Consumer Health Features

Tush Talk: Dr. Mendieta talks proper buttocks-enhancement procedure

By April MacIntyre Nov 24, 2011, 20:01 GMT

In this procedure fat is taken from the undesirable areas such as the waist, and is prepared in such a way for Dr. Mendieta to transfer it to the areas that need volume not only filling but improving the shape and contour. It is a sculpting procedure that involves artistry and vision.

The recent news had a shocking tale of criminal mayhem possibly combined with unstable mental health, as a Miami transsexual posed as a medical doctor and injected poor victims with Fix-a-Flat compound and cement, using store bought Super Glue to seal entry wounds.

Now the Miami Herald reports that a second person was arrested in South Florida's notorious "toxic tush" case. This accomplice helped the fake doctor who gave life-threatening injuries from a horrific buttocks-enhancement procedure that involved injecting a toxic mess of automotive chemicals into unwitting "patients."

Arrested were Corey Alexander Eubank, 40, the accomplice to Oneal Ron Morris, 30. Morris is a documented grifter with an extensive arrest record stretching back more than a decade. Police suspect that Morris is part of a network of bogus medical poseurs who prey on people who want to change their appearance but can't afford to pay for traditional cosmetic surgery.

This infuriates Dr. Constantino Mendieta, who is a board certified plastic surgeon headquartered in Miami, Florida.

The desire to have a bodacious bottom in Miami is bigger than other American cities, as the climate allows for little clothes and is known for sexy bodies, gorgeous beaches and beautiful people, all celebrated in numerous rap videos and TV shows like Showtime's "Dexter" and USA's "Burn Notice."

Style icons like Sophia Vergara, J-Lo and Kim Kardashian also have elevated the tush as a focal point, with rounder and bigger being better.

Dr. Constantino Mendieta has perfected a procedure where he lifts and plumps your buttocks through an incision in the gluteal crease. It rejuvenates the buttocks without major incisions. The result is a perfect Bikini bottom.

Born in Los Angeles, California, Dr. Mendieta moved to his parents homeland in Nicaragua. His uncle - a plastic surgeon - reconstruct the disfigured faces of war victims, restoring them to near-normal appearance. Dr. Mendieta made his career path early in life as he was deeply affected by his Uncle's reconstructive skills. He returned to the United States to complete his secondary education and build his practice.

Dr. Mendieta's practice is in Miami, Florida, where he has perfected his own method of butt enhancement. http://www.buttsbymendieta.com/

As we age so many unfortunate things occur, one of them being the effects of gravity on your largest muscle group covered in fat: The Gluteus Maximus.

Similar to how fillers are pumped into faces to rebuild lost volume from age, so can your bottom be plumped up with fat.  Not just any fat, but your own fat, which makes it a win-win of asset redistribution, according to Dr. Mendieta.

In this procedure fat is taken from the undesirable areas such as the waist, and is prepared in such a way for Dr. Mendieta to transfer it to the areas that need volume not only filling but improving the shape and contour. It is a sculpting procedure that involves artistry and vision.

A board-certified plastic surgeon, Dr. Constantino Mendieta has penned formal studies of the female form for professional journals. His widely reported findings reveal patients fall into one of four shapes: The female fanny will be either round, square, V or A-shaped.

According to the doctor, the prettiest buttocks are A's and look like upside-down hearts with a wider bottom than the top. Body type often determines which procedure - fat transfer or butt implant - is best for the patient.

Monsters and Critics followed up from our initial interview published last year:

Monsters and Critics: What is the cost for corrective butt surgery?

Dr. Mendieta The cost of the Miami Thong Lift is around $14500. If just doing the lift, then it is fat grafting combined with the thong lift.

If we are just lifting and no fat grafting is involved, then the cost is $8500, but it may be higher if it is more extensive work is required.

M&C: Are men doing this too?

Dr. Mendieta No, this is strictly women for my practice.

What I perform is a sculpting procedure that involves artistry and vision. The Brazilian buttock lift was coined as a word that would come to signify transferring fat to the buttock and in the process, by adding volume the buttock would be slightly lifted ...like a balloon as you add air it expands.

Miami C-Lift – Dr Mendieta from Constantino Mendieta on Vimeo.

A traditional lift usually places long scars in the upper buttock - much like a tummy tuck would place a large scar in the front of the body.

Therefore only the real severe cases will have it done.

Plastic surgeons were left in limbo with those that did not need the traditional lifting and merely needed some volume (Brazilian buttock lift) and for those that needed the traditional operation.

M&C: Can you elaborate on the extent of the surgery?

Dr. Mendieta Well, the Miami thong lift is a way to lift the buttock and avoid those long back scars.

We use the patient's fat to add volume and reshape, and then if they still have a sad droopy buttock we can place the scar in the middle of the Grand Canyon ...down the center of the well-hidden buttock line-the crack.

This keeps the scar extremely well-hidden, right along where a Miami thong would go. This is revolutionizing the way we look at the buttock, minimize scars and rejuvenate the derriere. Not everyone is a candidate and it is up to a trained surgeon's experience to select the right patient and recommend other methods for those who are not a candidate.

M&C: Obviously, this Oneal Morris was a reported criminal grifter who preyed upon people with body dysmorphia, Have you ever turned anyone away you felt was not mentally in the right place to undergo any plastic surgery or gluteal enhancements?

Dr. Mendieta: I am always looking for three things: Body Dysmorphic syndrome, unrealistic expectations and difficult personalities and patients that don’t seem to have a sense of humor.

I just turned down a patient today for unrealistic expectations and being very difficult with the staff.

M&C: Culturally and regionally, who do you see most often for buttocks enhancement surgery? Is there a predominance of a certain group of people? Is it across the board?

Dr. Mendieta: Interestingly enough they are coming from all over the world; Europe, South America, Russia, Japan, Dubai and other regions. My procedure is not about making the buttock larger, but rather reshaping and recontouring to give a perky more youthful buttock. For a racially demographic breakdown, my practice sees about 30% African Americans, 35% Latinas, 30% Caucasians and 5% Asians.

M&C: Your before and after photos are impressive. What is entailed in a Thong lift and what can patients expect as far as procedures, downtime and when they are back to work?

Dr. Mendieta: On average, there is a ten day to return to work, and one month to feel normal, then two months before you can really work out with six months for final results.