August 20, 2013 | 2 minute read
I felt my heart sink a little while ago during a breast augmentation consult – very near the beginning of the consultation the young lady sitting across from me said (and I quote); “well, all my friends have 280s or 300s, so I want at least 350s so I can have bigger implants than all of them”. Seriously. This is not how breast implants should be chosen. There is no best size or shape for everyone, and implants should certainly not be chosen on volume alone (implants do not come in cup sizes, but cubic centimetres (cc)). Everyone’s breasts are different, and come with widely variable dimensions. These include differences in breast base dimensions, breast height, nipple position, thickness of breast tissue and more.
In my practice, I carefully measure a whole variety of aspects of a patient’s breast to work out what dimensions of implant would fit their breast best. Only after working out the width and height of the implants, and then different options in implant projection is the volume arrived at.
For example, a patient whose breast would accommodate an implant 12cm wide and about 11cm high could have implants ranging between 280cc – 390cc, depending on projection. This effectively provides a choice of a small, medium and large breast augmentation for a given breast. But the actual volume is the last figure arrived at (as it is a function of width x height x projection).
At the end of the day, the same implant will look completely different in different people and different breasts. If someone is 5′ 4″ a 350cc implant may look quite large, whilst in someone who is 6′ 1″ the same implant may not.
Implant choice should be a bespoke process tailored to the individual. Please see here › for more information