How to Get Larger Breasts: A Richmond Plastic Surgeon Explains Your Options
Enhancing breast size can be a powerful way to feel more in sync with your body and femininity. Whether you’re hoping to restore fullness after pregnancy, balance your natural proportions, or achieve a curvier figure, it’s important to understand your breast enlargement options—including those that don’t involve implants!
Richmond plastic surgeon Dr. Sharline Aboutanos performs a range of proven procedures to safely enhance your breasts with natural-looking results. In this post, she explains how breast implants, fat transfer, and breast lift surgery can help you get larger breasts, and how she carefully tailors each plan to support long-lasting, beautiful results.
Understanding Your Breast Enhancement Goals
Before exploring your options, it's important to consider what you hope to achieve.
Are you looking to restore volume lost after pregnancy and breastfeeding?
Do you want to balance asymmetrical breasts?
Or are you simply seeking fuller, more proportionate breasts?
Your specific goals will help guide which treatment approach is most suitable for your needs.
Our approach: Dr. Aboutanos believes that breast enhancement is most successful when it complements your natural anatomy and feels right for your lifestyle. During your consultation, she will take time to listen, review before-and-after photos together, and explain what is both achievable and realistic based on your unique body.
Because she recognizes how personal this journey can be, Dr. Aboutanos creates a safe, supportive space where you can explore your options without pressure or judgment.
“Dr. Aboutanos has excellent bedside manner. Most importantly, when I asked for a hug, she did not hesitate. I haven’t had a doctor make me feel this good in a long time. Thank you Dr. Aboutanos. I plan to see you again real soon for another procedure.”
–5-Star Review for Dr. Aboutanos
Your Options to Increase Breast Size
Breast Augmentation: The gold standard for breast enlargement
Breast augmentation remains the most reliable and effective method for significantly increasing breast size, and also happens to be one of Dr. Aboutanos’ favorite procedures. During a breast augmentation procedure, Dr. Aboutanos places implants beneath the breast tissue or chest muscle to create fuller, more shapely breasts. With proper care, modern breast implants can last many years, and most patients enjoy long-lasting satisfaction with their results.
Read more: Is 50 too old for breast implants?
Saline breast implants
The first step to achieving a larger breast size with implants is to decide which implant type is right for you.
Saline implants are filled with sterile salt water and can be inserted through smaller incisions. They tend to cost less than silicone implants and allow for minor adjustments in size during surgery.
They may feel slightly firmer than silicone implants and are more prone to visible rippling, especially in patients with thinner breast tissue. It’s important to choose a qualified board-certified plastic surgeon who takes additional care to avoid implant wrinkling and minimize the appearance of ripples if they do occur.
Silicone gel-filled breast implants
Silicone implants come pre-filled with a cohesive silicone gel. Today's silicone implants are designed to provide a lightweight, soft look and feel that closely mimics natural breast tissue. They also tend to ripple less than saline and are often a better choice for women with thinner breast tissue.
One consideration with silicone implants is that ruptures may be more difficult to detect, since the gel remains contained within the breast capsule and the breast does not visibly “deflate.” For this reason, the FDA recommends periodic imaging (with MRI or ultrasound) to monitor implant integrity.
Implant Placement
There are several implant placement options that Dr. Aboutanos will help you choose from. Above the muscle (subglandular) may be ideal when there is enough natural tissue to cover the implant and when a rounder appearance is desired. Below the muscle (submuscular) often looks more natural in thinner patients and helps prevent visible rippling at implants’ edges. Dual-plane placement (partially under the pectoral muscle) or subfascial placement (over the muscle but beneath a thin layer of connective tissue) are options that carry some of the benefits of both.
Choosing the right implant size
Selecting the appropriate implant size is one of the most important steps of any breast augmentation procedure, and many patients find it to be a bit overwhelming. It’s not a decision you have to make alone—Dr. Aboutanos will help you decide the right implant size for you. She considers several factors when helping her patients choose their perfect implant size, including:
Your current breast tissue
Chest width and body frame
Lifestyle and activity level
Personal aesthetic preferences
During your consultation, she’ll guide you through the implant sizing process using sample implants and sizing bras, helping you visualize how different volumes and profiles will look and feel on your body.
Read more: Can I go up a single cup size with breast augmentation?
Implant Profile (Projection)
Your implant’s profile affects how much it projects from your chest. It might help to think of it as your breast implant’s side view. Low profiles offer a soft, broad slope. Moderate profiles provide balanced fullness, and high profiles create more upper-pole volume.
Fat Transfer Breast Augmentation: A natural option for a modest size increase
For women seeking a more subtle increase in breast size, fat grafting (also called fat transfer) offers a natural alternative. Unlike breast augmentation with implants, this breast enlargement technique uses your own fat, harvested with liposuction from areas like the abdomen or flanks, which is purified and carefully injected into the breasts. It also provides an additional body contouring benefit in the areas where the fat is removed.
Fat transfer breast augmentation is a great option for those who have sufficient donor fat and are at a stable weight. If you’re considering this breast enlargement method, however, it’s worth noting that because there is a limit to how much fat can be transferred successfully, results are more conservative (about 1+ cup sizes) than the volume boost possible with breast implants. Some patients may undergo more than one fat transfer in order to achieve their desired results.
During fat transfer breast augmentation, Dr. Aboutanos places the fat in layered, precise amounts to add volume and improve contour.
Combining procedures for comprehensive breast enhancement
Combining Breast Augmentation With Lift
If your breasts have lost shape or started to sag due to pregnancy, weight changes, or aging, Dr. Aboutanos may recommend a breast lift with implants. This approach restores both volume and a youthful breast position in a single surgery, while consolidating your recovery time and creating a harmonious outcome. During your consultation, Dr. Aboutanos will help you determine if combining procedures is the best way to reach the breast shape and size you desire.
Breast Augmentation with Liposuction
To further enhance your figure and achieve an even more noticeable transformation, you may choose to add liposuction of the waist and abdomen to go along with your breast procedure—a combination that’s often called a “mommy makeover”. Some patients also may opt to get “mini” liposuction of the small fat deposits along the bra line or around the underarm to complete their new look.
Read more: 5 Procedures to Combine with Liposuction
Choosing the right surgeon matters
Undergoing any kind of breast enhancement is a highly personal decision. Selecting a board-certified plastic surgeon with the experience, compassion, and aesthetic eye to help you achieve your desired outcome is one of the most important steps of your breast surgery journey.
Dr. Sharline Aboutanos, a board-certified plastic surgeon in Richmond, VA, brings her thorough expertise and commitment to patient safety to every breast procedure. She takes extra care to personalize your procedure to your anatomy and goals.
If you’d like to learn more about your breast enhancement options, please schedule a consultation with Dr. Aboutanos by calling (804) 355‑3410 or submitting a contact form online.