When the decision is made to have breast implant surgery, the next step is to select the size implants that will enhance the body contour best. It isn’t always easy to make the move from your current breast size to the size you would like to have post-surgery. Fortunately, there are a number of tools to help you make the best choice before you head in for your procedure.
Choices in Implant Sizes
The most challenging part of choosing a breast implant size may be the sheer number of choices available. In addition to actual size, which is measured in cubic centimeters, projection of the breast also becomes a factor. Breast implants come in different size shapes and textures. Both saline filled and silicone implants are available. The moderate plus and high profile smooth walled silicone implants from the mentor corporation have been the most commonly used implants over the past five years. Prior to this smooth walled saline implants were very popular. Recently Dr. Leber has offered the highly cohesive silicone gel filled implants from the Sientra Corporation. These implants are more cohesive than prior implants allowing them to come in different anatomical and textured shapes. This can be advantageous when used during a mastopexy (breast lift) and augmentation procedure. The texturing allows tissue ingrowth which holds the implant in place maintaining excellent cleavage. Textured implants have also been proven to decrease the chance of capsular contraction from occurring. These “gummy bear” implants come in a variety of sizes and shapes are a very nice option for many patients in Dr. Leber’s practice.
With many choices in breast implants today, how do you begin to choose the best implants for you? During consultation with Scottsdale plastic surgeon, Dr. Leber, several factors will be considered prior to recommending any implant. A patients height, weight, upper body to lower body proportion, pre existing breast size, shape and symmetry, desired medial and lateral breast with, desired post operative breast size. A “C” cup is one that is full and proportionate with the patients body. It can be accentuated or downplayed depending on the bra and clothing that my patients choice to wear. The most commonly requested breast size in my practice is a “full C” cup. Often patients will request larger D or DD or smaller B cups. The implant selected to accomplish this outcome is very different for each patient. For example; a 6 foot woman would require a larger implant than a 5 foot woman to achieve a “full C-cup”.
What We Offer
Patients seeking breast augmentation from Dr. Geoffrey Leber will discover a number of ways to visualize a new breast size before surgery. Our office offers the following tools for helping you select a breast implant:
- Photos – Our photo archive includes thousands of patients who have previously undergone breast augmentation. We are able to find patients with similar proportions as you. We sort patients by height, weight, age and bra size. This will allow us to show you outcomes of people with similar proportions to your body. We also have the ability to search for patients according to the size and type of implant used. Viewing these before and after photos can be very useful for patients when determining what size and type of implant they are interested in for their breast augmentation.
- Breast implant sizers – Patients can also try on different implant sizes under their bra at our office, to determine which implant size will work the best for them. By trying the sizers on under clothing, patients will see their new body contour as the rest of the world will see it.
- 3D Imaging – One of the most effective methods for choosing breast implants is our innovative Vectra XT 3D body imaging system. This system uses six different cameras placed at various angles to reconstruct a 3-dimensional image of the breasts. The high resolution, color images offer patients a realistic view at what they would look like with different breast sizes from every angle.
Breast implant size can be a challenging choice for patients. However, with the many tools offered by Dr. Geoffrey Leber, patients can rest assured they have a realistic idea of what their new breast size will look like before undergoing the breast augmentation procedure.
By Dr. Geoffrey E. Leber, MD – Follow me on Google+