Every woman should feel good about herself – have enough self-confidence and be satisfied with what she sees in the mirror. It’s not all about looks, but if it’s appearance that could make you gain that much needed self-esteem, then you should do something about it.

One of the most common appearance issues revolves around a woman’s breast size. Quite often we see women undergoing some very extreme surgery in order to increase their breast size, which will, ultimately, bring to their new and improved self-respect. But is that really the right answer for you?

If you are considering undergoing a breast enhancement procedure, you have a lot to think about. You need to think about why you want the surgery and what’s involved with it. You have a lot of research to do, and the information you find out there is often conflicting and sometimes biased. That’s where we come in. The information and articles you will find on this website are intended to help you understand everything involved with breast enhancement – from basic breast health to the ins and outs of the various procedures to what sorts of emotional issues you may face. We have all the information you need to help you make the right decision.

Breast Enhancement Without Surgery

Many women seek breast enhancement without surgery. Perhaps they just want a little more cleavage for a special occasion, or perhaps they just want their breasts to be a little bit firmer. Often they want to avoid the expense and hassle of major surgery. No matter what they are seeking, the options for breast enhancement without surgery are many.

Bras: Every woman has a favorite bra, that one special bra that makes her breasts look like the very essence of voluptuous womanhood, so every woman knows how well bras can work as breast enhancement devices. Sometimes a woman will luck into that special enhancing bra, not particularly looking for anything other than a harness for her breasts. Usually though, luck is hard to come by in the bra department. For those women who prefer not to leave anything to chance, there are many, many bras specifically designed for breast enhancement. There are bras with gel implants and bras with foam implants for augmentation; there are bras with serious structure for lift; there are push up bras for cleavage; and there are minimizing bras for reduction. Whatever the issue, there is undoubtedly a bra that will resolve it.

Exterior Prosthetics: Perhaps all women experimented with falsies at some point in their lives, even if it was just as young girl with socks stuffed into her training bra. The world of breast enhancement prosthetics has come a long way since toilet paper, with most prosthetics made of self-adhesive silicone or silicone bra implants. Prostheses come in different weights, shapes, and skin tones, and some are even made with special material to keep you cool. These days prosthetics even come with molded nipples for added veracity. Women who are using a prosthesis, not for enhancement, but for reconstruction purposes, such as after a mastectomy, will need to purchase special prostheses and bras to hold them. Most enhancement prostheses are not full breasts, most reconstruction prostheses are.

Exercise: Exercise won’t make your breasts look bigger, but it will make your make breasts – along with the rest of you – look better. Your breasts will appear firmer, higher, perkier, and possibly even bigger in relation to your new, smaller waist. Weight bearing and posture exercises are best for breast enhancement. Swimming is excellent, too, and provides a great overall workout.

Hormonal Treatment: Hormonal treatments can be natural, which usually means herbal, or synthetic. Herbal breast enhancement treatments usually contain plant estrogen, estrogen stimulants, or estrogen mimickers. Their effects are usually temporary, usually only lasting as long as you continue the treatment, and subtle. The best known synthetic hormonal treatment is the birth control pill (though it is not usually prescribed for breast enlargement purposes), which contains the sex and reproductive hormones that control breast development. There are hormone treatments specifically designed to grow breasts, but such heavy doses of hormones are usually reserved for trans-sexual men or women with severe hormone deficiencies. Either way, hormone treatments work best when they are ingested, so be sure to go for pills rather than creams.

Pumps: There are many different types of breast pumps, so it’s important to know which type you’re getting – you cannot use your breast milk pump to plump up your breasts while you feed baby. Although, for as well as they work, you may as well try using the breast milk pump. The breast enhancement pump works by using a small computer to create suction inside cups you attach to your breasts (usually they are held in place with a bra). You have to wear the contraption for several hours a day for weeks. Makers claim the suction stimulates hormone production and creates vacuums in the breast tissue that fill with blood and fat. Uh, yeah, right. The suction probably does cause blood to rush into the breasts, but the effect is temporary.

Masques: Breast enhancement masques will not enlarge or reduce your breasts, but they will make them your breasts more attractive. Décolletage masques, like facial masques, will reduce the appearance of blemishes and wrinkles and will reveal new, younger-looking skin. You can purchase breast creams and masques in stores or over the internet or you can use just about any type of face masque. For even more fun, you can make your own breast masque.

Hypnosis: Hypnosis claims to work by causing the breast to engorge with blood, If it works, its probably extremely temporary – like only last an hour or two, tops. It seems to be relatively safe, except maybe to your wallet, so if you feel like wasting money, go ahead and try it. Otherwise, your better off with any of the other alternatives here.

Breast enhancement without surgery works best for women who are already quite satisfied with their breasts, but just want to improve them slightly or temporarily. All the above options (except maybe hypnosis) promise results from the subtle to the obvious, without having to endure surgery, for the woman who just wants to give her breasts and herself a little pick me up.

Considering Breast Augmentation Surgery?

Breast augmentation surgery is becoming a more and more accepted procedure. These days, it seems like every woman’s doing it and no one woman is ashamed. Of course, there is no reason to be ashamed. The decision to have breast augmentation surgery is a highly personal one that not everyone will understand, but if you are doing it for you – to make yourself happy – then no one needs to understand but you. Chances are you are making the right decision. Or are you? Before making a final decision, please consider these health and financial implications.

Of course, you’ve probably already researched all the physical complications that arise out of breast augmentation surgery. There are the usual risks associated with any surgery – excessive bleeding, anesthetic reaction and infection – and then there are the risks associated with specifically with breast augmentation surgery. There is swelling, scarring, stretch marks, itching, breakage, leakage, hardening, tissue necrosis, calcification and fibromyalgia in the breasts. Some women develop rheumatologic and neurological symptoms or chronic flu symptoms. Bacteria and mold can grow in saline implants.

Aside from these complications, pain can become a major issue for women who have had breast augmentation surgery. Many women describe the pain immediately after the surgery as worse than childbirth. Generally, the pain subsides after few weeks, but some women continue to experience extreme pain and discomfort. Nipples, if they don’t lose sensation, can become hypersensitive, even making it difficult to wear clothing. The scar tissue surrounding the implants themselves can harden and squeeze the implant, causing pain. Sometimes there is shooting pain down the arms and chronic aches in the chest, back and arm areas (fibromyalgia).

It is true that breast implants do not cause breast cancer. Again, breast implants do not cause cancer. However, they do make it more difficult to detect breast cancer. Implants interfere with mammograms and digital exams. Further, women who have undergone breast augmentation surgery are more likely to have calcification in their breasts, which can confuse breast exam results. If you do get implants, always alert your physician before he or she performs a breast examination on you.

There are important financial factors to consider before undergoing breast augmentation surgery. The surgery is not cheap – usually a couple thousand U.S. dollars – and it is not covered by private health insurance. Aside from the initial cost, breast implants are only designed to have a life span of about 10 years. They must be periodically replaced, and MRIs are required to determine when (unless, of course, you are alerted to the need for a replacement for the rapidly decreasing size of one or both breasts – don’t laugh, it does happen). Replacement surgeries are more complicated and expensive than the original surgeries and private health insurance usually doesn’t cover them either, even if the implant is ruptured or leaking.

Plastic surgeons often tell women considering breast augmentation that if they aren’t happy with the results of the surgery, they can always have the breasts removed. This is true, but if you don’t like the way your breasts look before breast augmentation surgery, you are definitely not going to like them afterwards. Of course, your natural breasts will be even more saggy and may bear stretch marks – basically you will have prematurely aged your breasts. This may all be related to the most worrisome consequence of breast augmentation surgery: suicide. Several studies have shown that women with breast implants are at least three times more likely to commit suicide than women who have not.

There are many, many women who undergo breast augmentation surgery and are perfectly happy with it. To increase your odds of success, be sure you know exactly what you’re getting into with breast augmentation surgery – both the pros and the cons.