I had
A MINUS cup and always wanted to have bigger breasts since my 20s so I can look good in my clothes, thus always been curious about breasts augmentations. But from past conversations with friends and watching some programs (especially the Taiwanese ones), the indescribable pain they shared always stopped me.
But I always know I will want to do it locally if I
ever want to do this because I feel that it is such a
major surgery, in case of any complications. Someone I know, finally did a breast augmentation surgery locally, and shared how painless it was for her, that inspired me to find out more!
I consulted her doctor first but did not feel comfortable. He is highly recommended by even other doctors and so quite famous. I googled for reviews and, if you made it to this website, it will probably be the same names/clinics coming up. I made 3 other appointments - Dr Colin Tham from Colin Tham, Dr Samuel Ho from Allure and Dr YC Tan from SW1. I did not consult Dr Shens from Shens clinic as I read some bad reviews online.
It was a really tough decision as all 3 was equally good in their pitch. I decided to proceed with Dr YC Tan from SW1, (because all 3 doctors are equally accomplished and very friendly, I based my decision on other factors) one of the reason being the really nice nurse Peggy, who made me felt really assuring. Another is the technology they use to image the body after the procedure. Honestly, it was still very hard to imagine how my body will be like (**the old school method where they make you wear the implants in a bra is still a good idea to have a rough feel on how it would be), but if they are willing to invest in advance technology, I feel that their theatre will be as well-equipped. Lastly, is how insanely nice the clinic was!
**I wanted to share on the before-and-after-feel of "wearing the implants in a bra". In case you are going for a doctor that uses this method and wondering if the end product feels the same. I tried it at one of the clinic's consultation and I find that it was a good way to gauge bodily how it would look and feel like. When I tried it, it felt heavy and I was worried about the weight. But now that I have it in my body, it does not feel as heavy as it did when I "wore" it.
All 3 doctors highlighted the risks involved clearly. There are definitely risks involved for any surgery, and particular risks to the respective surgeries to be done. It is really up to individual to weigh this for themselves.
I was also very surprised to know that breast augmentation is a day surgery. I always thought I need days in hospital. This also shows how minor this surgery can be these days. Throughout the process this far, I also realised other points to consider which doctor to go for is what type of implants, where to put the implant through and how wide the cut should be. With the 4 doctors I met and online research, I decided to go for mentor implants, under-boob cut and length of cut is not a consideration to me because I want the implants to be placed best without the doctor's restriction on length of cut.
Next tough decision was the size to go for. I was worried everyone will know I had done a boob job and be the talk of the town, so wanted to do a
full B at max. After chatting with the doctors, I realised they don't exactly go by cup size but by volume. And volume will differ as it adds on to what you have. So if you have some boobs originally, the volume might be smaller to achieve the size you want. After consulting the few doctors, their recommendation was average at 400cc because I am tall, so it will look natural. There was also the projection and the height of the implants to consider (as implants are 3D). It was hard to imagine how it will be on myself still because I did not know what cup this was and for some reason I did not clearly ask the doctor too, maybe because they kept advising me based on volume.
SW1 is using the 3D system where they take a photo of your body and allow you to try all the different sizes (by volume, by height, by projection). This allowed me to understand better on what the doctor mean by height and projection as I always thought is just one thing -
size.
I finalised at 410cc with height and projection suggested by Dr Tan (based on chest measurement) because I have no clue on whats what. I suddenly did have boob greed and wanted bigger. But he maintained that 410cc will look best on me without looking fake.
One of my key fear is pain. Dr Tan advised that the first day feels like I had done 500 push-ups kind of chest soreness, and it will go down from there. I do exercise and know how soreness is like and feel that it sounded manageable.
Fast forward to day of operation, I was extremely nervous. But I felt really assured and comfortable after I arrived at the clinic. The nurses were very professional and friendly. They must be doing this day-in-day-out, yet they made me feel like it is an important day for me and not just another patient. The efficiency was impressive and I fell "asleep" midway chatting with Dr Tan about music. Next thing I know, I woke up with 2 nurses in a glass room facing my resting room. This is very important because I had a another surgery long time ago and I remembered I woke up struggling to find help. The nurses came in to check how I was feeling and assured me everything went well. I did not feel any pain when I woke, just tightness around my chest as it was binded. I did not dare to touch my boobs but it felt hard. They guided me on the chest exercises (raise arms and pull arms back to stretch the chest muscles) I need to do, and ok, this was really painful. The feeling is similar to when I did my gym leg exercises and I had to climb stairs after, the soreness kind of pain (I don't really do push-ups or chest exercises and so I wasn't able to relate to 500 push-ups soreness).
I arrived at clinic at 8am and left at 2pm. For the first day, any movement to my chest area (ie when we crossed the hump in the car) caused this incredible soreness pain. I needed to do the chest exercises every hour for next few days. It was really a torture on first day. But second day was better, and by third day I was feeling back to normal.
I had to wear the binding cloth to push my boobs lower for a few weeks. I was initially excited that I can save time/effort/detergent on laundry as I would not be able to wear bras for few months. But this laundry happiness was short-lived as I realised how insecure I was with my nipples exposed. And my nipples became hyper-sensitive, which made it hard to use nipple tape. So I wore a thin bralette, which was still nice as I no longer need my super padded push-up bras.
I was given a mobile number that I could call or message any time I had any issue. I was given all the review dates and it all went well.
It's been almost a year since I did the surgery. My hard boobs from day one has soften much, and I understand that it will still continue to soften. The sensation to my bottom half of my boobs is still weak (as Dr Tan did explain before too, it feels like you touching your skin with a tissue on top), but I expect it to recover in time to come as it was totally numb after the surgery. I am now a D cup, but it is not the D cup I thought I will look to be. I always thought D cup will be very in your face, but honestly, it is not. There's one thing I also realised through all these are, implants will not be soft like fats in real breasts, so there is no "jiggly" breasts when you move. It is firmer and perkier, which is good in its own way as it does not sag. And to create a deep cleavage (for now), I need to use the stick-on bras to push it together.
Only close friends I tell, know that I have done the surgery. Even my own family does not know (maybe because I wear T-shirts at home and not singlets that exposed too much). We even had a formal family event where I wore a low-cut dress, but I guess before this, I always wear super padded push-up bras for my fake cleavages and thus, the illusion of my boobs was there. But it also shows how natural and suitable the breast augmentation went. The only joke I say whenever I see Dr Tan now when I see him for the reviews is, I should have gone for bigger. I am really happy to have my "natural" breasts that looks good in bikini (side boobs!) and everything I wear without bras now!
So if you are reading this and considering the surgery, I will say go for it. But do your own research and meet with a few doctors to decide who to go for. If you are torn between the doctors, I will really like to recommend Dr Tan based on my great experience above.