Gosh. With this title, I think I should be talking about college and career choices. But no. This blog is more mundane.
I saw a patient of mine recently who had a breast augmentation done in her 20s who is now pregnant with her first child. And she thanked me for my advice when she got her breasts done. Why?
When she had her augmentation, she was unsure of what size to pick. I knew she wanted to have kids some day. So when she was trying on sizers, I urged her to be a little conservative when she had narrowed it down to the last two. The common wisdom is to “go a little bigger than you think because most women wish they had gone larger.” I agree with this. It is the most common comment I hear from patients if they wish their size was different (though most are happy and did pick the right size). It is likely a bit of the whole diamond effect- a diamond looks huge when you first get it but “shrinks” with time. (And no ladies don’t worry- they aren’t actually shrinking, you just got used to it.)
BUT if you are young, don’t max out with your first augmentation.
Why? Hint one: you are young. You likely jog, wear tiny tops without bras at times, and have not had kids. You will age (oh no!) as time goes on. Gravity and activity and babies- pregnancy, breastfeeding, etc- are going to act to stretch out your skin. It is great to leave yourself some room to upsize to tighten and lift things down the road. Hint two: this is your first augmentation. A good lifetime for an implant is 15-20 years. Expect you will have a second surgery at some point. Again, it is good to be able to go a hair bigger to tighten and lift.
If you maxed out your breast implant volume at your first surgery, then you will age more with time and gravity. You will become super huge when you are pregnant and breastfeeding. And then you will droop. Droopy is not a term you want associated with your breasts. To fix droopiness, you can go larger in volume or you have to lift. If you are maxed out, then you shouldn’t go larger on size. You need to lift. To lift involves cutting out more skin and is a bigger scar.
So be little conservative with your first breast augmentation when you are young. Think of your lifetime. My goal is your breasts stay as pretty as long as they can. Don’t go too small- I want you to feel like you “did this.” But don’t do larger just to go larger. You can always wear a push up bra on a Saturday night for the little extra oomph. Your breasts will age better and give you more options down the road if you do.