Breast Implant Sizing; Choosing The Right Size Implant

What are cc’s

When it comes to breast implants, the commonest question that is asked relates to the size. Implants are sized according to their volume, with the unit of measurement being cc’s. CC stands for cubic centimetres.

What implant sizes are available in Australia?

In Australia, implants can vary is size from as small as 100cc’s to as large at 925cc’s.

However, the commonest implant sizes range between 250cc to 500cc.

Are breast implants heavy?

Implants do of course have weight to them, and therefore after surgery you will increase in weight equivalent to the weight of the breast implants. As a rough guide, each unit of cc is equal to one gram.

A 500cc silicone implant is approximately 500gm. Therefore, after breast enhancement surgery with 500cc implants, you will weigh an additional 1000gm (1kg).

How are cc’s determined?

When assessing patients for breast implants, a number of measurements need to be taken to determine which implants are technically possible. This is combined with what look the patient is aiming to achieve to determine the best implant size and style that will provide the desired result.

• How wide does the implant need to be?
• How tall does the implant need to be?
• What profile does the patient want and what will work?
• What shape are they after – round or anatomical?

These dimensions of the implant will determine the volume of the implant, which will in turn determine the cc’s.

It follows that the wider the patients frame, the wider the implant, and therefore by default the larger the cc’s.

Likewise, it follows that the greater the profile (projection), the greater the fullness, the greater the volume, and therefore the greater the cc’s.

Only after all of the physical dimensions of implant shape are determined, will the implant cc’s be known. That is how the perfect implant size is established.

A surgeon should never ask a potential patient what implant size they would like, because that is working backwards and inevitably you will end up with a bad result. You need to find the implant with all the correct dimensions and profiles to match your frame and desired look – and this will determine the cc’s.

Dr Dona will always perform a careful physical assessment taking into account the many physical variables and measurements, and then marry those factors with the patients desired look to determine the perfect implant shape and size – and this will by default determine the perfect implant cc’s.

Another important reason why implant cc’s should not be a ‘goal’ – the cc’s simply refers to volume with no regard for shape or dimensions. For example, an implant that is 300cc’s can have a diameter of anything from 11cm to 13cm. Despite the “same size”, these implants will have different implant width’s, profiles and shapes, and therefore create entirely different looks on each of the individuals they are used for.

ALL BRA SIZES HAVE TWO COMPONENTS – A NUMBER AND A LETTER

What does the number on a bra size mean?

The number or the BAND SIZE is a representation of your ribcage girth. This circumferential measurement is taken at the level of your lower ribcage, where the bra band sits. This measurement is taken in inches. In the UK they use the inch measurement on their bra sizes. For example, if you are 30″ then you are a size 30.

In Australia this is translated to a size.  The conversion to the common Australian sizes is shown below:

• 28″ converts to a size 6
• 30″ converts to a size 8
• 32″ converts to a size 10
• 34″ converts to a size 12
• 36″ converts to a size 14
• 38″ converts to a size 16

A common misconception with the number component of the bra size is that is correlates to shoulder width. As mentioned, this number gives us a guide to what size bra we need to accommodate the circumference of your ribcage, overlying skin and subcutaneous tissue – your chest circumference at the bra-strap level, which often does not correlate with your shoulder width.

What does the letter on a bra size mean?

The letter component, referred to as THE CUP, is an indication of breast volume (breast tissue and fat) – how much volume will fit into the bra cup.

The biggest misconception is that the cup size, “the letter” eg a C cup, is a set unit of measurement. THIS IS INCORRECT.

A 10B breast volume/size has a completely different breast volume/size to a 14B.

That’s because the cup volume is directly proportional to the ribcage/band size. Therefore, a B cup in a size 16 person is a much larger breast (greater volume) than a B cup in a size 10 person.

This is extremely important in understanding breast implants – a breast implant volume (cc’s) does not correlate to a bra cup size!

How is the cup size determined?

When you are being fitted for bras two key circumferential chest measurements are taken at two different levels:

1 – The band, which is the circumferential measurement around your ribcage immediately below your breasts, where the bra underband sits.

2 – The circumferential chest measurement at the level of the fullest part of your bust.

The Cup, which is a letter, relates to the difference between the underbust measurement and the fullest part of your bust measurement.

As a general rule, each cup letter represents an inch of difference between those measurements, as shown below:

What is sister sizing?

The band size will dictate how much cup volume your ‘Cup size’ has. So, if someone says they are a ‘D cup’ it doesn’t give us any information about their breast volume unless we know their band size.

For each increase in band size, the cup volume increases one ‘size’

Likewise for each decrease in band size, the cup volume decreases one ‘size’.

The basic rule to remember is that if you go up a band size, you will need to go down a cup size to keep the volume the same. The reverse also being true, if you go down a band size, you need to go up a cup.

For example – If someone was commonly wearing a 12C however was finding the fit of the band a bit loose then they should try the 10D. This is the sister size. By shifting to the 10D they will make the band size a size smaller but maintain the same cup size.

BRA SISTER SIZES HAVE THE SAME CUP VOLUME, DESPITE DIFFERENT BAND OR CUP LETTER SIZES.

Bra sister size chart

In the above chart, every row of bra sizes represents breasts that have an equal volume/size.

Therefore, a 6F breast has the same volume as a 14C breast.

It follows that when an implant size/volume (cc’s) is chosen for a patient, it is not possible to determine what cup size that she will end up becoming.

In other words, a 350cc implant could make one person a C cup, and another person an F cup. Far too many variables exist to determine what cup size an implant will create. Of course, all the above are just guides. As most women will know that different bra makes, and different bra fitting specialists, will often end up fitting entirely different bra sizes for the same person.

Conclusion

Breast implant sizes, along with bra sizes, are often highly misunderstood. This article has highlighted some of the very basics on these all important topics to provide a baseline understanding for future articles which will cover everything you need to know about breast implant selection and placement to help achieve the desired results.