Breast augmentation surgery is a big investment, and it’s important to protect that investment after the procedure with a top-quality bra that fits and supports that way a good bra should.
Mass production bras are usually not enough to provide good long term support for augmented breasts, so we send our breast augmentation patients to custom-fit bra shops within a week after their surgery. The fit specialists at these stores taught us a few things about how bras should fit, and offered up several pieces of helpful advise for finding the perfect bra size and keeping it that way.
Keep reading for our top 5 bra fitting tips for breast augmentation…
Top 5 Bra Fit Tips from the Pros
- The band provides the support, not the cups or the straps. A properly fitted band is the most important component of a properly fitting bra, but it is also the least understood and most commonly overlooked. Custom fit specialists will almost always size you smaller than you would size yourself at a mass production store, and sometimes that sizing difference can translate into a dramatically different fit and level of support. While this may not be an important consideration for smaller breasts, it is a key consideration for women with naturally large breasts, and especially to women with breast implants. A lack of support from a band that is too large will lead to premature sagging, or a complication called bottoming out where the implants overstretch the crease below the breast.
- Fit the band, not the cup. Another common misunderstanding in the world of bras is that cup size is a universal standard… it’s not, not even close. Every bra manufacturer determines what they believe a B cup is, what a C cup is, and what a D cup is. There is no agreement that a C cup from Victoria’s Secret is the same as a C cup from La Perla, or from any other bra manufacturer. The cup size is based on the band more than it is based on volume, so a D-cup with a band size of 29 can actually be smaller than B-cup with a band size of 34! The bottom line is that cup size is not how you choose a bra. Band size is the most important measurement, and this is what you should focus on after your surgery (with the help of your fit specialist of course).
- The band in the back should be lower than the underwire in the front. If the band is riding up your back, it means that it is not fitted properly. The straps will tend to fall off, and the underwire will sit below the natural crease under your breast. Again, this may not be an important issue for women with smaller breasts, but it’s a critical issue for women with breast implants. The underwire must fit perfectly in the natural crease under the breast to provide the support and shaping that new breasts implants need, and to avoid bottoming out (which can happen in as little as a few weeks with an ill-fitting bra).
- Don’t wear the same bra two days in a row. Wearing your favorite bras several days in a row is a common mistake that even savviest bra aficionados make once in a while. It’s important to rotate your bras daily to give the elastic a chance to bounce back and keep the band fitting snug, especially after breast augmentation surgery when perfect band position is critically important to protecting your new investment.
- Replace your bras every 6 months. Even if you rotate your bras like the experts advise, you should still replace your bras once every 6 months to ensure the best possible fit. Elastic will eventually wear out and lose it’s ability to bounce back from being stretched, so make sure you have a fresh set twice a year.
Nicholas Vendemia, M.D.
Plastic Surgeon New YorkMASNewYork.com
NOTICE: The information presented here is meant for entertainment and/or educational purposes only, and should never be considered as a statement(s) of fact, instructions, or medical advice.
Subscribe for weekly updates
Enter your email address to receive updates about the latest techniques, news, and special pricing from MAS.