For a 13 cm Diameter Implant How Large of a Pocket Should Be Made?

Taking into account that healing and capsule formation will cause a bit of scar tightening, leaving a bit of an "extra" space makes sense, and also allows your breasts to "move" naturally when you recline and stand. This allows softness and avoids (or decreases the chances of) hard, unnatural "Baywatch coconuts." Implant displacement exercises (often imprecisely called "massage") also help maintain a pocket that is a bit larger than the implant, allowing maximum softness and natural movement and "feel."

But this is something that is truly a surgical detail you shouldn't need to be worried about. After all, you can't be telling your surgeon how to do the dissection while you're asleep, and if you are concerned s/he may not be doing the pocket dissection properly, then you should be seeking another surgeon!

Still, this is a reasonable question, and your chosen surgeon should be able to answer this and a multitude of other details that reassure you his/her technical capability and precision is not something you need to be worrying about! For more information, click on the web reference link below. Best wishes! Dr. Tholen

The pocket size needs to be at least 13cm wide. There is more to be considered however. You want the implant centered behind the nipple, so you want the pocket to be 6.5cm to the outside of the nipple, and 6.5 cm to the inside of the nipple. The pocket can be wider toward the inside, allowing a bra to push the implants in, but you must maintain adequate distance from the mid-line to avoid symmastia. Also, you do not want the pocket too wide on thr outside, or implants will fall off to the side when you are supine. 

Additionally, you do not want the implant to extend beyond your natural breast tissue.

     Assuming a 13 cm diameter implant is a good fit for your chest wall and your breast imprint, a 13 cm pocket should suffice for a 13 cm implant.  Kenneth Hughes, MD Los Angeles, CA