Smaller breast implants appear to have made their mark as one of the newest trends in plastic surgery.

As they say, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Culturally this holds true as we witness seasonal shifts in everything from clothing style to nail polish color. While plastic surgery may serve as a more dramatic step towards physical beauty, the industry as a whole is not immune to societal trends and influences.

According to Dr. Stanley Gulin, a cosmetic surgeon based in Naples, FL, the plastic surgery industry is seeing a shift in breast implant sizes. Bigger isn’t necessarily better and more women are seeking smaller breast implants than in the past.

“It’s a much more reasonable thing to just downsize, so I think there is a general trend,” Gulin said.

Aside from being a hot new trend, there may be additional benefits to choosing smaller implants says Gulin. “You have less wear and tear on the tissue, the breast just keeps its shape much better, you don’t have gravity working against that large implant.”

Dr. Manny Pena, another Florida based plastic surgeon agrees, and has noticed more and more women replacing their larger breast implants with smaller ones.

“Now I’m seeing people who have had bigger implants for 10-12 years, and they come in and say ‘I want something smaller, it’s affecting my lifestyle.”

Pena says he sees more than 20 women at his practice each year seeking to downsize their implants for various reasons, ranging from simply attaining a more natural look to decreasing low back pain often associated with larger breasts.

It appears that smaller breast implants are catching on, but remember that numerous factors such as overall body size and frame, as well as lifestyle should be taken into account when choosing your ideal breast implant size.