36 DDD Cup Breast Reduction Size?

Breast Reduction is a complicated procedure that is best done by those with the most training and experience. It is very difficult to determine the resultant cup size and shape based solely on the number of grams that are removed from your breast to best match your ideal breast image without an examination by a board certified plastic surgeon. Not just any board certified plastic surgeon, but one with many years of frequently performing breast reduction and lift surgeries, including different approaches, techniques and even fat transfer and implant choices if you are lacking superior breast fullness.This is because several measurements—not to mention breast characteristics such as density—are needed to determine how much and where to remove breast tissue to meet your goals. Without knowing your existing breast shape, dimensions, and the density of your breast tissue, it would be difficult to make this determination. For example, the same volume of breast tissue will weigh different amounts (measured in ounces or grams) in different people depending on its density. The existing base width of your breast and what you will ultimately want to look like will determine, in many cases, the maximal volume and weight that will need to be removed for the best result.Please click on the link below for more information!

Hello! Thank you for your question. In general, implant size does not correlate with bra cup size. The cup size itself will vary from manufacturer to manufacturer as well as who is doing the actual measurements. Thus, cup size is never a reliable indicator for your breast size. I typically encourage my patients not to communicate her desires in cup size but more on the actual look and appearance. Good communication between you and your surgeon of your expectations is warranted - choosing your surgeon wisely is the first step. Discussion of your wishes and having an honest and open dialog of your procedure is critical.  I have found that photographs brought by the patient is helpful to get a visualization of the appearance you wish for in terms of size, shape, fullness, etc. In addition, your surgeon's pre and postoperative photographs should demonstrate a realistic goal for you. Once this has been accomplished, allow your surgeon to utilize his/her best medical judgment during the procedure to finesse the best possible result for you after preoperative biodimensional planning. Hope me that this helps! Best wishes for a wonderful result!

This is a great question and one that we face daily. Because some insurance companies use arbitrary resections for approval, the estimated volume becomes essential. In planning a reduction the first part is to figure how much breast tissue needs to be preserved so that there will be adequate blood flow to the nipple-areolar complex. Once that is determined then the resection volume can be estimated. I usually plan to removed about 1/3 of the volume in a short scar vertical reduction. It takes some experience to be able to accurately estimate the intended resection. It does become frustrating when a breast only weighs 600gm and then 500gm is required for reduction to be covered. Hopefully you can get yours covered because it is a life changing experience for patients who suffer from the neck, back and shoulder strain of large breasts. Best of Luck!

It is difficult to predict the cup size you will be left without seeing you.  Cup size measurement is a very unreliable estimate of your actual breast size since you may not be properly fitted and also because each manufacturer has slightly different sizing.

A 500 g reduction could reduce you by 1-2 cup sizes, but subsequent lift which is a part of a breast reduction may rearrange your breast tissue into a more compact breast volume and that affects the final breast cup size.

The main issues here, however, is that if you truly are 36 DDD, 500g may not be enough to give you relief from symptoms that you may be suffering such as back pain, neck pain, and shoulder grooving.

 

Sincerely,

Martin Jugenburg, MD

Thank you for the question.

Unfortunately, there is no direct correlation between the amount of tissue removed and the ultimate cup size that a patient will wear after breast reduction surgery.

Before undergoing the breast reduction procedure it is very important to communicate your size goals with your surgeon.  In my practice, the use of photographs of “goal” pictures (and breasts that are too big or too small) is very helpful. I have found that the use of words such as “natural” or “C cup” or "fake looking" means different things to different people and therefore prove unhelpful.
Also, as you know, cup size varies depending on who makes the bra; therefore, discussing desired cup  size may also be inaccurate.

Best wishes.

All 38dDD bras are not the same and frequently patients are wearing the wrong size bra. However 500 grams will likely reduce your breast about 2 cups sizes although every patient frame is different and without examining you this would only be an estimate

Hi Misszee,

Excellent and fair question - hard to give a precise answer.

In GENERAL, it's about 150-200 grams per bra cup size, but it's less at the smaller end, and more at the larger end.  In other words, it's less than that to go from a AA to an A, and more from an F to a G (or the other way around).  Since a DD is an E, and a DDD is also called an F, you're basically two bra cup sizes above a D.  Depending on your height and weight and your frame, my guess is that a 500 gram reduction would take you down about 2-3 bra cup sizes.  Weight also depends on the density of the breasts.  For young women and/or dense breast tissue, 100 grams will be a much smaller amount (ie, will not reduce the cup size as much as) than for an older woman and/or fattier breast tissue (nothing personal, of course....)

So I cannot say for sure without seeing a photo and/or being able to examine you and, in fact, it's hard to be exact even if those conditions are met.

Ideally, you should have a frank and open discussion with your plastic surgeon about what you want and then be comfortable accepting a range of cup sizes, as long as you're reduced, lifted and the shape is appropriate for your frame.

I hope that this helps, and good luck,

Dr. E

It is impossible to give an exact cup size after 500 grams reduction.  However, the breasts would be smaller and the nipple position should be at or above you inframmary fold.  Your chest circumference should not change, but a guess is one cup silze less.  Good luck to you.

It is always difficult to predict an exact cup size after breast reduction or augmentation.  This is, in part, due to lack of comformity of cup sizes among manufacturers.  Having said that, if you are currently wearing a 36DDD bra, my best guess is that would be in the range of 36C/D with a 500 gram reduction.