How big is too big?

If you’ve been thinking about getting a breast augmentation it can be hard to know where to start.

How do you know what size and shape to go for? And do you stay overnight or go home the same day? What about placement over or under the muscle? The options can seem limitless – and daunting.

And of course another big dilemma is choosing the clinic and surgeon which is right for you. How do you decide?

I have recently lost 20lbs due to a diet and lifestyle overhaul, and am delighted with my new figure.

However, as any woman in a similar situation will know, an unfortunate downside to losing weight is a corresponding reduction in the size of your breasts.

I’ve dropped from a DD to a small B, and it’s the one area of my body with which I am now less happy.

I have lost volume in the top of my breasts and, while they still sit nicely on my chest and are a nice shape, they feel small for my frame and I would prefer them bigger.

So I visited four London clinics for a consultation, to see what sizes and shapes I would be recommended, and to report on the experiences at each one.  And, more importantly, to see if I would decide to go for a boob job myself.

THE PRIVATE CLINIC

Clinic: Aurora (now part of The Private Clinic) Aylesbury Rd, Princes Risborough. Aurora Clinics, founded by Adrian Richards, is now part of The Private Clinic group, which has clinics nationwide.

Met with: Adrian Richards, Consultant Plastic Surgeon and Medical Director at The Private Clinic on Harley Street.

Was recommended: Nagor moderate profile 270cc implants fitted above the muscle (subglandular). Mr Richards and I felt this size was suitable and proportionate to my figure and would look ample and natural.

Consultation cost: Free. Follow-up consultations are also free.

Breast augmentation cost quoted: £5,030 without overnight stay.

Experience: Mr Richards and his team made me feel at ease and like I was in safe, experienced, professional hands from the onset.

Of all the clinics I found Mr Richards and his team most careful with causing offence using terms like ‘bust’ and with me showing clinic lead Aggie Oakley my breasts first before Mr Richards, which is a nice gesture.

I really loved the Crisalix 3D scan – which showed my breasts before and simulated them after with various sizes and shapes.

The new web-based technology delivers patients anatomically accurate images giving the best approximation of how they will look post-surgery.

Patient coordinator Melissa Corstorphine scanned my body with an iPad in about 15 seconds, the 3D image came up very quickly and we were then able to imagine my body with various size implants.

I was emailed a link to my 3D images (which helpfully rotate) which I could then forward to friends and family if I wanted them to help me decide or give me their opinion.

I finally tried on breast implants in a bra to just imagine them physically, and took away an Enhance Breast Boost Pack (£120) to try the 300cc – which took my bra size to roughly a DD – at home before coming back for a second consultation.

SURGEON BIO

Mr Adrian Richards is Consultant Plastic Surgeon at The Private Clinic of Harley Street and also Medical Director.

He qualified as a doctor in 1988 and has been in plastic surgery for more than 12 years.

He has been a so-called ‘super-specialist’ in breast augmentations for the past 7-8 years and performs 5-600 operations a year including uplifts, nipple correction and reductions.

Aurora is now part of The Private Clinic, who specialise in non- and minimally-invasive cosmetic procedures, and Mr Richards is Medical Director.

Mr Richards has been seen on Channel 4’s How Not to Get Old and Bodyshockers.