FAQs: Breast Implants Size & Breast Augmentation Before and After Photos

Size - Using ImplantInfo's Photo Gallery

For figuring out size, I think the only method that really works is to find pictures of women before and after surgery who you look like now (the before pictures) and what you want to look like after. If you try to pick your own cc's or if you try to tell your doctor a cup size, it is very difficult for the 2 of you to speak the same language. On the one hand cc amounts are poorly understood by patients, who don't know all of the variables (ribcage size, chest shape, existing breast volume) that will dictate what 300, or 400 or 500 cc breast implants will do to THEM, as that individual patient. This is as it should be since the plastic surgeon has been to medical school and has years of training and experience to rely upon in deciding on the right size implant and fill.

Similarly, doctors frequently don't understand (although they may think that they do) what you, as the patient, mean when you say, "make me a full C cup." After reviewing hundreds of before and after pictures that have been labeled by doctors' offices, I realize that a C cup can mean anything from a B to a D in the minds of two different doctors. This makes sense, too, because what goes into the determination of a "cup size" is a poor mathematical equation used by bra manufacturers and is often very different from company to company.

If you bring pictures to your consultation, you can bridge this gap. Provided that you bring pictures of women who are nearly the same height, weight, bust circumference, breast shape, etc. as you are, those pictures will enable the doctor to say, "Oh, I see what size you want to be." They also enable you to convey to the doctor what you mean when you say, "I want to be a C cup, like this patient." He or she may say, "Oh, that patient looks like a B cup to me," but it won't matter because you will have both found a common visual ground.

Use the photo gallery to accomplish this goal. Once there, you can choose to search by height, weight, cup size, before and after size, etc. In most cases, you will find several patients who meet your search requirements. From there, narrow the field by choosing patients who have breasts that resemble yours. It will not be helpful if you pick patients who have very different breast characteristics (cleavage width, areola size, droop or sag). Once you have found the ones you like, print them (even if your printer is black and white, this will work) and bring them to your consultation. You may also want to bring pictures of some patients that are too small or too large to give the doctor an even better frame of reference.

Good luck! : )