Breast Implant Basics – Size Matters:

If you are seriously considering the surgery or even scheduled for it already, you are probably concerned about what size will be right for you. The general consensus seems to be a small to full C cup but because people’s builds are so varied, including weight, height and general build, this is probably the most personal decision you will have to make.

I am about 5’4″ tall, weigh 115 pounds, and have a medium build. I am a size 4 or 5. I was a small A cup before I had children but had some fullness to my breasts. Afterwards, from breast-feeding, I lost any fullness I had. I had always considered getting implants but after breast feeding, it was only a question of when I would get them and how much they would cost–after considering all the risks, of course. I chose a C cup.

As discussed more below, after surgery, your breasts will be very firm, very swollen and very high. After about a month, they start to loosen up, move down and shrink in size. Although I found it hard to believe one-month post-op, all doctors that I have consulted with and almost all of the women that I know of who have implants, wish, after recovery, that they were bigger. Although the size after surgery is often shocking, the implanted breasts “shrink” and soften and move down into a “normal” position for as long as a year. At that point, many women wish they had gone bigger.

Your doctor may discuss cup size with you and you may see or hear a lot of discussion about how many cc’s to get. Do not tell your doctor what cup size you want and expect to get it. He or she may not know what YOU mean by a C cup or a D cup. Similarly, do not try to figure out how many cc’s you need and then tell your doctor “I want 350 ccs.” Do speak to your doctor in terms of pictures and actual bras you would like to fill. Bring pictures to your consultation of women that you want to look like and bring them to surgery. I discussed what cup size my doctor felt belonged to the women in my favorite pictures and we agreed, on that basis, that a C cup would be good for my body size. After looking at pictures together, I felt that he knew what I meant by “C cup.” Print photos from the website and bring them with you.

Be careful about the “full C” myth. According to my doctor, full C is equivalent to a “baby D” cup for many people which, unless you want to be really big or have a big body type, could be really big. On the other hand, if your doctor is conservative, his or her idea of a C may be much smaller than you are hoping for.

My one cousin, who had surgery an hour after mine, is about 5 foot tall and 95 to 100 pounds soaking wet. She has a full B and thought immediately after surgery that they were too small. My other cousin is about my size and had silicone removed and replaced with saline in a full D size. She was afraid that hers were too big. They are both happy with them now that nine months have passed.

Stick to pictures and spend a lot of time with your doctor to make sure you both know what you want. The photo gallery is a great place to start. Find pictures that you like and print them to bring with you to your consultation. Part of the confusion surrounding cc’s is that everyone’s starting body type and amount of breast tissue will affect her ultimate result. 400 cc’s placed onto a flat chest will create a C cup on an average size woman. A very small woman with an existing B cup will probably end up with a D cup that will look rather large on her small frame. I now have smooth round Mentor implants filled to 425 cc’s and am a full C cup.

Next Stop: Breast implants – placement above or below the muscle