Jamaican Women Seek Fat-Transfer Surgery For Fuller Intimate Areas

A limited but consistent group of women has been going under the knife for cosmetic work aimed at giving the intimate area a fuller look. Plastic surgeon Dr Jan Hochtritt, of Prosurgicare Services Ltd., said the operation has become familiar enough in his practice to earn an informal local label: the Jamaican buff lift.

"It's something that we come across regularly enough that we gave it its own name," Hochtritt said.

The cosmetic treatment uses fat from the patient's own body. As with a Brazilian Butt Lift, or BBL, doctors remove fat by liposuction and place it in another area where more volume is desired. For this procedure, the fat is injected around the external genital region and nearby tissue.

"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.

Hochtritt said interest remains relatively small, largely because many people do not know the option is available. Some patients ask for it while already booked for another cosmetic procedure, while others visit the clinic with that specific request.

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

He said local ideas about attractiveness may be helping to drive curiosity about the surgery.

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

According to Hochtritt, most patients are women under 40, though they are not all in their early 20s. He said the procedure draws clients from varied economic backgrounds and is not limited to one profile of woman.

"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.

The surgeon said the Jamaican buff lift is generally not treated as major surgery and usually comes with low risk. He explained that fat taken from elsewhere on the body is placed under the skin in the labial area and surrounding parts.

Still, Hochtritt said he has seen women who needed repairs after having similar work done by others.

"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.