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I Am 6'1, 164lbs, Slim and Athletic. I Am Trying to Decide Between a 350 Cc Implant or a 400 Cc?

The implant will be silicon and under the muscle. I want a natural look and I am also concerned about the new size interfereing with my running and other athletic activities.

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11 Doctor Answers | Asked by mvelosa

Doctor Answers (11)
Community Comments (22)

The difference is minimal

To put this into perspective, 50ccs is less than 3 ½ tablespoons. Without any other information such as current breast size, I would expect that at your height and weight, a 400 cc size implant should be proportionate for your frame.

George John Alexander, MD

3 reviews

Las Vegas Plastic Surgeon

Silicone Implants 400 cc under the muscle

Congratulations on the upcoming surgery and the decision to go with 400 cc. Usually, taller women can tolerate larger volumes. Good luck.

350cc or 400cc

Thank you for your question. It is impossible to properly choose the right breast implant size without an examination. That being said, the best way to chose the proper implant is to think three dimensionally. Select an implant whose width matches that of your chest. Given your height, I would guess that this would be closer to the 400cc implant. Since you are trying to look natural and are a runner, I would likely stay with a moderate profile implant. This will limit the weight of... more

350cc or 400cc?

Take into consideration that 50cc is only 10 teaspoons! Assuming the diameter of the 400cc implant fits your breast diameter, I would almost certainly go with the larger. Of course a direct examination would be needed for me to advise you with certainty. Best of luck!

Implant size selection to achieve your goals

I consider two factors when selecting implants for my patients: 1.Dimensional planning 2.Gel Implant Sizing system Dimensional planning – The measurements of your chest wall are taken. Also, the breast dimensions including the height, width, and current dimensions of each breast form the basis of dimensional planning. Based on these measurements, the implant size is recommended. This will give you a unique breast implant that is suited for your body frame. However, there are... more

Implants and athletics

Most of the patients that I have are pretty athletic and lead active lives. It will take about 6-8 weeks for you to get back to that lifestyle, and most patients are just fine.

Steven Wallach, MD

12 reviews

Manhattan Plastic Surgeon

Smaller Size in Athletic Breast Augmentation

When deciding between 50cc in implant size at your height and weight, I do not think it makes a big difference either way. That is less than a 15% difference between the two sizes in volumes. Since you are athletic and physical activities are important to you, your biggest risk is that you don't want to be too big. Therefore, I would always go with the smaller size of the two choices in the athletic breast augmentation patient.

Best Implant Size

Hi mvelosa, You have a large frame so either size will probably give you a "natural look" without being "too big". A more detailed answer would depend on the shape and base width of your breasts. Then a recommendation on profile type (high, moderate, or low) and size could be made. Try to find before/after pictures of patients with your breast shape and frame size to help you decide on implant size. Thanks for your question and good look!

Which implant

Always difficult to say without seeing what we are starting with.however, if you are starting at an a or a small b go with the 400. at your height and weight you can handle it. 60% of my patients come back 6 months later and say they wish they had gone a little bit bigger.

Deciding between 350cc vs 400cc Implants

I believe that you will be able to achieve a natural look with either sized implants. The 50 cc difference between the implants you are interested in is less than 2 ounces, which is not significant in someone as tall as you. With either implant you should be able to continue running and participate in all kinds of athletic activities that you enjoyed before surgery. Thanks for your question. Best of Luck!

Best Breast Implant Size/Profile for Me?

Thank you for the question.  As you can imagine, despite your good description of body type and goals, it is not possible to give you precise advice online. The best online advice I can give to ladies who are considering breast augmentation surgery is:  1. Concentrate on choosing your plastic surgeon carefully. Concentrate on appropriate training, certification, and the ability of the plastic surgeon to achieve the results you're looking for. Ask to see lots of examples... more

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Comments (22)

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Tall Mama Bear 4 Feb 2013

How are things going?

mvelosa 4 Feb 2013

Hi!! I am doing pretty good. Just got back to the gym and been doing the stair climber and treadmill. Geez! its been tough, im so used to doing "insanity" and "asylum". Ill have to wait for the six week mark to do those. I did do a light jog on the treadmill and felt fine. My breasts are very tender, though. At times, I feel tightness as well. Ill be seeing the doctor on Wednesday for my three week post op and hear what he has to say. How are you doing? Are you back in full speed with your workouts? Are your breasts settling? Mine are still swollen and a bit high, Ive been massaging every day. So nice to hear from you :-)

Tall Mama Bear 7 Feb 2013

Glad to hear everything is going well! I finally went back this week to the class at the gym that I really enjoy and have missed doing. Overall it went good, but when I went today I wanted my boobs a little more on lock down, so I wore a sports bra and then a top with a sports bra in it, so basically wore two sports bras and that felt much better. I did everything just modified push ups and burpees and jumping jacks and will continue to modify until I feel more comfortable. I don't have any pain so that is good. As time goes on they are feeling more a part of me and I am getting use to them. Sometimes I think they look big and other times they look small. Overall though I am happy and glad I did it! They are much more "squishy" now and feel very natural. I think they are pretty much settled, I can't really see how they would drop anymore. My right side was high to start with and I was super worried about it and it dropped just fine, so hang in there, they will settle! I didn't have to do any message per my PS, but everyday I usually push them together in the shower in a few different directions and I think that does help. How are you liking the look and size? Hope the appt. today went well? Talk to you soon!

mvelosa 7 Feb 2013

I like the size, but like you, I sometimes feel they look big and then at imes I feel they look smaller. I am happy, though. I cant wait to wear a normal bra for when I go out. I have been jogging with my upper body in check, I do not swing my arms so that has helped my mind. I dont feel uncomfortable, but I am being careful. The appt went well, I have to see him in another three weeks which will be my six week post op. Hope he gives me the green light. I am glad to hear that you are doing push ups, I miss those. :-)

Tall Mama Bear 16 Jan 2013

Good luck with your surgery tomorrow! I am sure everything will go great! Best advice I can give is don't be to critical of them right off the bat, they will look much different in a few weeks! Let me know how it goes and if you have any questions!

mvelosa 17 Jan 2013

Hi! All went wonderful, I truly like my Doctor. I am a bit sore at the moment, but no significan pain. I did take a dose of pain pills right after surgery, sincve I did feel the pain kicking in, but I feel pretty good rith now. Can't wait to see the Dr. on Tuesday so that they can take the bandagfes off.... :-) Thanks so much for your support. How are you feeling? Regards.

mvelosa 17 Jan 2013

Oooppps! too many mishaps in my writing...Sorry, guess I am still up in the air with that happy medicine (lol).

Tall Mama Bear 20 Jan 2013

I am feeling great! No pain or issues. I see my PS on Tuesday for a 4 week post-op check up and I hope he clears me to do a little more lifting possibly and running. Not being able to work out like I would like too is kind of frustrating but I I know its only temporary! Still sometimes wish I would have maybe gone bigger but then other times I am glad they are not any bigger! How are you feeling? Hope everything is going well and I bet you can't to get your bandages off and see them! Well just thought I would check in!

mvelosa 20 Jan 2013

Hi! I am feeling pretty good. Although, the day of the surgery I was having trouble peeing, it was weird until the following day or two I started urinating normally. The nurse said it was expected because of the anesthesia drying out my system. I do not have pain, just tightness. I have stopped taking pain medication as of yesterday mid-day. I am only taking my antibiotic and the other medication which is suppose to prevent scar tissue from growing. I am planning to go out for a walk today for the first time. I have been in the house since Thursday after the surgery! I think I am feeling pretty good to walk out and enjoy the weather, it has been almost 80 degrees here in San Diego, I want to go peak at the sun...I have been juicing as a result of not working out, I figured I might as well cleanse my system from all these meds and take advantage, since when I am working out juicing is hard, since juicing is such a low calorie regimen and with the workouts that I do, I would not be able to last without solid food. Also, not sure if this happened to you, but I had my period right after the surgery which has been cleansing as well, since I have been on the pill forever and a month before the surgery, I stopped. I was not surprised my period came last Thursday, I was feeling it would come since like Monday. Yes, I cannot wait to see Dr. B on Tuesday and get these bandages removed. I have been peaking here and there, but I cannot see the full result. I am definetely not big, just average, which is fine with me, that calmed me down, nobody will notice that I had breast surgery, so I am happy with that. Where are you in the states? By the way..... :-) THanks for checking in, I am so excited for your month post-op, you will probably be able to work out more at this point and technically it is a six week period, so you are almost there. I cant wait for you to go on a run or your regular workout , you will be so happy!!!

Tall Mama Bear 22 Jan 2013

How was the reveal today? I hope you are feeling good about it? Sounds like you have been feeling pretty good and taking good care of yourself! Today I saw my PS and he said everything looked great, the capsules were soft and in less something comes up I want checked out I don't have to come back! He cleared me to do light upper body lifting and said after 6 weeks, so in two more weeks I can do whatever I want! Best part of the day was I went and got a new bra from VS and it makes a world of difference in what I look like in my clothes and I am so happy now with the results!!! She sized me at a 36D, but in most bras I am probably a C. I feel much more confident in that I wouldn't have wanted to go any bigger and have a very natural look! So just in case you are down on the size at all, know a bra will make a huge difference. BTW I live in Iowa right now and it is freezing here! I love San Diego and think that is the only place in California I could live! I grew up in Colorado and have always lived there besides my college days in Idaho and now have been in Iowa for a year and a half for my husbands residency. Hoping to move back to Colorado when we finish up here! Well I hope you are feeling well and are happy with the results!

mvelosa 22 Jan 2013

Hi! Yes, I am so happy. Wow! what a difference. Can't wait to go to VS and buy my first bra, I bet you were are sooo excited!! I totally feel that we went for the right size, we can always play with bras and go bigger for a few hours and then come back to our natural look....I am feeling good, but sore, the doctor said to massage every day and I am wearing a band on the upper part of my chest to help them settle and fall into place. Ill have to wear it for the next few weeks on a daily basis in combination with the massages. I hope my soreness goes away soon, since it is hard to massage.....I am very pleased and so glad I took the step, since I have been thinking about this for years.....:-) 82 degrees today, crazy winter :-)

Tall Mama Bear 7 Jan 2013

Just saw your other post! I was able to shower the next day but every surgeon is different? I came home with no bra or bandages and my incisions was glued shut. The not working out thing is tough. I have walked on the treadmill at 3.0 and at an incline a few times and did a leg workout and felt fine. I also ended up doing more with my arms reaching wise because I had no choice with my kids but it seems ok. Def do whatever your PS wants you to do and I will say it is worth the time off, everything fits and looks so much better! I see my PS again in 2 weeks for a 4 week post op. I will say I was shocked at how large I thought they looked naked compared to when I had clothes on. I was expecting more with my clothes but part of that was the fact I had basically a sports bra on.

mvelosa 8 Jan 2013

Oh really. Well at least it sounds like they look natural. How is the healing process? Are you in any pain? Were you in pain the day after the surgery? I am going to try to stay away from pain meds, since they cause constipation. I dont want to be constipated and not working out, thats a bad combination!! :-) Well, I am looking forward to this life change. Would you say that you are satisfied with your surgery and the choice of implants? So excited for you.... :-)

Tall Mama Bear 8 Jan 2013

So I didn't think the healing process was really that bad. I took my pain pills the first two days just proactively and that was it. I just used Ibproferon after that. I also took collace a stool softener from the get go to help with constipation (I knew to do this from previous c-sections) which helped but I was still a bit constipated and it took me about a week to be "regular" again. Right after surgery my boobs felt really tight and my skin felt stretched to the max and they were hard. They also felt very heavy. Within two weeks my skin had softened considerably and a they were much softer. Now I really have no pain but the right side skin is sensitive but not horrible but for a few days the skin sensitivity on the right was pretty bad. I can lift my arms fully over my head with no pain and can pick up my 3 year old again! First few nights of sleeping were uncomfortable because I was on my back but within a few days could sleep on my sides which helped. I choose not to wear anything like a bra to bed because at the end of the day they felt like they were compressed all day and needed freedom but by the morning it felt really good to put a sports bra back on. My PS wanted me to do my normal everyday activities so my implants settled in normal fashion which I think did help. Nothing crazy but up and moving by day two. Worst part for me was the unexpected emotional/obsessive reaction I had after that I wasn't expecting. They didn't look like they do now right after and I was worried they would stay like that and the two different sizes threw me for a huge loop, but now they look a ton better and are pretty even. I didn't realize how uneven I was but looking back at some pre pics I took I can see it now. So don't be surprised if you have a reaction like that! I didn't worry about my super saggy small boobs nearly as much as I did my new much improved boobs, it was dumb and my husband thought I was crazy! As far as size, I am happy but wish I would have tried on the 425 and 450 just for comparison. I can say that I am not self conscious about them being too big or embarrassed as I think I might be if they were much bigger. Like I said before they look much bigger naked then with clothes on but I haven't been able to wear a real bra yet. No one would look at me and say I have big boobs which really is what I wanted but feel like maybe I would have liked a little more??? My husband thinks they look great and are plenty big and fit me and my personality well. Also I think the more you see them and get use to them maybe they look smaller. I saw two PS and they both recommended the same size for which is what I choose. The high profile may look bigger too? I got moderate profile as I am 36 and didn't want super "perky" boobs and didn't have much to start with. Why did you choose HP? What size are you starting with? So overall I am really happy and glad I did it and the recovery hasn't been too tough. I wish I had been able to talk with and see more pics of women who are tall like us but there just wasn't much out there beside some going 500 or 600 cc and I knew that wasn't anything I was interested in. So please feel free to ask me whatever and if you want I can send you some pics if that would be helpful, god knows I have looked at million pictures! Sorry so long but hope it was helpful!

mvelosa 9 Jan 2013

Well, my doctor reccomended high profile for me. Perhaps, because I am tall and medium built? I am having a 400cc silicon breast implant and the ultimate result will be a 375cc look once they settle. I am praying that all goes well, this is my first surgery ever and my first experience being at an OR in a hospoital as a patient. I am very positive about this surgery, my breasts became saggy through time and I am not happy with how they look compared to the rest of my body. I think it is genetic, since all of the women in my mother's family side are extremely saggy breasted. I just want to improve that part of my body, not go "big" or anything like that. I just want to look proportionate and healthy. Your resplies have been so helpful! I truly appreciate it, since there are few women with our physical traits, or maybe I should say I don't know any 6"1 athletic female :-) I am sure there are a lot out there.

mvelosa 4 Jan 2013

Hello again! So my breast implant surgery has now been moved to 1/17/13. So I am about two weeks away from my surgery. I have decided to get 400cc that will actually be 375 cc once they are implanted under the muscle. I truly feel that it will be a natural look and will not interfere with my athletic activitis. I must share that I am quite nervous about not working out for about six weeks. Although, the doctor said that I can begin non impact workouts at week three post surgery. Also, I cannot take a shower for five days after surgery. I will have my surgery on a Thursday and will see the doctor until Tuesday so that my bandages can be removed. Yikes, five days without a shower. I am a bit anxious abou that.....,.

Tall Mama Bear 7 Dec 2012

My stats are identical to yours! I am getting my implants in two weeks. I am going to get 375-400cc silicone under the muscle. My plastic surgeon has you decide on a size you like in your consultation then he takes a size smaller and a size bigger in the OR with him and will decide once he see's them in you. I am glad to see another tall women who is not going so big. I feel like anything over 400 for me would be to big as I want to natural and athletic still but just be more proportioned. I have three kids and breast fed them all and that took its toll for sure. Good luck! When is your surgery? Also what profile are you getting?

mvelosa 7 Dec 2012

Hi my surgery is 1/31, I think I will choose 400 cc, low profile. I get a sense that women with our height and body frame can still carry that size pretty naturally... WIsh you the best!! :-)

mvelosa 4 Jan 2013

How did your surgery go? :-)

Tall Mama Bear 7 Jan 2013

Overall my surgery went well! At first I wasn't sure about the look but two weeks later they look really good and natural! I ended up with 397 in the right and 339 in the left which was a shock but they look even! So basically I ended up with about 400 cc. If you want a natural athletic look 400 is good if you want to be a little bigger I would see what 425 or 450 look like. In hind sight I wish I would have looked at 425 or 450 just to compare but honestly I am not sure I would have gone bigger? I feel very comfortable with them and not worried they look big or fake. If someone had never met me I doubt they would ever guess I had implants! Recovery wasn't too bad I was back up and running and taking care of all three of my kids within 4 days. I think it helped to move around. Let me know if you have more questions! Have you decided on size yet?

Tall Mama Bear 7 Jan 2013

Bra size I am a full C, but did fill out a D at Victoria secret but I would say I am a C now.

mvelosa 8 Jan 2013

Thanks for your reply, just realized you had posted this one reply. Well, I am going to have a 400cc silicone under breast high profile. The end result should look 375. I liked the look because it appears very natural and I am so protective of my running and jumping and so on and so forth. I still want to feel agile and free so I think we have both made the right choice. I am absloluty sure you look amazing! Sounds like you were careful and educated about your choices. Thanks again for the info, it has helped me a great deal. I am so nervous, but excited. I am hoping to be a natural full C.