BBL Garment Options Explained: How to & Maintenance

Are you getting ready for the Brazilian Butt Lift surgery? A BBL garment is one of the essential things for the post-operation period. As you know, the recovery period after BBL is just as important as the surgery itself. In this healing process, BBL garments will be your best friend and give you the support you need while recovering.

BBL garments help you to have an easy, more comfortable recovery process. However, this is not the only way a BBL garment helps you. It also has a huge effect on the final BBL outcomes; garments will help you to get the best result from BBL surgery. In this article, we talked about all of these points and give overall information about the BBL garment.

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What are BBL garments?

A BBL garment is a special medical garment that you wear after BBL surgery. There are a few different kinds of garments, each serving a different purpose. They can help with improving the aesthetic appearance of your surgery or can reduce the chance of a complication developing to a minimum. These garments are just as important as the surgery itself so you can have the best results.

Importance of wearing shapewear

BBL shapewear is essential in BBL recovery and helps you in many ways. It makes the process easier and also helps you to get the best result from your BBL procedure. But what makes these possible? It is the compression the shapewear applies.

Compression helps with many things, reduces swelling, provides comfort, and helps you to get the contoured shape. However, its effect on blood circulation can be the most important factor. The transferred fat needs a blood supply to live in its new place, and it may be hard for the blood to reach the newly transferred fat. But if there is compression, the blood flow focuses on that area. This means the compression of the shapewear helps the blood concentrate on the BBL area, helping blood to reach the grafted fat.

What happens if you don't wear your garments?

We just mentioned why it is important to wear shapewear. As you can see, wearing it has so many benefits. But if you don’t wear it, you won’t have those benefits, plus, you might face some problems and complications during your recovery period and your overall BBL result, such as:

You can have problems with blood circulation.
You will have a hard time with swelling and bruising
The recovery process will be painful and uncomfortable
You may have loose skin
It can take longer to recover from BBL

If you don’t wear compression garments, you are more likely to experience all the issues we mentioned above. Recovering from a BBL is not an easy process, and not wearing your garments will make this process harder than usual.

So far we learned how beneficial BBL compression garments are. It is time to get into finer details by learning the types of these garments and what are their exact roles in terms of recovery. These are different in shape but have the same purpose, maximizing your post-op healing.

Garment 1: BBL Faja

A BBL faja is a type of bodysuit that is worn after the BBL operation. It is the most important thing you need to have in the recovery period. Its feature is to apply compression on the butt. This compression helps in many ways in the recovery period. If you think “Why do you have to wear a faja after BBL?” there are many answers.

Enhances blood flow
Reduces swelling
Gives comfort, reduces pain
Provides mobility
Improves body contouring and overall BBL results

It is recommended to wear faja all day and night for about 3 months. If you don’t wear it, there will be no compression in the surgery sites. Because of this, the swelling will not go away faster and it will be uncomfortable. Blood flow will not be improved which can lead to BBL fibrosis or fat necrosis. You will have discomfort and nothing is going to support the contoured shape. The recovery period will be harder and it will take longer than usual.

BBL Faja has 3 stages

Faja has 3 different stages and the level of compression increases with every stage. Wearing the right one at the right time is important. When you are still in the early stages of recovery and if your faja is too tight, it can make this period more difficult instead of helping. Too much tightness can hinder blood circulation, and increase swelling. Now let’s learn the stages of fajas.

The initial one is BBL faja stage 1, which you will find on yourself after the surgery. It is not too tight, it has low compression since your body is swollen after the surgery, and not in the final shape. Your butt needs space to get used to the new form, that’s why it is not so tight. You have to wear stage 1 fajas for about 3 weeks.

After you are done with stage 1, it is time for the stage 2 faja. Stage 2 faja is tighter and has more compression. This tightness and pressure can help to contour the new shape of the butt. Some surgeons recommend wearing this for 6 months, some say wear it till the 6-7 week mark and move on to stage 3. Consult your surgeon about this.

Stage 3 faja is the tightest version of the fajas. When you come to this point, the body should be healed and the swelling should be gone to a certain point. Stage 3 faja focuses on contouring the shape of the body, that’s why it is tighter than stages 1 and 2.

Things to know while wearing faja

Throughout the article, a couple of questions might have appeared in your mind about fajas, and this is where they will be answered. You’ll be wearing your faja day and night, so of course, we are here to provide you with answers to all your questions. Let’s check out some frequently asked questions.

How many faja will you need?

Having 2 fajas would be enough. Since you must wear it all day and night, you must minimize the time when you don’t have it on. Let’s say that your faja got dirty and you need to wash it. In such a case, you need to wear the second one while the other one is drying. Missing several hours of compression is not something you would want during recovery, that’s why you should have a second faja.

Can you take it off during the day?

We mentioned that it is essential to wear faja 24/7 for a couple of months. However, it is okay to take it off for short periods. By short periods, we do not mean several hours, but maybe an hour at most. For example, you can it off when you need to shower for an hour. However, put your faja back on as soon as possible when you are done. Remember, the more time you spend with your faja, the better your post-op recovery will be.

Can you use the bathroom with faja?

During the recovery period using the bathroom is difficult enough, and it would be even harder if you would have to take the faja off every time you use the bathroom. That is why most of the fajas have an opening down there and you can use the bathroom with a faja on. If you are afraid of your faja getting dirty, don’t worry. The opening is big enough.

Garment 2: BBL Foam board

A foam board or lipo foam is a soft foam piece that is worn under the faja. You place the foam board on your stomach, your lower back, and the sides of your waist. Fajas can become creased as you move or bend in the waist area. If your skin experience this for long periods, it can end up getting creased too and this is the last thing that we want. That’s why fajas are meant to combine with foam boards.

Foam boards:

Prevents creasing in the waist
Supports the faja in terms of compression

So, basically what foam boards do is create another layer between the faja and your skin. By creating an additional layer, foam boards prevent creasing to a large extent. Plus, it puts additional compression on the site where the fat is removed. Compression is always welcomed during the BBL recovery process since it helps with healing.

Garment 3: Compression socks

Why do you need compression socks after BBL? After the surgery, blood clots can occur in the legs as well. During the surgery, the blood doesn’t reach from the legs to the heart as easily as before, and this increases the blood clot chance. Compression socks after BBL help to improve blood circulation and reduce blood clot risk in your legs (1).

Plus, you may experience swelling in your legs and feet. The compression that the socks provide can help to reduce the swelling after BBL. It is recommended to wear compression socks all day including the night for a week after the surgery. But again like everything, follow your surgeon’s instructions.

Garment 4: BBL Waist trainer

The waist trainer is worn over the faja, but not immediately after the procedure. Before starting to wear it, is recommended to wait around 2 weeks after the operation. It can make the waist become smaller and thinner by exposing it to a prolonged tightening for longer periods. If your waist becomes smaller, your butt will look bigger and you can have a body shape more similar to an hourglass. That is why some people choose to wear a waist trainer after BBL. However, the results are not permanent. When you stop using it, you will be back to your old waist.

While some surgeons recommend wearing a waist trainer after BBL because of this reason, some don’t. It is because the waist trainer squeezes your waist, helping you get a small waist but it also squeezes the internal organs. Some parts of the internal organs go up including your diaphragm. This makes breathing harder for you. Talk to your surgeon about waist trainers and decide if it is the right choice for you or not.

Maintaining your BBL garments

During the whole article, we talked about the importance of BBL garments. But how can we keep them in good condition to get the most benefit and use them for longer periods? Of course, by being aware of the washing instructions.

How to wash your faja?

You shouldn’t use a washing machine, instead, wash it by hand. Use only a mild detergent, not something that can help with stains or a softener since they can distort the fabric of the faja. Prepare water neither hot nor cold, wash it and for the last step use cold water to rinse it. Let the faja dry by itself, don’t put it in the clothes dryer. You should wash it every 2-3 days.

How to clean other garments?

You can wash your compression socks in the washing machine but hand washing is the best. You can turn it inside out before washing it. Again with water neither hot nor cold, mild detergent, no softener or other things.

You can wash your waist trainer by hand in lukewarm water with a mild detergent. Then, you can rinse it with cold water. Try to be delicate and don’t damage its shape while washing. When it’s done, hang it somewhere and let it dry itself. You should wash it every 2-3 days.

As for the lipo foams, you shouldn’t wash them in the machine or by hand. You should only clean the dirty area. Cleaning with hydrogen peroxide might be the best choice.

References

(1) Lim, Chung Sim, and Alun H Davies. “Graduated compression stockings.” CMAJ : Canadian Medical Association journal = journal de l’Association medicale canadienne vol. 186,10 (2014): E391-8. doi:10.1503/cmaj.131281
https://training.seer.cancer.gov/anatomy/cardiovascular/blood/physiology.html