Lucy Devine
A doctor has revealed that people are getting Brazilian bum lifts (BBL) and breast enhancements using fat from people who have died.
A BBL is a procedure in which typically, fat is removed from other areas of the body and inserted into the buttocks. Meanwhile, a breast enhancement involves an operation to make the breasts larger usually by inserting silicone or saline implants.
However, instead of surgery, according to medics, people are turning to injectables made from the fat of deceased people instead, something called AlloClae.
Dr Melissa Doft, a plastic surgeon from Manhattan, explained on social media: “Many of us in New York City are very excited about this, particularly because our patients are sometimes very thin or maybe have already had liposuction.
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"AlloClae is cadaveric fat, so it's fat that has been donated by a person who have passed away.
"Then it has been cleaned of any genetic material and then placed into a syringe.
"So it's sort of off-the-shelf fat."
Dr Doft explained it can be 'used in any part of the body' adding: "It is going to be approved for the face but right now it's just for the body.
"When it's injected into the body, the body's own fat cells sort of hug the cadaveric fat cells and about 75 to 100 percent of the cadaveric fat cells survive."
Despite not yet being widely available, it turns out there's a lot of demand for the new injectable.
Speaking to the New York Post, plastic surgeon Dr. Sachin M. Shridharani explained: “I’d say less than probably five percent of board certified plastic surgeons have it.
“With the ones that do have it across the country, there’s tremendous amount of demand.
"There have been multiple times that we’ve actually run out of product.”
Using AlloClae means patients don't need to have liposuction on their own bodies to harvest fat.
Movassaghi Plastic Surgery explain: "The injected tissue becomes part of your natural fat layer, giving you all the benefits of a traditional fat transfer without needing liposuction to harvest your own fat.
"For patients who have always wanted fat transfer but didn’t have enough in their own fat stores, this opens up possibilities that simply weren’t available before."
Speaking about their product, Caro Van Hove, president of Tiger Aesthetics, explained to The Cut: “We ensure all our tissue is consented to for aesthetic use.
“The donor material is meticulously screened in accordance with regulated and high-quality tissue practices."