A cup implants?

Allydp

Hi everyone, I'm having a very difficult time deciding whether or not I want to have reconstruction. I'm hoping you can help answer a couple questions for me which will help me make a well informed decision. 

I'm meeting with my PS for the first time in the next month or so, but so far my BS has told me I'm too thin for the flap procedure, which is actually fine by me since I wouldn't have chosen that option anyway. So I'd be looking at tissue expanders at time of BMX, possibly rads, then the exchange surgery. 

If I end up doing recon, I'd like to go as small as possible, preferably an A cup (possibly a small . However, I'm reading this isn't so easy - that small implants are hard to come by for various reasons. Could someone clarify this for me? Is an A cup possible? Why or why not? Will it look ridiculous - like two small coconuts on my chest? I'm 5'0" and 110 pounds and am currently a 32DD. I loathe them and do not want large breasts anymore. 

Part of my reason for not wanting reconstruction is the worry of them looking too fake, so figuring this all out now is important to me. Thanks so much for any help you could pass along!

sarahjane7374

I don't see why it wouldn't be possible to go small.  They make implants in all sizes. You have a tiny frame, so it seems like they'd look fine on you.   Have you tried the thread Breast Implant Sizing 101?  Whippetmom knows everything about implants.....

mcgis

Hi. I wanted to go smaller too. I was a B+/C- before. I ended up with 213cc total and now i'm an A+/B- (i think. i haven't bought a new bra that doesn't come in Small, Med., or Large yet). I'm 5'5" and weigh 125. I used to wear 36 B/C bra. Not sure if that helps.

DiveCat

Hi!

I am a natural 32DD as well. I can relate to wanting to go smaller! I am doing nipple-sparing and direct-to-implant though so am a bit more limited in how much smaller I can go. 

They do make small implants, as many augmentation patients only need a little boost and frequently use them, but you need to remember that as you will have (almost) no breast tissue, so you have different needs in an implant than augmentation patients. Your PS basically will need to find an implant that replaces the "width" lost as well, which is not something as key in an augmentation patient who retains their own breast tissue. 

Say you need a width of 12cm, and want a silicone gel implant, you can see from this chart below (that compares Mentor v. Natrelle silicone gel) your implant might be between 225cc at 2.6cm projection, to 500cc at 5.7cm projection...all for around 12cm in width. Quite the range. So, it is possible to get "smaller" implants, but your PS has to also consider your chest wall, the tissue he is working with, etc.

No, it should not look like coconuts on your chest unless he choose too narrow of an implant with a higher projection! That is the case even if you wanted to go back to a 32DD. Actually, very, very few reconstructions end up with that look...that "augmented look"... because one just does not have breast tissue to make that kind of look happen. One can get a very natural looking result, but if one has a coconut look in a reconstruction it is generally due to other factors (like capsular contracture, or the wrong size implant for your chest width, etc).

http://www.natrelle.com/professional/pdf/Projectio...

Generally you can't just tell your PS your desired cup size because that is just a difficult measurement, so you should tell your PS what your "appearance" goals are so they can take that into account combined with your measurements. Bringing in photos of chests you like might help!

Allydp

DiveCat, thank you so much for such an informative response! That clears up a lot and gives me a great jumping off point to start some research. I will definitely bring my PS some photos of what I'm looking for. I started looking last night and can't believe how hard it is to find pics of women who chose to reconstruct in a smaller size. Thank you, too, for the the link. It helps to put the size thing into perspective.