Puffy Areolas: Is There a Fix? (photo)

Hello, thank you for your question. Your photos show pseudoherniation of breast tissue into the nipple areolar complex causing the puffy appearance. The most common reason for this happening is tuberous breast deformity, however your breasts do not appear to be tuberous, you may just have weak retaining ligaments in the areola that allows tissue to push forward.Can anything be done for this? Yes, a periareolar or donut mastopexy would allow the surgeon to release the areola from the surrounding breast tissue and resize and flatten it. The scar would be around the nipple. Problems with these types of lifts is that the scars tend to widen and there is potential that the edges would look irregular and that over time your areola will look bigger and bigger, which means another procedure down the road. Also, because we're working around the nipple, there is potential that you may lose sensation in the nipple or be unable to breast feed. If these are important to you, then you may want to wait. Implants should not make the issue worse in the long term... in the immediate postop period they may stick out more due to swelling and pressure from the implant on the breast tissue but then should sette down.Make sure to consult w board-certified plastic surgeons, I hope this helps. - Dr. Leong

The puffy appearance of your areolas is very normal.  Many woman have areolas that appear just like yours.  The breast tissue herniates to varying degrees through the areola.  I would say that your breasts have an attractive appearance overall.  If the size/shape of your areolas bothers you a lot, you could have an areola reduction performed with a purse-string suture around the reduced areola that also flattens it.  The downside of this procedure would be a scar around the areola, which does heal very well in many women, but it is still a scar that could take away from the natural appearance of your breasts.  If you were to get breast implants in the future, they would not substantially change the appearance of your nipples.  I would recommend an
in-person consultation with a plastic surgeon in your area to allow for a thorough
physical examination and to make more specific recommendations.
Ziyad Hammoudeh, MD