How Big Butts Have Become Big Business

Kim Kardashian is boosting plastic surgeons' bottom lines.

Two doctors' organizations have tallied up the cosmetic procedures performed last year, and butt augmentation skyrocketed as did a controversial surgery to reshape women's genitals. Meanwhile, old-fashioned breast enlargement, still the most common cosmetic surgery, took a dip.

Surgeons say stars who celebrate their cabooses are fueling the surge, but critics contend it's medical marketing that has convinced some Americans they need posterior padding at the cost of thousands of dollars and physical risks.

"Everywhere you look in the media, butts are in," said Dr. Scott Glasberg, president of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons.

His group's data, extrapolated from surveys of 953 doctors, found silicone implants for the rear-end nearly doubled to 1,863 nationwide between 2013 and 2014. A less invasive operation that transplants fat removed from elsewhere on the body, dubbed the Brazilian, rose 15% to more than 11,000 procedures.

The American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, another trade group that surveyed 901 doctors, found an even bigger increase. Both kinds of augmentations nearly doubled, from 11,527 of both types of procedures in 2013 to 21,446 last year.

"It's social media," said Dr. Michael Edwards, the society's president. "The Kim Kardashians and the Jennifer Lopezes."

Kim Kardashian on the cover of Paper magazine

A Miami surgeon, Dr. Constantino Mendieta, said that a decade ago, butt augmentation was about 10 percent of his practice; now it's 95 percent.

The trend toward fat-grafting as opposed to implants, which had a 30 percent complication rate in one 2013 study has attracted more patients, Mendieta said. So have bigger-bottomed celebs like pop star Iggy Azalea, who released a song titled "Booty" with J.Lo last year.

Continue reading here:
How Big Butts Have Become Big Business