The Best Breasts for You
If you’re considering breast implants but not sure how large you should go, a short look back at history might be interesting. Occasionally we encourage our New York breast augmentation patients to think about trends over the years to help with a little perspective.
A couple of years ago, CNN published an interesting piece on changing views about women’s bodies in honor of International Women’s Day. It discussed what many of us know—the ideal female body was thought to be “Rubenesque” a few hundred years ago, sporting the voluptuous curves of women painted by Peter Paul Rubens. It also highlighted the “Venus figurines,” small statues of very round women found in Europe that date back to 25,000 BC, and reminded us that the goddesses of ancient Greece were curvy too.
In the past century, the trend has generally been toward slimmer shapes with moderately curvy breasts, though with time out for the boyish figures of the flapper era and more recent decades dominated by famous ultra-thin models like Kate Moss.
Why are we talking about this?
A Trend is Just a Trend
We encourage our New York breast augmentation patients not to pay too much attention to trends—they change. A few years ago, extremely large breast implants were favored by a segment of the population; that’s no longer the case. Many women who opted to “go big” had surgery later to downsize.
Along the way, some women found that their oversized breasts caused neck and back pain, and in the worst cases patients developed skin problems as the body strained to contain the implants. Other challenges included difficulty exercising and discomfort with the never-ending comments and stares their figure caused. Many women ultimately concluded that choosing very large breast implants was a mistake.
Making the Right Decisions
We’re always delighted when a women’s motivation for breast enhancement is to balance her figure. Let’s face it: some people are simply underendowed. Others are a bit overendowed in the rear end and would like to have better matching curves. Some moms find they’ve deflated a bit after breastfeeding and would like some perkiness back. These are great reasons to get breast implants!
When patients ask our advice in looking natural, we’re also pleased. We know that these women are likely to be very satisfied with their results for many years to come.
So how do we achieve a natural look for our New York breast augmentation patients? Several factors are key. We start by gaining an understanding of each patient personally: her age, skin quality and lifestyle are important. Then we take measurements, paying attention to both the size and shape of her rib cage. We consider the three dimensions of implants—base width, projection and volume—then we recommend a model or two for her to consider. You can read more about these details here.
The Long Haul
The goal for us is to listen carefully to what a woman tells us about her goals, then balance that with what we have learned in three decades of performing breast augmentation in Manhattan. Most of the time we are completely in synch with what we hear from our patients. If a woman wants to go a bit larger than we would recommend, we make sure she understands the potential risks. If she wants to have extremely large breast implants, chances are we may decline to operate. Of course, we do perform implant exchange procedures for a variety of different reasons, but working with thin, stretched out skin is far from ideal for us and for patient satisfaction.
We are happy that one trend we’re seeing today is toward broader acceptance of female bodies just as they are. When women are generally content with the physique they were born to have and breast augmentation is seen as an enhancement, not a complete transformation, it’s healthy for everyone. Keeping up with trends in fashion is one thing—electing surgery in an effort to match your body to a certain image is quite another.
Give us a call if we can help you make decisions about your breasts: 212-570-6080.
