What cup size will I be after breast augmentation?
With breast augmentation, a common concern is what cup size to choose or what cup size will you be after the surgery. It is important to understand what cup size does and does not mean. First of all, there is no standard for cup size. In other words, there is not a certain size of breast or volume of breast that is a certain cup size. The cup size is actually only a label placed on a bra by the manufacturer of the bra.
There have been many studies in the literature trying to equate a certain volume with a certain cup size. There are problems to this approach. In actuality, this approach does not work. If you imagine let’s say a 350 cc implant on a woman who is 5 feet 1 inch tall, versus a 350 cc implant on a woman who is 6 feet tall, this would obviously be a very different cup size and also importantly, a very different appearance.
The measurements for a bra can also be confusing. The number part, such as the 34 in 34D, is actually the measurement around your torso under the breasts. The letter, in other words the D in 34D, is the actual cup size. There have been some attempts to determine cup size based on measuring around the breasts and then the measurement underneath the breasts. Once again, these do not typically work because they have no relationship to what a bra manufacturer places on the label. Many patients know that if they buy a bra for instance at Victoria’s Secret, they may be a much larger cup size than the same fitting bra purchased at another store. The important issue that I educate patients to is that appearance is the main concern, not the label on the bra.
