What Is Inverted Nipple Surgery?

The nipples cannot protrude but are recessed inward, which is called nipple retraction. The degree of inverted nipples varies from person to person, and the milder ones only show varying degrees of nipple flatness or retraction, which can protrude or squeeze out the nipples after being stimulated. In severe cases, the nipples are completely trapped in the areola and cannot be pulled out. They are crater-shaped and often accompanied by secretions or odors. Even if the inverted nipple is squeezed out, it is usually small, often without obvious nipple and neck, and it is split. The incidence of female nipple depression is 1% to 2%. It is usually bilateral or only one side. The degree of nipple depression may be inconsistent. The nipple depression affects the appearance of the breast. In addition, dirt can accumulate due to the depression of the nipple. Or oil, causing infection or odor, more serious is that the inverted nipple makes it difficult for the baby to suck milk and lose breastfeeding function.

Basic Information

English name

nipple retraction

Visiting department

Breast surgery, plastic surgery

Common causes

Congenital development, or inflammation, tumors, etc.

Common symptoms

Inverted nipples, or without a nipple or neck, or buried under the areola

Causes of Nipple Recession

Inverted nipples are usually caused by congenital development, shortening of ducts in the mammary glands, contracture of fibrosis in some tissues, and poor development of smooth muscles in the nipples. Among them, breast duct shortening and tissue fibrosis contracture are the main causes of nipple depression.

Secondary nipple invasion (acquired nipple invasion) is caused by the pathological tissue in the mammary gland or the compression of the bra or chest. It is more common in diseases such as inflammation and tumors, which invades the ducts, ligaments, and fascia of the breast, resulting in contraction of the invaded ducts, ligaments, and fascia; unreasonable corsets or over-tight bras occur during adolescence, because The chest is tight, the blood circulation is not good, and the breast is underdeveloped and the nipple is sunken.

Clinical manifestations of inverted nipples

It can be divided into three degrees according to the depth of the nipple depression:

1. At one time, some nipples were invaded, and the nipples and necks existed, which could be easily squeezed out. The nipples were similar in size to ordinary people after extrusion;

2. The second degree is that the nipple is completely sunken in the areola, but the nipple can be squeezed out by hand. The nipple is smaller than normal, and most of the time there is no nipple and neck.

3. The third degree is that the nipple is completely buried under the areola, and the inverted nipple cannot be squeezed out.

Inverted nipples can easily cause diseases such as inflammation of the nipples and areola and inflammation of the breast. Severe inverted nipples cause invaded skin and mucosa with eczema. Bleeding, erosion, and chronic inflammation can occur. The mammary duct is in communication with the depression, and inflammation can spread retrograde infection into the mammary gland, causing mastitis. If the nipple depression is not corrected in time, the inflammation will be stimulated for a long time, which will cause the mammary ducts to contract due to chronic inflammation. The nipple depression will be more serious, and a vicious cycle is easy to form.

Inverted nipples severely affect breastfeeding. Whether the nipple is flat or invaded, it will inevitably affect the suckling of the baby, make it difficult for breastfeeding after delivery, or be unable to breastfeed. On the other hand, breast milk is accumulated because milk cannot be discharged, which may cause secondary infection of the breast.

Nipple Recession Treatment

Pull by technique

Adolescence is an important period for breast development, and it is also an important period for correcting nipple depression. Often pulling the nipple can make the nipples protrude, breast ducts, fiber cords, and smooth muscles stretch and extend, and the nipples naturally gradually bulge outward. But it takes a long time and it is done step by step to get good results.

2. Attraction therapy

Similar to the principle of manual stretching, the negative pressure suction device will cause the inverted nipple to stretch, so as to achieve the purpose of extending the breast ducts and fiber cords.

3. Surgical treatment

(1) Stent correction of nipple invagination So far, this method is the only surgical method that can retain the function of breastfeeding. The depressed nipple is fixed to the outer stent by a wire, and it is extended after 3 to 6 months of continuous stretching. Nipples, the purpose of correcting nipple depression. It is suitable for patients with mild, moderate and severe depression. This method does not need to make an incision on the skin, does not damage the ducts of the breast, can retain the function of breastfeeding, does not affect the feeling of the nipple, and has a low recurrence rate. The disadvantage is that the treatment time is longer, which may cause life inconvenience.

(2) Incision nipple correction surgery This method can be used for women who have given birth and do not consider breastfeeding in the future, or patients with recurrent episodes of local inflammation and severe depression caused by scar stretch. During the operation, the mammary duct was completely cut off, the sunken nipple was fully released, and the tissue flap was designed to fill the nipple root tissue defect to strengthen the support of the nipple.

Incisional nipple correction can be completed in one stage with short treatment time. However, the incision method requires disconnection or partial dissection of the mammary duct, which affects the breastfeeding function after operation; if the scar on the deep side of the nipple contractures, it will cause the recurrence of the inverted nipple.

Nipple Intrusion Prevention

If the inverted nipples are congenital, it is recommended that when the breasts begin to develop, they should be pulled daily to extend the nipples. Under normal circumstances, this method can effectively correct mild to moderate nipple depression. It can also relieve the severe nipple inversion. Because of the secondary cause of nipple inversion, you need to actively treat the primary disease, remove the cause of nipple invasion as soon as possible, and create conditions for surgical treatment.