Nipple Loss from Breast Reduction and Lift

Nipple loss with breast reduction is a known complication, but is very rare. Smoking, poor nutrition, very long breasts with low lying nipples are all risk factors. Making sure you are choosing a board certified plastic surgeon with experience doing this procedure also helps to minimize your risk for complications.

Anything can happen from surgery and you need to be aware with the riks involved. This happens in less than 1% of cases when it is the first surgery. That percentage goes up dramatically when the patient has had previous breast surgeries like prior breast augmentation and/or prior lift. In the secondary cases, it is no possible to entirely predict this which is why the percentages are higher.
This is secondary to inadequate blood supply to the tissue, in this case the nipple.
Hope this helps.

It is difficult to explain this concept but I tend to use oversimplifed analogies. Loss of a nipple is secondary to compromise of the blood supply during an operation. Removing breast tissue also removes some of the blood vessels traveling from and to the nipple. This would be similar to trimming the root ball of a tree. How much of the root ball would need to be cut before the plant dies? What happens if you hit the tap root? Removing too much of the breast tissue can also excise the blood vessels traveling to the nipple resulting in nipple death.