The one concern many of our breast augmentation patients share is ending up with breasts that are too large, most often because they have seen so many women who have been over-augmented. At Plastic Surgery of the Carolinas, many women communicate their ideal size goals using bra sizes, such as “Full C” or “Small D.” For an experienced plastic surgeon, this reference point can be a good place to start.

However, cup sizes are a notoriously inaccurate guide for breast augmentation because of the variability in bra manufactured cup sizes and women who currently might be wearing an incorrect bra size.

I think it is critical for patients to have a “visual” conversation with their plastic surgeon, as well as a verbal one when deciding on an implant size. Since descriptors such as “natural,” “proportionate,” “full C,” or “small D” can mean different things to different people, using these terms as surgical guidelines can ultimately cause the patient to be dissatisfied with their final results. To be as precise as possible, I feel there is nothing more valuable than a picture – and preferably more than one. For this reason, we offer a breast augmentation before-and-after gallery (WhatSizeShouldiBe.com) in which patients can enter their weight, height, and current breast size to view photos of my previous augmentation patients who share the same dimensions.

In the end, whether it is photographs from our before-and-after gallery or photos from magazines and/or other websites, the more visual examples can be discussed and shared, the greater the chance we are going to get it right for the patient. To enable our patients to clearly communicate the final look that they are striving to achieve, we review photographs of women whose breasts resemble their breasts and select results that resemble the outcome they imagine.

In the following weeks, Dr. Craig Rowin will describe how sizers are used to obtain the patient’s ideal results in the second installment of this two-part blog series. Check our blog soon for more information on the breast augmentation procedure and how to achieve your ideal size.

To learn more about selecting the ideal breast implant to achieve your goals, please contact our office today.