The BBL trend has taken over cosmetic surgery, but now TikTok is lighting up over something people didn’t expect. It’s not the price, not the pain, but the smell.

Doctors say the odor some patients complain about can be caused by fat necrosis or even just poor hygiene after surgery. Dr. Eric Anderson said: “The BBL smell is real.”

He explained that sometimes surgeons inject too much fat, and then blood can’t flow properly, so the fat starts to die inside the body. That can lead to infections, leakage, and yes, a pretty nasty smell that’s hard to ignore.

Other doctors pointed out a different problem people don’t talk about enough. Dr. Roger Tsai said: “Wiping down there is going to be a lot more difficult because there is more to reach around.”

A surgery center in Miami said the smell might just be part of healing, and it’s usually harmless. But not everyone agrees with that.

One woman on TikTok said the smell got so bad she had her BBL reversed after a year. She said: “BBL stinks, do you hear me?” and explained that it wasn’t coming from her body the normal way but from the surgical incisions that wouldn’t close.

She said: “I don’t care what ya’ll say, it stinks!” and warned that if your body is rejecting the surgery, the drainage won’t stop. She added: “It will stink up your linen, stink up your underwear, and stink up everything.”

According to the America’s Society of Plastic Surgeons, the smell isn’t even the worst thing that can happen. Their data shows 1 in 20,000 BBL surgeries ends in death.

Doctors say Miami is still the number one spot for BBLs, and the demand is growing again after the pandemic. One surgeon said people started traveling again, and so did the trend.