Breast augmentation or augmentation mammoplasty is certainly the most talked about cosmetic surgical procedure in the world today. The surgical method to improve the size and the shape of the female breast was first introduced to the world in the 1960s and it has undergone a sea change since then. Everything, including the procedure of making the incision to the material used in the breast implants, has undergone a radical change. Also, its popularity has increased by leaps and bounds. Breast augmentation is no longer the enigmatic 'something' that Hollywood women do with their breasts spending truckloads of money; today it is a very affordable cosmetic enhancement which is done by a vast number of average American and European women.

Breast augmentation is the favored method of women today over the various other techniques that exist for enhancing the breasts. One of the prime reasons is that despite the heavy cost, the augmentation provides definite results, which are immediately visible to the eye. The method does not require a long-time commitment and effort on the part of the woman, as is the case with breast enhancement exercises, massages and herbal methods. Women can be up and about their business in about a week, and then they can forget their implants altogether, apart from when they would need to go in for a corrective surgery, which would be no more than four times the entire lifetime of the woman.

These are the advantages that are making women think about augmentation surgeries seriously. But one main question hounds them when planning for the surgery - what would the most suitable size of the implants be.

In order to effectively answer this question, let us look into the changes in the trends the female breasts have undergone over time. In the sixties, i.e. around the time the breast augmentation surgery was first developed, men preferred the curvaceous look in women, with a little fat. The leading ladies in films that time were a bit plump by modern standards. This was the time of the buxom look. However, times have drastically changed now. Young women nowadays prefer the petite look. They would not mind if their breasts are nothing to write home about. This ideology changes, however, as the woman steps into her thirties. This is when most women tend to become a bit traditional and want to have big breasts like the women in the good old times. This actually explains why women between the ages of 35 and 40 are the prime customers of breast augmentation surgeries.

Therefore, the woman wanting to go for a breast augmentation surgery would need to make a very concise decision beforehand whether she needs to go for the Elizabeth Taylor look or the Gwyneth Paltrow look. There is also the Pamela Anderson look, but then that is for women who are actively working in the glamour business.

Doctors state that no woman should go in for an augmentation of more than two cup sizes than the size of her original breasts. There are many stated benefits of keeping this limitation. One of them is that the woman will not look too big for people who are familiar to seeing her often. Very big breasts on small women could be off-putting to several men and, instead of gaining on sex appeal, the woman could lose it. Even biologically, bigger breasts would mean more hormonal upsets in the body. The huger breasts could exert pressures on the underlying muscles and feel quite rigid when moving. This could have adverse effects. The woman herself would feel uncomfortable with the sudden increase in her bust.

It is not necessary to go for a very voluptuous figure to make the breasts look sexy. Statistics among men reveal that they are turned on by better toned breasts than by bigger ones. This kind of toning can also be achieved through augmentation, and also by simple techniques such as massage and exercise. Hence, women could ideally go in for a smaller sized implant in proportion with the size of their bodies, and then work on improving the quality (shape) of the breasts.

When holding the preliminary discussions with the surgeon, one necessary point to discuss would be whether the implants would cause a loss of sexual sensation in the breasts. This happens if the implants are too big, as they could exert pressure on the breasts. This is one more reason for not going in for big shaped breast implants. Even when going in for corrective surgeries later on in life, it must be remembered not to increase the breast size by too much of an amount.

The most important aspect about breast augmentation is that the woman must feel comfortable with her breasts. Some women could feel initially awkward with the enhanced breasts, and hence her man should be supportive till she adjusts with the change in her anatomy.