Breast Augmentation of Virginia: Breast Surgery Information from Plastic Surgeon Michael J. Brown, M.D., P.L.L.C

Breast implant size equals bra cup size?

Nearly everyday that I meet with women for breast augmentation consultations I am asked about which breast implant size will make them a ‘full C’ or ‘full C-small D’. These women are intelligent and have been doing their ‘homework’ on the internet trying to determine which breast implant size they need to go with. They are also concerned about shape, shell types and implant fills of saline or silicone. The round & smooth aspects of the breast implants are usually the easy part for the women to decide about. The size and fill may be the difficult ones. But size definitely causes the most anxiety. The women have been all over the web, taken notes, selected pictures of various examples and may have even compared body frames to aide in their decisions. All of which are great helps and serve to alleviate the anxiety.

One of the most important aspects of this site is to teach women that their pre-existing anatomy is one of the most important determinants in how their breast will look. The full C delimma is difficult to grasp for several reasons. There is no industry standard for bra sizes, women will be fit differently at different stores and wear different sizes of bra bought on the same day, in the same mall, purchased at different stores or even the same department store. Since I do not wear bras nor buy them, I am not the industry expert either. What is best is to take all of these bras and history of bra wearing and physical exam to aide in determining which implant size will provide the ‘look and feel’ that they are looking for. If you achieve that, then does it matter if you are wearing a full C? or a small D? Perhaps at some store the result yields a ‘medium C’. The point is that it really does not matter what size bra you wear, it is how it looks on you.

If you have natural tissue and wear a small B cup, then you would need a different breast implant size than a woman who wears a double A. What also adds to this problem is that as your breast gets larger it gets wider and this may require a back size increase. So a woman may come in wearing a 34 A/B and afterwards wears a 36 C. She may look and feel great in that bra size. Now if she tried on a 34 back, she may be a 34D. It may not feel comfortable so she opts for the 36 C bra. This example happens and is common. So she is happy in both bras but she still only has the one set of breasts. Remember your body and knowing what ‘look’ you want is more important than the number. I make a point of this on my site, because there are not many bra size lettes or numbers. That is not the point of this surgery. It is how you would look.

Pregancy and breast implants

Every so often I will have a previous breast augmentation patient contact me with concerns about a new pregancy. They are typically apprehensive about what will happen to their breasts because of the weight gain and the hormones associated with the pregnancy and after delivery, when the milk comes in. The only answer that I can give them with certainty is that I do not know what will happen. There are no crystal balls.  What I can and do tell them is that over the past 15 years, I do not have a lot of patients coming back needing to have their breasts lifted. Some of the women may have lost more breast volume and want to go with larger breast implants. While others (most) are completly content with the shape and size of their breasts.

As for breast feeding? I tell them that breast feeding is a personal choice that would benefit the baby. While the breasts may take a ‘hit’ they typically do not get ‘destroyed’. As I mentioned above, most women will not require additional breast implants surgery after a pregnancy. It more pregnancies are planned, then the risks for secondary breast surgery will go up. If you want to consider breast implants or revisions to breast implants, I recommend that you get back to your regular weight and condition. This way I will have the best chance to provide you the aesthetic enhancement that you are looking for.

Which breast augmenation approach makes the most sense?

Over the past 15 years, I have had a few thousand breast augmentation consultations and have been fortunate enough to have operated on most of these women. A common question that I am asked is why or why I do not use different incisions. Or why do I have a preference for one. Most of my patients are well informed and have found my practice by word of mouth and the power of the internet. My results and detail oriented personality appeals to people who are looking for the best result that they can get.

I have performed breast augmentation using all of the current popular techniques. Those being the inframammary, periareolar and transaxillary approaches.  These 3 ways have their own pluses and minuses, visit the breast implant incisions page in breast implant info section.  I have not done it two ways which, in my opinion are too risky and less likely to deliver the type of consistent breast augmentation results that my patients travel for me to deliver. The first way that I would not perform a breast augmentation is through the belly button. I have a friend in Beverly Hills that does it that way and he believes that it is fine. It is too unpredictable and not precise enough for me to use. I would not use it on my wife, so I will not use it on anyone else. It is a blind procedure in that the plastic surgeon can not see what he/she is doing and is ‘gambling’ that the equipment will be in the correct place and hopefully the muscle will be torn away just right, and that all of the bleeding that they will have will eventually stop. Since they can not see what they are doing, it is truely nothing more than an educated guess. This is not right for me or my patients. In general, it is a marketing tool that is naturally appealing to women desire no scar. The problem is when something is not correct, and a second surgery is needed (perhaps as an emergency) then the woman would have a larger scar and more expenses than they should have had if the breast augmentation was done in a more controlled fashion to begin with.  The armpit incision (transaxillary) is a good and safe incision when used with an endoscope, it is nearly equally as bad as the belly button incision because it too is a blind procedure and has the same risk profile. It too is a marketing tool that is too risky for me. In my practice which specializes in breast augmentations and secondary breast surgery revisions, I see too many women who have had problems with these two approaches.  In my mind, I like to see what I am doing, feel what I am doing, cut what and where I want to cut, and compare sides simultaneously. The inframammary or below the breast incision allows me to do this and offer breast augmentation results that my patients want and expect.

Breast Augmentation Virginia.com is updated

Breast Augmentation Virginia.com has been completly redone. The entire website has a new look, better functionality and more information. This is a work in progress and the pages will continue to be edited and improved upon. There are more breast augmentation pictures on the pages and in the before and after photo library. There is information about breast implant removal, breast implant exchange, and capsular contracture. Over the next few weeks, more links will be placed on the pages, allowing a reader to not only read about a topic but also click on a picture and be taken to even more breast augmentation photos.

The breast augmentation videos will be added to with more surgeries, demonstrations and explanations of various aspects relating to breast implants. The breast augmentation forum is for the visitors to contribute and help the web site get more exposure and help other women considering breast implants. There is a most commonly asked questions  section with detailed answers. If a reader can not find the answer or wants more detail, then the ask the plastic surgeon section allows them to post their question and plastic surgeon, Dr. Michael J.  Brown will answer it. The web site is very exciting and informative. It will continue to expand and improve with the contribution of the readership.