Finding the perfect breast implant size for your body AND your goals [Katerina Gallus, MD, San Diego]

Eva Sheie (00:04):
Welcome to the podcast, Where Before Meets After. Submit your questions for our experts at wherebeforemeetsafter.com. I'm your host, Eva Sheie.

Dr. Gallus (00:15):
I'm Kat Gallus. I'm a plastic surgeon in San Diego, California.

Eva Sheie (00:20):
What is the first question most women have when they come to you for breast augmentation?

Dr. Gallus (00:27):
The question that we spend the most time discussing when someone comes to me for breast augmentation is size. I want to know what size implant they're going to put in and how they make that decision, and that's what I'm there to help them figure out.

Eva Sheie (00:41):
Is there a method or is there a process that you use to do that?

Dr. Gallus (00:45):
Yeah, it's a little bit based on their frame, on the size of their chest, on the width of their breast, on their goal size, on the amount of breast tissue they currently have, and then I often also ask for wish pics so I can get an idea, because when you say things like, I want it to look natural or I don't want to be too big, but you show me pictures that look otherwise, and we need to know what those terms mean. What does natural mean? What does not too big mean?

Eva Sheie (01:18):
What does natural mean?

Dr. Gallus (01:22):
I think it's interesting because when people pull swimsuit photos off of Instagram and they say, I want 'em to look natural, these women, most of those women have breast implants. I'm like, well, they have an augmentation. But so that's why it's helpful to know what that definition is. Often when women say they want to look natural, they're trying to say that they don't want to look too lifted, that they want a more natural shape to their breast. So not round globes stuck on their chest. That's kind of the look they're not trying to achieve.

Eva Sheie (01:55):
Does anyone ever ask you for that round globe look?

Dr. Gallus (01:59):
Yes.

Eva Sheie (02:00):
Do you go with whatever they want?

Dr. Gallus (02:02):
I think it depends. I think if it's somebody who doesn't have any native breast tissue and hasn't had children or hasn't had any weight loss, so they don't have any stretch in their breast, then you're going to, by definition get a little bit of that look anyway. So the larger the implant you put in, the more likely it's going to look like, I don't want to disparage any region, but the Orange County look, so that's what I call, I call that, which is some people want that look. That's okay.

Eva Sheie (02:31):
Do you see the same wish picks come in from certain celebrities? Is there a trend that you've identified there?

Dr. Gallus (02:37):
No. No. Because Instagram is so full of micro influencers and people in bikinis that there's no one person that keeps coming up to the top.

Eva Sheie (02:47):
Can you think of any that surprised you?

Dr. Gallus (02:49):
No. No.

Eva Sheie (02:53):
Okay. So are there limitations to how large or small you can go?

Dr. Gallus (02:58):
Yes. So the size, I've learned over time, you can go pretty small and still get a very nice result, and I try to encourage my patients to consider that. I have a class of women that are interested in augmenting their upper pole or adding a little bit of fullness to their breast, but they don't want to large implant. They don't want to carry that around. They don't want 'em in the way. And initially my concern was that if you're just going to put 150 ccs in or 200 ccs, is that going to make a difference? And you can definitely see a difference. I think, and it's exactly what those women want, and it achieves a really nice look. I would say most people end up in the 300 to 350 cc range depending on the profile of the implant. And that also makes a big difference.

Dr. Gallus (03:44):
And so when I see patients who are pushing for 500 ccs or more, I try to encourage them to consider the smaller sizes because over time, the weight of that implant is going to pull down and it just doesn't hold up as well as a smaller implant. And so we go through before and after pictures to look at, you know, you say if you come in with a specific size in mind, is that really what you want? Or you can kind of achieve this same look with a smaller implant, maybe a higher projecting implant. And then I just have women who are like, I want as large an implant as you can put it.

Eva Sheie (04:24):
Does San Diego have a look that's different from the Orange County look?

Dr. Gallus (04:28):
I would say San Diego tends to be more smaller implants, where people aren't automatically assuming that you have breast implants, so a more natural look.

Eva Sheie (04:36):
Natural.

Dr. Gallus (04:37):
Natural. Right.

Eva Sheie (04:38):
Got it. Where can we find you on Instagram?

Dr. Gallus (04:42):
I am at Restore SD, as in San Diego, plastic surgery.

Eva Sheie (04:46):
Sounds great. Thank you.

Dr. Gallus (04:48):
Thanks.

Eva Sheie (04:53):
On this podcast, we bring you directly to the doctors who are where before meets after. Links to our guest's website and contact info are in your show notes. Follow us on Instagram @wherebeforemeetsafter. If you're a board certified plastic surgeon and would like to be a guest or a sponsor of the show, go to wherebeforemeetsafter.com for more information. Where Before Meets After is a production of The Axis, the podcast agency for Aesthetics, theaxis.io.