For most women making the decision to get breast implants is easy but when i comes down to implant size most women don’t have a clue. “What does a 300cc implant translate into cup sizes? Is 500cc’s too big for me? Will 200ccs give me a ‘C’ cup? My friend has 400ccs and she has a ‘D’ so i want 400cc’s too.” There are many factors that can determine what size implant you will need to have your desired size.
Cup Sizes
For one, cup sizes are not consistent or set depending on the brand. For example, a ‘D’ cup at Victoria Secret can be a ‘B/C’ cup at Nordstroms. So when our patients come in asking for a certain cup size we recommend that they concentrate more on the ‘look’ they are going for. When doing your research for the ‘look’ you want focus on cleavage, outer fullness, shape (round, slope, etc), profile and size in comparison with the patient’s body.
Saline vs. Silicone
Saline and Silicone implants have the same type of outer shell but their contents differ. The saline implants are filled with Filled with a saltwater solution similar to the fluid that makes up most of the human body and silicone implants are filled with a memory gel that holds together uniformly. These contents affect the way the implant sits on the chest wall. In the picture below you can see that the silicone implant (green) molds to the chest wall while the saline implant (blue) sits on top of it. That is why a 200cc saline implant appears larger than a 200cc silicone implant in the patients breast.
Here is an example with Dr. Pousti’s patients.
Patient # 1-Saline
Patient #2-Silicone
Patient #1’s breasts appear to be larger than Patient #2 but Patient #1 only has 375cc Saline while Patient #2 has 550cc Silicone. This is because of the way the implant sits on the patient’s chest wall.
CC’s with your Anatomy
Don’t get too set on cc size either. The exact same size implants will look different on every woman, even if their anatomy seems to be similar. There are several factors that are taken into consideration before choosing the right implant size for you; height, weight, chest shape, rib size, breast shape, saline vs. silicone, breast volume, breast width, skin elasticity, sternal depth, and pregnancy history.
Example: In the pictures seen below both patients started off with around a ‘B’ cup and post breast augmentation appear to have a ‘D’ cup.
Patient 1 Before/After
Patient 2 Before/After
Although it appears that the patient’s have the same size implant patient 1 has 525cc implants and patient 2 has 650ccs.
Patient’s that are same height and weight with same size implant and different results
Both of these patients are around 5′5″ and 110lbs and both have 300cc saline implants but patient #1 appears to have much larger breasts than patient #2.
Patient #1
Patient #2
How the Final Size is Chosen
During your consultation albums of previous patients will be reviewed with you. While looking at these albums a few of your likes/dislikes are copied so that the pictures can be placed in your chart.
Once the pictures are chosen Dr. Pousti has the patient write what they like/dislike about the patient’s breasts. Sometimes patients even make posters and collages. These pictures are taped up in the operating room during surgery so that they can be used as a reference to the ‘look’ the patient is going for.
After incisions and breast pockets are made, sizers are set in both breasts. A sizer is similar to a saline implant but is filled with air instead of saline.
Sizer in patient’s right breast
Once the sizer is filled to the amount of cc’s discussed, the patient is placed in a upright position and her look is compared to the pictures Dr. Pousti placed on the operating room wall. Adjustments are made if needed and then the sizers and removed and replaced with sterile implants.
