Nipple Reconstruction

If you have reconstruction using skin from another area of your body, skin will be taken from the newly created breast, the opposite nipple, your ear, groin, upper inner thigh or buttocks. A small incision is made in the reconstructed breast as well, so the new nipple can be attached. The surgical technique that causes the least alteration of the shape of the breast is called a skate flap. This involves cutting some of the skin and soft tissue on the reconstructed breast and folding or twisting the skin, then rotating its position to create the nipple.

There are other techniques that include a C-V flap, Arrow flap, Bell flap, which all involve some distortion of the newly created breast mound. Because the nipple is made from a skin donor site, it is the wrong color. To compensate, the nipple is tattooed to match the color of the areola. In addition, a skin graft from a location such as the upper medial thigh or an abdominal scar is used to create the areola. An alternative is to tattoo the areola on the newly constructed breast. Because of color matching, it may require several different tattooing sessions in order to get the color to match. Click here to learn more about alternative nipple surgeries, like Inverted Nipple Correction Surgeries.