Different Breast Implant Sizes for Slightly Asymmetrical Breasts?

One of my breasts is A cup and the other is AA. When I breastfed, my A cup breast was a lot bigger than my AA cup breast (the larger one was probably a DD and the smaller was medium C). I am considering getting breast implants and although you can't tell the difference much  (because they are now both so small), I am worried that the difference will be much more noticeable after augmentation, just like when I was breastfeeding. If one size only makes a slight difference, then shouldn't I get a slightly larger size in my AA breast?

Doctor Answers 16

Different implant sizes

You can have two different sized implants if you want bigger breasts overall, and the size will be selected to achieve better symmetry in size. Talk to a board certified plastic surgeon for more advice.

Correction of Breast Asymmetry.


Breast asymmetry is of special interest to me, and I have written about it. Three points:

1) The reason your breasts became more different when you were breast feeding is that your smaller breast responds less to hormones. That's why it is smaller in the first place! That certainly will not happen with breast implants.

2) You sound like an ideal candidate for correction of breast asymmetry with implants. It is important to understand that the difference in size between one breast and the other is always LESS than the novice thinks. You may just need an implant that is 50 cc's larger in the smaller breast.

3) In NYC, we use disposable implant SIZERS during surgery to see exactly which implants will give you the best symmetry. Only then do we open the permanent implants from our inventory. This step takes all the guess work out.

George J. Beraka, MD (retired)
Manhattan Plastic Surgeon
4.8 out of 5 stars 9 reviews

Breast asymmetry options

3) You can enlarge both but use different size implants

Management of Breast Asymmetry


There are many different methods to manage breast asymmetry including: different implants or fill, lifts, reductions, etc.

The approach you suggest is reasonable. Be prepared that it may take more than one operation to achieve the best possible result.

Otto Joseph Placik, MD
Chicago Plastic Surgeon
4.9 out of 5 stars 72 reviews


Depending on the size discrepency, a same size implant may be all that is needed with more saline in the smaller breast.  On the other hand, if the difference is significant, two different size implants will be required.  Only exam can tell.

Asymmetric Breast Size in Breast Augmentation

First understand that symmetry does not exist in nature. All women are asymmetric in terms of all body parts especially breasts. So this is the norm that plastic surgeons deal with for each augmentation. During a consultation for augmentation the surgeon must estimate the size difference and plan accordingly. The use of sizers in the office helps.

The use of saline implants allows for very small changes in implant size. Silicone implants have fixed sizes at a minimum of 25cc's. But even though we try our best to correct the asymmetry there will always be differences in the breasts. It is essentially impossible to make asymmetric breasts symmetric. There are too many postoperative changes that occur with the tissues.

Correction of breast asymmetry

Volume is only one factor to consider when trying to determine the optimal correction for breast asymmetry. The anatomy of your breasts, as well as implant dimensions, specifically height, width and projection also play a major role in bringing about symmetry.

For example, a low profile implant, for a given volume, may be more than 2 cm wider than the same volume in a high profile implant. To compensate for that, the high profile implant ends up proving more projection and more upper pole projection. Even though the volume may be the same, the breasts will look very, very different. Even for the same style of implant, in some cases, a small volume disparity looks better than a different sized implant, because of the disparity in implant dimensions. The amount of asymmetry will help you and your plastic surgeon make the best decision for you.

You would really benefit from an evaluation by a board-certified plastic surgeon. Best of luck!

Different breast implant sizes can be placed

In cases of breast reconstruction after a mastectomy we often place different sized implants to improve assymetry.

However, please understand that more than 1/2 of all cosmetic surgery patients I see have some degree of breast assymetry. In the majority of cases we use the same size implant as the percentage difference becomes smaller as the breasts become larger.

For example: If one breast was 100cc to begin with and the other was 110cc and you placed two 300cc implants. The final size would be 400cc and 410cc. That small of a difference would not be noticed.

The intial 10% difference, becomes only a 2.5% difference after the 300cc implants were placed. If you chose a saline implant, you could potentially add extra fluid to the smaller impant.

But remember, your breasts are sisters, they are not identical twins.

Darrick E. Antell, MD
Manhattan Plastic Surgeon
4.6 out of 5 stars 28 reviews

Asymmetry can be corrected

It is not a problem to treat women with breast asymmetry. In fact, many women have different size breast. For smaller volume differences, it often is corrected just by the breast augmentation procedure with equal size implants. For example, if you have one breast that is 200 grams and the other is only 100 grams, if you add 300 gram implants to both you end up with 500 grams on one side and 400 grams on the other. So in this example, without using different implants, we are reducing the difference from 50% to 20% just by adding equal volume to both.

Of course, we could always use a larger implant on one side if it would improve the symmetry of the result. Whether with saline or silicone gel implants, the options still exist to correct breast asymmetry during breast augmentation.

Steven L. Ringler, MD, FACS
Grand Rapids Plastic Surgeon
5.0 out of 5 stars 57 reviews

Asymmetry of breasts

If the breasts are not that different in size, I usually use the same size implant for both sides. If they are silicone gel , then the volume is the same. If I use saline implants, I can overfill one to compensate a bit. The difference between the two breasts will also appear less so as you go larger with implants. In other words if a 200 cc implant is placed and say you have a 25 gm difference between the 2 breasts, then it would be more noticeable than if a 300 cc implant was used. The 25 gm difference would make up less of the total volume.

Steven Wallach, MD
New York Plastic Surgeon
4.1 out of 5 stars 24 reviews
