What Breast Implant Size Is Right For You?

Whether it’s you personally, your wife or girlfriend or someone you’re close to, it’s happened. The decision has been made to get breast implants. Everyone is on board and supportive and now it’s time to decide on size. How does one go about making that decision? How do you figure out what the right size is for you? It might be an easy call for some, it might seem like a daunting question for others. During your breast augmentation consultation your cosmetic surgeon will help you make the best decision possible. But what can you do before your appointment to get started on choosing the breast implant size right for you?

The first step is to decide on the look you want to achieve. Are you seeking a natural, slightly enhanced appearance or maybe it is a more "over the top" look you desire. I often tell my patients to imagine walking into a cocktail party a couple of months after breast augmentation: Do they want no one to know, everyone to know or just have some folks wonder? Check out pictures online or in magazines to find a look you like. Don't get hung up on their breast size (or if implants are involved the cc's) rather just focus on the overall appearance to get an understanding of what look you you think is right for you.

The next step in the process can be done at home, on your own. With rice. No cooking involved. Deciding to get breast implants is a life-changing choice, and it’s a decision that should result in you liking the way you look more than before. It’s important, then, to visualize what the end results could look like. That’s where rice comes in. You’ll also want knee-high hose or cut-off pantyhose. Then it’s a matter of simply filling the hose with rice (click here for instructions and a chart to help with rice amounts) to simulate the desired amount of cc’s in a potential breast implant, trying the filled hose under a sports bra and looking in a mirror. You can try as many “sizes” as you want, and get a general idea of what the look would be if the rice and hose were actual implants. You’ll also wind up with a rough idea of how many cc’s you’ll want in your implants to get the size you want.

If you prefer a more technological approach, the Love Your Look website offers a tool that allows you to upload photos of yourself and alter the look to reflect different sizes of breast implants. The “New You Visualizer,” just like the rice test, is designed to help you visualize what you’ll look like with the breast implants. You can try all of these methods or none of them. All that really matters is that you are able to clearly communicate your goals to your cosmetic surgeon.

At most cosmetic surgery offices, breast implant sizing is a standard part of the breast augmentation consultation and typically involves taking non surgical implants and placing them under a sports bra and over your natural breast. This method is reasonably effective for simulating breast projection but doesn't provide a good preview of what the final contour and shape of the breasts will be. Here at our GLOW cosmetic surgery offices we use the MENTOR Volume Sizing System to help our patients select the perfect implant size. The system is specifically designed for the surgeon-patient consultation process and will give the patient an accurate, in-person preview of the end results including contour and shape. In other words, while the rice test provides a rough preview, the MENTOR Volume Sizing System gives a refined, polished preview of the new you the patient can expect. After this consultation with one of our GLOW cosmetic surgeons, there shouldn’t be any question as to what a certain size of breast implant might look like. You’ll know.

Making the decision to get breast implants is the hard part. Choosing what size of implant makes the most sense for you shouldn’t be stressful. A little rice and some pantyhose can help. An honest discussion with one of our cosmetic surgeons, and the MENTOR Volume Sizing System, will help even more. In the end, it’s about loving the way the new you looks like. At GLOW, we’re dedicated to making sure that’s the case.