Breast Augmentation – what does bustline, size, volume, profile, cup size mean?

Breast augmentation is one of the commonest cosmetic surgery procedures in women carried out the world over. A lot of women have a confusion as to what will be their bust size after augmentation, what is the difference between cup size and bust line, what is A,B,C,D,DD etc. and does size really matter. In the following text, I will also discuss what are the profile grading of implants.

When we talk of sizing, the most important point is the chest diameter. The diameter of the chest is taken just below the inframammary line. This is the most important line of reference. Thus if the chest diameter is 32 inches at this point the bust line would be defined as 32 something depending on the projection of the breast at the most prominent point. Now we add 5 to the chest line to reach the cup size. Thus if the chest is 32, then 32 +5 is the supposed bust line. Now if the diameter of the breast at the point of the maximum projection is 37 inches. It is referred to as 32 A, if it is 38, it is 32 B and so on with every 1 inch difference. Beyond 4 inch inches, it becomes DD. So really it is quite simple

Now when we discuss about implant, Mentor makes implants in three grades, I, II, III. These are progressively harder in their consistency. Secondly is the question of profiles. All companies like Mentor, Allergan, Silimed, make implants according to profile. These may be low, medium, or high profile. These are basically denoting the projection of the implant. Thus a high profile implant has a higher projection and a low profile has a lower projection. Compare it to an inflated balloon. When we press it down the projection reduces (low profile), but note that the base diameter increases in a low profile implant. Thus if someone wants a wider chest augmentation and lower antero- posterior projection, they should go for a low profile; similarly if they want a perkier, more projected breasts, they should go for a high profile implant

How much does a cup size increase with an implant

It is again very simple. For example, when we put a 275 cc breast implant which is high profile, it is about 4.6 cm in projection. When we put it in the chest, not all of the 4.6 cms is shown, so we may get say around 4 cm of projection. This is about 1.5 inches of projection increase. Thus if someone was a 32 B to start with, she may reach 32D after this implant. If she chooses a low profile, she may be somewhere in the range of 32C group. So we can largely give an idea of the new breast size after the implant surgery.