One side of the nipple is inverted and the other side is normal

If the nipple has symptoms of inverted nipple, it will have a relatively large impact on women. First of all, this breast deformity will make it difficult to clean the nipple, which will bring certain hygiene problems. In addition, if the nipples are inverted, it will cause certain difficulties for women to breastfeed their children after giving birth. Therefore, if you find that your nipples are inverted, you must seek treatment in time. Below, I will introduce you to the relevant knowledge about inverted nipples.

The occurrence of inverted nipple is generally caused by congenital development, shortening of mammary ducts, fibrosis and contracture of some tissues, and hypoplasia of nipple smooth muscle. Among them, mammary duct shortening and tissue fibrosis and contracture are the main causes of nipple inversion.

Secondary nipple inversion (acquired nipple inversion) is caused by the nipple being pulled by pathological tissue in the breast or compressed by a bra or breast binder. It is often seen in diseases such as inflammation and tumors, which invade the ducts, ligaments, and fascia of the breast, causing the invaded ducts, ligaments, and fascia to contract; unreasonable breast binding or wearing too tight bras occurs in adolescence. Due to tight breasts and poor blood circulation, it causes breast hypoplasia and causes inverted nipples.

2. Clinical manifestations

According to the depth of nipple inversion, it can be divided into three degrees:

1. Partial nipple inversion, nipple neck exists, can be easily squeezed out, after squeezing out the nipple size is similar to that of normal people;

2. The second degree is that the nipple is completely sunken in the areola, but it can be squeezed out by hand. The nipple is smaller than normal and most of the time there is no nipple neck;

3. The third degree is that the nipple is completely buried under the areola and the inverted nipple cannot be squeezed out.

1. Manual traction

Puberty is an important period for breast development and also an important period for correcting inverted nipples. Regularly pulling the nipples can make them protrude, stretch and lengthen the mammary ducts, fiber cords and smooth muscles, and the nipples will naturally bulge outward gradually. But this requires a long time and gradual progress to achieve good results.

2. Suction therapy

Similar to the working principle of manual traction, the negative pressure suction device is used to pull the inverted nipple, thereby achieving the purpose of lengthening the mammary ducts and fiber cords.

(1) Stent-based nipple correction surgery. So far, this method is the only surgical method that can preserve the breastfeeding function. The inverted nipple is fixed to an external stent with a steel wire. After 3 to 6 months of continuous traction, the purpose of lengthening the nipple and correcting the inverted nipple is achieved. Suitable for patients with mild, moderate and severe degrees of depression. This method does not require making an incision on the skin, does not damage the mammary ducts, can preserve the breastfeeding function, and will not affect the sensation of the nipple, and has a low recurrence rate. The disadvantage is that the treatment time is long and may cause inconvenience in life.

(2) Incisional nipple correction surgery can be used for women who have given birth and do not plan to breastfeed in the future, or for patients with recurrent local inflammation and severe inverted nipple deformity caused by scar traction. During the operation, the mammary ducts are completely cut off, the inverted nipple is fully loosened, and a tissue flap is designed to fill the tissue defect at the root of the nipple to strengthen the support for the nipple.