What Can You Do when Your Nipple is Gone After a Breast Reduction

Without an examination or
even photos, it is impossible to give an accurate opinion. The good news is
that there is almost always away to
address and improve your current condition and expressed concerns. For
the best advice return to your surgeon for his/her opinion.

I am sorry to hear that.  It is not good news at all, I'm afraid.  Today, we try to use techniques that preserve the nipple attachment to the underlying tissues.  It sounds like you had your nipples grafted, which leaves them without feeling or function, and jeopardizes their survival. 

There are techniques to reconstruct nipples, but they are never as good as what you had and do not have function and only minimal sensation.  This involves folding the skin in the area where your nipple should be and grafting some pigmented tissue around it.  You can still get a cosmetic result that is at least better than having no nipples.

Dear Sandra,

I am so sorry this happened to you. Unfortunately, this complication is not uncommon using old standard techniques. You will have to wait until you are fully healed, then at a later time consider nipple/areola reconstruction. It is a very simple procedure and gives women a nice result.

Loosing nipple sensitivity and loosing areolas/nipples altogether made me re-design how I did reductions. With my innovative technique, women with extremely large breasts not only keep their own areolas & nipples, but they also have increased nipple sensitivity. This is because I never take their nipples off! I preserve the vascular trunk that allows them to survive.

Pls. don't let this minor set back get you down. Be patient, allow your body to heal itself and allow your surgeon to help you. Best wishes, Dr. H

Nipple grafts were sometimes used in very large breast reductions when the surgeon was not sure if the blood supply to the nipple could be preserved.  In such situations the nipple would then be grafted.  As with any skin (or nipple) graft, sometimes it doesn't all heal perfectly.  You should wait until the healing is complete.  If necessary, your plastic surgeon could perform additional surgery to reconstruct your nipple.

Sincerely,

Martin Jugenburg, MD

If you underwent free nipple grafting, the graft could die but your explanation is unclear. Definitely see your plastic surgeon for followup. The nipples can be reconstructed if they have been lost but this may not have occurred. You could be seeing epidermal changes and the nipple grafts may still be viable.