BREAST IMPLANT SIZING 101
Comments
-
Canuck: It is difficult to answer this question, as the anatomical Allergan 410 implant needs a precisely dissected pocket to match the dimensions of said implant. It depends on the width of your native breast - not something you can measure with a ruler BTW - and how much skin flap you have after the BMX to ensure good closure over the implant. I envision or would hope for a moderate height full projection style, and something in the mid to upper 300 gram range. I would honestly discuss potential sizing with your PS and not just leave this to "chance". If you say you are "willing to be small", you might end up coming back here and complaining of being "too small." So please discuss this with your PS.
0 -
DiveCat: I will have to try to take a look later this afternoon. I only have my iPad now and that website will just not load for me.
0 -
Just wanted to share a little humor ladies. Laughter is very good medicine....they remind me of my tissue expanders!
0 -
Too much upper pole fullness Lori. They are very nearly "neckplants"....
0 -
LOL!
0 -
hahaha neck-plants!
0 -
Whippetmom-love the neck plants!!!! I sent you an email to your private e mail address with pictures -did you get it?
Babs0 -
PS chose a too wide te!
0 -
babs...I will go look now.
0 -
Lori:
I sent this pix to my PS post fill before the Holiday. He thought it was funny but I felt it was inappropriate after I sent it. I think it is funny too!!
0 -
activern....if he has a sense of humor, he should appreciate it. I bet it's hanging in his office somewhere! I don't think it's inappropriate....if we can't laugh at all of this craziness, what can we laugh at??? :-)
0 -
I have PMT Integra # 3612-22-2 tissue expanders since my bilateral mastectomy. The dimensions are 10X13 cm with a projection is 8.5 cm. I am a 5'7 1/2 and 145 pounds and measure 33 inches where my bra band would fit. After speaking with my ps he believes that I should fill to 600 ml and that includes an overfill since I was a b before. I am going to a full c. He is going to put Allergan high profile implants in that are 500 ml or 550, depending on how things look while in surgery. He said he's methodical on putting in a couple to view to make sure of which one looks best and most natural with my frame. Wippetmom, does this sound as if the implant style and volume will get me to a full c? Thanks.
0 -
pinklotus: Your surgeon's plan sounds good to me. I vote for 550 ccs in Allergan Style 20!
0 -
Hello! I am new to this board, and will be having MX + expander in a few weeks. I'm wondering if anyone feels back strain from carrying around the extra weight of implants? I have a couple of bulging discs that have troubled me in the past, which is the reason I ask. Plus, I do not have the experience of breast weight naturally, as I am an A cup, rather broad-shouldered and lean up top. I have strong abs and do pilates a lot, if that makes a difference. Also, in our initial appointment yesterday, the PS recommended a teardrop saline and she said that I could carry a "c" cup easily because of my rangy build. It's early and maybe silly to think about implant dimensions at this stage, but it's helping to distract me from worrying about scalpels, etc. Any insight or experience about this aspect of sizing? Thanks!
0 -
Hello all, I'm getting MX + expander in a few weeks. I'm wondering if anyone feels back strain from carrying around the extra weight of implants? I have a couple of bulging discs that have troubled me in the past, which is the reason I ask. Plus, I do not have the experience naturally, as I am rather broad-shouldered and lean up top (A cup). I have strong abs and do pilates a lot, if that makes a difference. Also, in our initial appointment yesterday, the PS recommended a teardrop saline and said that I could carry a "c" cup easily because of my rangy build and broad shoulders. It's early to think about implant dimensions at this stage, but it's helping to distract me from worrying about scalpels, etc. Any insight or experience about this aspect of sizing? Thanks!
0 -
Hello all, I'm getting MX + expander in a few weeks. I'm wondering if anyone feels back strain from carrying around the extra weight of implants? I have a couple of bulging discs that have troubled me in the past, which is the reason I ask. Plus, I do not have the experience naturally, as I am rather broad-shouldered and lean up top (A cup). I have strong abs and do pilates a lot, if that makes a difference. Also, in our initial appointment yesterday, the PS recommended a teardrop saline and said that I could carry a "c" cup easily because of my rangy build and broad shoulders. It's early to think about implant dimensions at this stage, but it's helping to distract me from worrying about scalpels, etc. Any insight or experience about this aspect of sizing? Thanks!
0 -
So sorry everybody, I'm new here and here I am, cluttering up your board with deletions by mistake. Ack.
0 -
Welcome Barn Owl lol here i am with my usual insomnia. lol
0 -
Don't worry barn-owl......we're glad to have you here!
0 -
After & before. I'm in a lot of pain for some reason, but it makes no sense. I'm on Norco & valium every 2 hours. Plus I have those epidural things in my back. (4 of them!) With the 4 drains as well and an IV pole I look like something out of a sci-fi movie.
0 -
Tessa!!!!
So sorry you are in pain! But so glad you're back on here! And already looking great!!!!
0 -
Thanks Dulci,
That's the TE'S with 300 cc's. He's looking to go 200 more. I asked nicely for a lot more than that because they seem really small to me.
OMGosh, it feels like vice grips all around both breasts even on the meds. Dear God, tell me this goes away.
I know why I'm getting shooting pains by my pits. I'm using my arms too much, but I pee constantly and have to hang onto that bar to sit, get up, and crawl back to bed. My night nurses were awesome. Day nurse not so much. She doesn't help me move as often.
I should be outta here tomorrow afternoon. That'll be interesting.
0 -
Hi girls. I just posted some pics to the picture gallery (before BMX w/ my augmentation) and where I am now (600cc TEs filled to 600ccs). I meet with my PS tomorrow to discuss the exchange.
I really like the size I am now, balances with my lower half. (5'5, 120lbs, chunky legs but a bony upper chest, etc.). PS has mentioned fat grafting to hide my bony chest and edge implant, I'll get more info tomorrow.
Whippetmom - you mentioned Allergen 20, 600 or 650s prior to seeing my pics, current status. If you could take a peek at the pics and let me know if you still agree I'd much appreciate it.
Also, any other thoughts? or things I should discuss w my PS especially regarding the fat grafting?
Thanks all!
0 -
wow, Tessa! I'm so impressed! I cried the first couple of times I tried to get up. But you need to come up with a way to not pull/push with your arms. You have a lot of stuff inside that needs to heal. Could they drop the bar on the bathroom side of the bed so that you could raise the head all they way, then use your abs and legs to turn and scoot?
See what you think about the 500 before you start worrying about more. ;-) First, rest and heal!!!
0 -
Tessa, I think you already look great, have excellent symmetry and are going to end up with beautiful results!
0 -
Tessa - I had 350cc put in each TE right at the get-go. Apparently this is more than is typically instilled by most PSs. I felt like someone duct taped my chest after I exhaled all the air out of my lungs. It was hard to take in a breath, hard to stand up straight, etc. At the time I chalked it up to MX and surgery in general, but I think it was probably the large amount of saline put in the TEs. I was uncomfortable, but did OK as long as I kept ahead of the pain with the meds. I was on a morphine pump that I could control and was getting other meds as well. This tightness did last for about 7-10 days, but the rest of my TE experience was pretty pain free. I actually was really glad for the large volume as it wasn't quite as hard as I thought it would be to look in the mirror for the first time.
It sounds and looks like you are doing great! Amazing that you are writing legibly and posting so soon after your big surgery. Perhaps they can change up your pain control meds since you are so uncomfortable.
Hang in there!!!
0 -
Oh, Tessa - Can't believe you are posting already!!! Your "after" pics look incredibly good. I didn't see my little foobettes for a week... until my one-week post-op. I had a giant Ace bandage wrapped around me.
When I saw your pic, the first thing I thought was that you got a huge honkin' amount of saline in your TEs in the OR. Yep - 300cc is more than most women get. I had huge TEs, lax skin, lax muscles, and I got 180ccs.
The BMX isn't all that difficult a surgery. The removal of breast tissue is fairly straightforward. But when the PS goes in and cuts muscle and nerves and creates pockets for the TEs, then shoves in hard-backed expanders into those newly-created pockets, that's where the pain comes in.
I'm surprised you didn't get a catheter. My PS became my new BFF when he put one in. I never had to get in and out of bed to use the restroom in the hospital.
Also, he told me that I would not be using my arms at all the first few weeks. He was right. I had practiced maneuvers before my surgery, thinking how I would do things without using my arms. I thought myself as a T-Rex!!!
I did have quite a bit of pain for the first month. I never got my pain under control in the hospital, and tried to be a martyr when I got home. After all, I had read about women going back to work immediately after BMX, or running a marathon, or some incredible feat. Not me. I just laid around and whined.
Finally, some wonderful ladies here convinced me that the pain meds were there for a reason, and that I needed to take them around the clock. You can't chase pain... if it gets ahead of you, you can't catch up. And a body that is stressed by pain will not heal as readily.
I wore satin jammies when I got home so I could slide out of bed easily. (I didn't have a recliner, so I rented a fully automatic hospital bed for a month. It was really easy to sit myself up and lay myself back down again.)
If you find that you really can't stand the pain, you might ask if your PS can remove some of the saline from your TEs, and wait a while before you get any fills. This is not a race... for most of us, "Low and Slow" was our motto. In other words, each fill had a lower amount of saline, and the fills were spaced several weeks apart.
But based on your pics, I'd say you have every reason to expect a great outcome!
0 -
Tessa - I can totally second much of what Blessings said above:
- The T-Rex part is spot-on.....lol! I felt like my elbows were strapped to my sides with duct tape!
- I didn't see my new baby boobies for two weeks when the last of 6 drain tubes came out
- I was miserable for a month until my pain med got switched from hydrocodone to neurontin
- I had 600cc expanders but only 100cc put in at BMX and started fills at 2 weeks post BMX
- I also am surprised you didn't have a catheter at least for a day or two
- I didn't really have much trouble getting in and out of the hospital bed. My abs were strong enough so I could easily sit up and lie down without using my arms. I was able to butt-walk to the edge of the bed to get out. I'm a bit taller than you and when I got back in I actually just stepped up onto the bed, sat down cross-legged and then butt-walked back into position. The nurses' reactions to that process were too funny for words.
- I kept a pillow under each arm for support (even after I got home and was in the lazy boy) because letting them rest naturally at my sides was painful, I think it pulled too much on the newly violated pecs.
- Wiping myself after pottying was one of the most difficult physical maneuvers after the catheter came out
- Low and slow is a great motto for expansion. It's natural to want to rush to exchange and have it over with but if you allow the muscles and skin to stretch more slowly you'll not only be more comfortable during the process, you may have fewer stretch marks and possibly have better cosmetic results than if you go faster.
You're doing fine girlfriend! Thanks so much for sharing your experience and photos. Keep us posted!
0 -
have the nurses or at home, your helper, lift you from the bed by pushing you from your back. That helps lift your body so you dont have to use your arms as much. If youre getting up off a couch or chair its alot easier, since you can scoot forward and just use your legs to stand. I slept in bed the whole time, supported by many pillows, including under my legs which they did at the hospital. I thought that was comfortable. I still have pillows under my arms even this many months out- and hug a pillow to my chest when I sleep on my side.
0 -
Sweet!!! That is EXACTLY how I got in and out of bed!! Lol. Maybe we should do a YouTube demo.
0
