Getting The Right Breast Implant Size: What Doesn't Work

In my last breast augmentation post, I said I would next explain a method for finding the right size breast implants. Before we do that, let's discuss some methods that don't work. This is important because these are the most commonly-used sizing techniques. And they often lead to the wrong size breast implants. Here's how a typical sizing conversation goes:

PLASTIC SURGEON: So what size breasts do you want? YOU: Oh, about a full C-cup. (Feel free to replace "C-cup" with any size you like. "Full C-cup" or "small D-cup" are the most common answers to this question.) PLASTIC SURGEON: OK, we'll make you a full C-cup.

The plastic surgeon then orders and ultimately inserts a pair of implants that he or she feels will give you C-cup breasts.

That is the most common way breast implant size is chosen. And it doesn't work.

It doesn't work because nothing has been communicated. When you tell me you want C-cup breasts, you have a mental picture of what that means. And when I hear you say it, I have a mental picture of a C-cup breast. But there's no guarantee that what you're picturing and what I'm picturing are the same thing. Odds are they aren't. When you go to surgery, you're going to get the plastic surgeon's idea of a C-cup. It may not be what you had in mind.

You wanted your idea of a C-cup - not his. We've all heard stories about women wishing they'd gotten bigger breast implants or even going to surgery again to change implant size. The cup size guessing game is the biggest cause of this problem. If your plastic surgeon doesn't have a clear picture of your target, he's not likely to hit it. In the next post, I'll review another popular but inaccurate method for choosing breast implant size. Then we'll move on and discuss a method that really does work.

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