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How can my breasts be enlarged?
The most common way to permanently enlarge the size of your breasts is through the surgical placement of a breast implant, called breast augmentation, or augmentation mammaplasty. There are alternatives to enhance the appearance of breast size. A woman can wear padded bras or place inserts or padding into her bra. There are push-up, pump-up, and Wonder bras® marketed to make breasts look larger. A number of pill type supplements, creams, devices, and exercises have been purported to increase breast size.None of these are permanent and are a part of your own body. None of the marketed devices and herbal supplements to enhance breast size has been proven to achieve permanent breast enhancement. These are not subject to U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval or marketing regulations, and therefore their claims are unproven in unbiased clinical studies. Additionally, there are rare circumstances where a patient’s own body tissue may be used for augmentation, but this is very uncommon. Breast implants are the primary choice to increase breast size.
Therefore, if you wish to enlarge your breast size permanently, and in a fashion that is part of your own body, the only means to do so is through surgical insertion of breast implants. Breast augmentation is the most commonly performed aesthetic cosmetic surgery procedure for women in the United States, as reported by the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery. Over 332,000 procedures were performed in 2004, which was a 230% increase since 1997.
Why would I want larger breasts?
Only you can answer the question of why you want larger breasts. The most common reasons women desire breast augmentation are:
- Breast size is genetically small
- Breast size has diminished following pregnancy and/or nursing
- Breast size is small in proportion to the structure and size of the body, overall
- To enhance what is an otherwise normal breast size
- To correct a minor asymmetry (difference in size) of the breasts
- The more important questions you should ask of yourself are:
- What do I expect from a breast augmentation?
- What is my motivation for wanting a breast augmentation?
- Is my decision my own?
- Am I willing to accept that maintaining my breast appearance and health is a lifetime commitment, even though breast implants are not lifetime devices?
If you expect that breast augmentation will do anything more than give you the personal confidence and satisfaction in your own body that you want, reconsider your expectations. Breast augmentation cannot make a failing relationship better, nor can it win you the job or the situation in life you want. These things can only occur as the result of your own motivation and behaviors, not larger breasts. Your motivation for wanting larger breasts, much like your expectations, should be for your own personal satisfaction, and not that of anyone else. Your decision to have breast implants should be yours alone. Don’t do it because your partner or significant other likes large-breasted women, or because you feel social pressure to achieve a bigger bra size. Most importantly, you need to accept that having breast augmentation is a lifetime commitment.
- It requires specialized mammography for more accurate screening of breast health.
- It requires periodic visits to your cosmetic surgeon to evaluate the condition of your implants and your breasts.
- As your body changes over time, the appearance of your breasts may change, and your implants may need to be replaced with a modified style or placement to maintain a natural appearance.
- Should breast implants rupture, leak, or deflate, the implants must be replaced or you may face having disfigured breasts.
- If capsular contracture (a constricting scar tissue that squeezes the implant and produces an unnatural appearance and can be painful) develops, it may require surgery to correct and that breast implants be replaced.
The U.S. FDA defines that breast implants are not lifetime devices and, therefore, you need to accept that it is likely, at some point in life, you will either desire or need to have your breast implants replaced. In 2004, the American Society of Cosmetic Surgeons (ASPS) reported that 35,208 breast implants for augmentation purposes only were removed, and that 81% of those were replaced. The most common reasons for implant removal were (1) a change in breast size and (2) implant rupture or leakage.