Nipple Surgery

Inverted nipple correction

Inverted nipples are quite common, affecting around 1 in 10 women, but most are not often aware of this issue. Inverted nipples are sometimes regarded with a degree of embarrassment, although there is no reason for this.

A shortening of the milk ducts usually causes inverted nipples. If your nipples have recently become inverted or if you have any associated symptoms, such as a lump in your breast or discharge from your nipple, then it is important that you see your General Practitioner (GP) to make sure that there is no medical cause for your nipple inversion.

Non-surgical treatments such as the Nipplette device are useful as a temporary solution but it is not a permanent solution.

The benefits of surgery:

• Permanent correction of inverted nipples is more predictable with a minor surgical procedure.
• Inverted nipple correction surgery is very successful in most cases.

Inverted nipple correction is a simple procedure that can be done in 30 minutes under local anaesthetic with minimal scarring and minimal downtime. The milk ducts that are tethering your nipple inwards are either released or divided. This allows your nipple to come out and lie in its normal position. Dissolvable internal stitches are used at the base of the nipple to hold it in position whilst it is healing.

NB: The inability to breastfeed afterwards is the main downside of inverted nipple correction and is something you’ll need to consider carefully if you are planning to have a family and would like to breastfeed.