvature: A Previously Undiscovered Standard of Attractiveness," the study, done by researchers at Bilkent University in Turkey, the University of Texas and the American University of Beirut, says the curvature of the spine just above the butt is what men find attractive. The perfect angle, the study says, is 45 degrees, which indicates a center of gravity that allows pregnant women to move around freely without the risk of hurting themselves.

In plastic surgery terms, buttocks augmentation means taking fat from one part of your body through liposuction, then injecting it into your bottom. Among doctors, it's known as "fat grafting," but out in the real world it's commonly called the Brazilian butt lift. The fat usually is taken from the stomach, thighs or the back directly above the buttocks, then cleaned and purified before being injected.

Brzezienski is very familiar with fat injections, which he uses mostly in breast reconstruction surgery, a mainstay of his practice. But "fat injections are just a great idea for augmenting the buttocks," he says.

A butt lift -- non-Brazilian -- is more like a face lift or tummy tuck. Skin and tissue are removed from the top of the buttocks. Implants, meanwhile, are similar to breast implants -- silicone- or gel-filled bags inserted under the skin.

But the surgeries aren't always what they're cracked up to be. Brzezienski acknowledges that he hasn't done many buttocks implants, for instance, but says "they have a variable reputation."

"They carry a high incidence of complications and failure, depending on the scientific study," he says. "The implants can shift and even become exposed. Seems like quite the commitment to me. Feels like you're sitting on a fat wallet for the rest of your life. ... High-volume fat injections are a much better, natural option."

And there's some danger with any of the procedures, especially if they're not done by a certified plastic surgeon -- and sometimes when they are.

Earlier this month, Brazilian model Andressa Urach had to enter the hospital to fight an infection in her implants, which were done by a licensed plastic surgeon. In December, she spent almost a month in intensive care when the gel inside one of her implants leaked out and led to a different infection.

In Dallas, police are investigating whether a woman's Brazilian butt lift at a local salon may have contributed to her death in February. In Britain, a woman is on trial on a third-degree murder charge after one of her clients died after being given a series of buttocks injections. The woman on trial has no formal training in the procedure and was doing it as part of an underground business.

In November, a Miami man was charged with seven counts of practicing medicine without a license and one count of manslaughter after being accused of injecting a concoction of cement, bathroom caulk, tire sealant, mineral oil and Super Glue into women's hip and buttocks. One of his patients died in 2012 and the medical examiner said she died because of lung disease caused by "massive systemic silicone migration" from the injections.

Contact Shawn Ryan at sryan@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6327.