BREAST IMPLANT SIZING 101
Comments
-
mom3band1g- I'm sure whippetmom will give you all the guidance you need but wanted to tell you I am 5'4", 115 lbs with a rib cage circumference of 28" also and went with Mentor Smooth Round High Profile implants that were 375 cc's. My photos are on the picture forum under "Boob Fairy Came For Me..." if you want something to compare (though I am larger than an A cup).
0 -
mom3band1g: Okay busy lady! Yikes...4 kiddos...
I would really like for you to go to the pictures forum and take a look at Kate's and some other photos of women who have your height/weight/build. I think it will be immesurably helpful. I would like for you to navigate around and look at photos before we discuss final sizing. I personally think that the appearance you seek might be filled by implants with a volume of 300 ccs to 350 ccs - but probably in a moderate plus profile, which lends somewhat of a more athletic appearance on the chest wall in the lower volumes - for women who do not want full and perky, but still need to fill out a bra.
Referable to the radiated breast, I am telling every woman who is eager to do whatever they can to protect the integrity of that radiated skin, to talk to their PS about fat graft transfer to that breast - simply for the purpose of enhancing the skin integrity and perhaps by doing so, reducing the risk of capsular contracture. It also has been a technique shown to allow the skin to respond more like a non-rads breast. Please discuss this with your PS....
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19484176
If you are not on the pictures forum, please send me a private message. You have been a bc.org member long enough....
Deborah
0 -
thank you, thank you Kate33 and Deborah. I am able to see the picture forum so I will go take a look ...after kiddos are in bed! I will ask my ps about fat grafting as well. Where does the fat come from? I like the idea of a more athletic look. In my former life I was a ballet dancer and while I am no where near as thin or muscular as I was I do prefer that 'look'. For all my body hang-ups (and there are many!) I was always happy with my small breasts. Figures that would be the thing that had to go.
Thanks again for your help and giving me some guidance.
kathy
0 -
mom3band 1g- Just had to say hello! I check this thread a lot even after my exchange! Deborah and all the other ladies are unbelievably helpful! I hope you get all that you hope and odds are you will with Deborah's insight! Hugs to you♥
0 -
mom3band1g - I'm about your build too if you want to check out my pics on the forum. I'm 5'5", 109#, 28.5 inch rib cage. I have 325cc silicone round implants.
DawneHope.
0 -
mom3band1g- I believe they typically take the fat from your stomach or thighs like they would during liposuction.
0 -
kate33 - I like that! After 4 pregnacies my stomach could donate a little fat! I was too chicken to do the tummy-tuck surgery!
tamgam -Hi!
thanks again ladies and I will check the picture forum (dawneHope)!
k
0 -
do you know of anyone else on the pic site who wanted to remain small? I haven't found anyone who had an exchange and turned out an A. I really don't want to be a B or a C cup....like it scares me!
0 -
mom3band1g - whippetmom is the expert but I'm not sure it is possible to be an 'A' cup simply because of the width of the implants. Maybe, though. My new foobs are different than my old ones. The bra's I'm wearing now are D and DD cups, but it does not look like it in my clothes. I was a small C before and my clothes were much more filled out than now. You're not going to look like Pamela Anderson, the implants alone are not going to give you that much projection.
0 -
mom3band1g:
Call your plastic surgeon's office and obtain the details on your TEs. The style - Mentor or Allergan - and the style number or catalogue number - essentially we need to know the volume and the width of your TEs.
Deborah
0 -
Where is the picture (photo) forum and how do I get access to it? Thanks in advance!
0 -
JoyKK
You need to PM Timtam - hit search above right corner of the webpage and under "member name" type Timtam. Her profile page will come up and you can PM her to request the pass code for entrance.
0 -
The card I have says Allergan 133sx-13 400cc. I do not think they are full to capacity.... Does that help?
thanks so much,
k
0 -
Yes, that helps. So I think you do need the width of a moderate plus profile implant, since your TEs are 13.0 cm wide. If you went with a MPP between 325 and 350 ccs, it should give you the appearance you want, but your PS would need to perform some lateral revisions to narrow the pockets a little - to ensure that the implants do not migrate laterally towards the armpits. The implants will have significantly less projection than that which you have with the TEs, even at their current fill status. Dawne-Hope has 325 ccs in a high profile implant, and so you would have just a little more width than she has, but you would have less projection - so they would appear smaller. Make sense? And if your skin can tolerate it, I probably would have him fill you to 400 ccs and then exchange you out to the smaller implants.
Deborah
0 -
Hi ladies,
First of all: thanks for all the great information and support on this thread! I wonder if you could give me some suggestions on implant size? I have had a double mastectomy, and have TEs filled to 300 cc at this point.
I would like to be a full B cup (I know, I know, I shouldn't focus on cup size, but still...). I am 5'7, weight 132 Lbs, ribcage 31. My last fill was threee weeks ago and it was pretty horrible (posted about this earlier): a lot of pain, a lot of anxiety, and my expanders looked weird after that fill...very wide, very "in my armpits". It made me question if I should just stop where I am with the fillings...? Just not sure how large the TEs need to be to get to my desired size.
0 -
maria: Can you obtain information regarding your TEs? I need to know the volume and the width. You might have been given a little credit card with this data...if not....call your PS' office and they will have it in your chart. The style number will suffice and I can look it up. But off the top of my head here, I think 500 ccs in a high profile implant - smooth round silicone - and if the volume is any lower, switch to a moderate plus profile - 450 ccs. I would not go any lower than that though.
Deborah
0 -
Thanks Deborah! My TEs are Style 133Mv-13. It says "400cc" on the information card, but currently they are only filled to 300 cc. Do you know how much more I need to fill them in order for the PS to be able to put in a 500 or 450 high profile implant? Thanks, maria
0 -
maria: I think you need to talk to your PS and ask him why the implants migrated laterally. It could be that the pocket was overdissected a little bit laterally and this is often [usually] why the implants head east and west. If you can tolerate smaller fills - even 25 ccs at a time - getting up to 400 ccs would be good. All hinging on your skin integrity though. Talk to your PS and let me know what he says about the TE migration.
Deborah
0 -
Thanks so much for your advice Deborah. I will ask my PS about the migrating TEs. And smaller fills is probably the way to go, 25cc sound tolerable.
0 -
Whippetmom (Deborah): Thank you so much for your response about sizing of a gummi bear implant for me. I have been reading other posts about some unhappiness with gummi bears so am wondering about cohesive gel implants too. Do you think that, given my unilateral situation and need to try to match my natural breast (and, no, I don't want to have to do any lift or procedure on my healthy breast), that one type or the other would be most successful? I wonder if you could give me an opinion on size for cohesive gel implants too. I would be glad to email you a photo (don't know how to email you though) or post a photo (not sure how to do that either).
Thanks so much again. This feels like a lifeline in a very confusing issue.
Shelala51
0 -
lifeline - the perfect word - i wonder if you guys really know how much...
0 -
shelala....I have sent you a private message...
0 -
Lifeline is so correct! I don't know what I would have done without you Deborah! Still waiting for my drop and fluff on the MX side but I hear it can take 3 months, so I am waiting on doing anything else until then.
Deborah: Feel free to share my pics that I sent you to shelala!
0 -
Does anyoune know how to get access to the picture forum? It would be a huge help to be able to compare and see what the end result of this expander journey could look like.
0 -
marie: PM TimTam on this site to get permission.
0 -
maria: I think you will be approved soon for the pictures forum. I told Timtam that I vouched for you...
0 -
Yippee, I am approved for the picture forum! It is SO helpful to be able to see some of the results when you are in the middle of this journey. Thanks Deborah and MBJ. All of you ladies here are so generous, and this site is such a blessing in so many ways.
0 -
Deborah, Thanks for the info on the PS's in my area. I love the new one I'm going to use. I showed her your suggestions and she was impressed. She measured me and apparently I measured incorrectly. We also discussed that there is a PS in St. Louis using gummies and there is a possibility that she will do the TE's and then if I choose gummies the other PS could do the exchange, but I have a long time until I have to worry about that. The first PS I talked to said that he wouldn't do anything until after radiation. This PS said she likes to have the TE's filled before radiation. Does anyone have any experiance with this they could share?
0 -
My understanding, Bubba, is that you have a better chance with rads if you have the TEs filled prior to the start of radiation so that the skin is already stretched. It makes sense if you think about it: stretching radiated skin vs. stretching NON-radiated skin.
0 -
I had radiation with TE's. I had all my fills, I didn't want to be very big, before rads. I did very well and am now just in the healing process before my exchange. My ps originally said 6m after rads but I did so well we are looking at 5m! If you need anymore info I am happy to share.
kathy
0
