With all the excitement that goes into the decision to get breast implants in the first place, the question that naturally follows is sometimes swept aside: What size should I get?
In addition to your own personal preferences, there are several other considerations that can help to inform a confident decision when it comes to this crucial question. As your trusted breast augmentation expert, Dr. Christopher Verbin of South Bay Aesthetics Plastic Surgery will help you to navigate these key considerations so you can make the best call for you.
In this guide to choosing the right breast implant size for your body, we will take a comprehensive look at all the factors in play, including your body’s unique geometry, how your choice of implant size may affect your daily life, and much more.
Prioritize Proportionality Over Cup Size
It may be intuitive for most women daydreaming of the perfect breast augmentation procedure to think, “I’d like to reach X cup size,” but there are two problems with this thought process.
First, cup sizes aren’t officially standardized across different brands. The shape of the bra, fabric style, fit model, and the brand itself can all affect how two same-sized bras from different brands fit—which is to say, differently. While you can use cup size to at least get in the general vicinity of what you want when conferring with your plastic surgeon, it certainly isn’t an excellent way to provide a specific size.
Even if cup sizes were standardized, the second issue with this approach is that leading with size may conflict with your body’s unique geometry. In other words, the width of your shoulders, torso, and hips, along with your height, can all influence how natural-looking breast implants will be at certain sizes.
Understand Your Unique Risk Factors
If your body doesn’t have enough tissue to accommodate breast implants of a certain size, but you get them anyway, you are more likely to experience pain from overstretched skin. Disproportionately large breast implants can also cause a number of other problems, including, but not limited to:
- Back and/or neck pain
- Postural problems
- Poorly fitting clothing
- Increased risk of capsular contracture
- Breathing difficulty
In a consultation with Dr. Verbin of South Bay Aesthetics Plastic Surgery, your health status will be comprehensively assessed to make sure that you are eligible for breast augmentation. In addition, we will take into account your frame, proportions, skin tightness, and other factors, balancing these against your expectations, to arrive at a safe implant size range for you to work within.
Think Logistically
Picture a typical day for you. What are you doing (physically) at work? Do you regularly exercise? What position do you typically fall asleep in?
Questions like these can help you to refine your search for the perfect breast implant size for you. Another key point not yet mentioned is the wardrobe factor. If you already have several tight-fitting tops, jackets, or other garments you really don’t want to lose, you may need to have them adjusted depending on implant size.
As for the exercise component, there’s no prohibition against vigorous exercise with breast implants, so long as your plastic surgeon has cleared you to resume your routine. That said, the larger the implants, the more likely you are to experience limitations if you regularly engage in more intense workouts (interval training, burpees, aerobics, etc.).
It may seem trivial at first, but even the small things that we rarely think about during the day may feel like totally new experiences with larger breasts. For example, putting on seat belts, sitting at your work desk, giving hugs, wearing backpacks or purses, carrying pets or small children, and so on.
Consider Breast and Implant Shape
In many cases of asymmetrical or tubular breasts, including breasts with larger gaps in between them, surgery can create a striking increase in apparent size without necessarily requiring extra large implants. Point being, it’s important to account for shape, fullness, and symmetry when meditating on your preferred breast implant size. Whether or not your particular case requires more and/or alternative procedures (such as a lift) will be determined in a consultation, but generally, breast augmentation is a great way to fix these issues.
At South Bay Aesthetics Plastic Surgery, we use silicone, tear-drop-shaped implants to seamlessly match the body’s natural contours. This allows us to offer patients a broad range of sizes, since the results are more natural-looking.
What About Adjustable Implants?
One way our team at South Bay Aesthetics Plastic Surgery works a bit of forgiveness into the sizing process is by offering expandable implants. These allow us to provide volume adjustments after the initial surgery as you become acclimated to your implants and reflect on any changes you’d like to make.
Keep in mind, we aren’t able to make instant and/or dramatic volume changes, but rather tweak volume slightly over time, so it’s still important to carefully hone in on an ideal size prior to the surgery.
Choose South Bay Aesthetics Plastic Surgery for Industry-Leading Breast Augmentation
Proudly serving the South Bay Cities, San Pedro, Long Beach, and surrounding areas, South Bay Aesthetics Plastic Surgery is your trusted partner in breast augmentation surgery.
From the first point of contact to well after your procedure, we will make sure you are comfortable, confident, and fully informed throughout the process so you can have the best possible experience.
Contact our office today for a consultation, and we will craft a personalized procedure just for you.
