Why do some women want their breasts larger after breast augmentation? There is quite a bit of psychology that goes along with changing your body form and image. It generally takes only about two to three weeks before a person feels comfortable and accepts their new image. By accepting their new image, people (men and women) forget about their previous form. This is precisely why all of us plastic surgeons take so many of those pre-operative and post-operative pictures.
Most people are a little nervous before having surgery, so any fears that they may have are amplified. A lot of women tell me that they were so afraid that they would end up with too large of breasts that they told me pre-operatively to go smaller than what they otherwise might have wanted. It is important for me to spend a considerable amount of time with each patient to make sure that their concerns and expectations are met. I try my best to accommodate a patient’s wishes as long as it is aesthetically appropriate.
For the first two to three weeks post-operatively, the breasts are a little swollen, a little firm, and a little abnormally high. At this point, women begin to accept their new form and forget what they used to look like. At six to eight weeks, the breasts loose a lot of their fullness and descend to a normal anatomic position. At this point the breasts have a natural and normal appearance, but the patient is now used to an unnatural and swollen breast. I usually tell most patients that if they feel that their breasts are just a little too large in the first few weeks after surgery then they will be perfect.
Additionally, most patients cannot envision how they will look after breast augmentation. Deciding that you will be small or medium ‘C’ cup is just hard to visualize. Often patients will opt to be on the smaller side just to be sure that they won’t “be too big”.
If you are contemplating breast augmentation, it is important that you spend some face to face time with your Plastic Surgeon to make sure he or she understands exactly the size and shape that you want your breasts to be. It’s called “being on the same page”. Nude pictures are an important communication tool. Don’t try to anticipate what your surgeon is going to do, rather tell him or her what you want as specifically as possible. At some point you need to trust the artistic ability of your surgeon.
Lastly, if you have had a breast augmentation and really do want to go larger, then the process is either an implant exchange (silicone implants) or a “fill up” (saline implants). In each case, it is performed under local anesthesia with minimal recovery. Remember, bigger is not always better.