16-year-old nipples haven't grown yet

Breast development is very important for women. Generally speaking, women's breasts will develop slowly after entering puberty. For example, a sixteen-year-old girl is in the stage of breast development, but some girls have not yet grown nipples. Usually, this phenomenon requires timely check-up in the hospital. After finding out the cause, actively receive treatment. The earlier the treatment, the better.

Why is it that my nipples haven't grown out at the age of 16?

Nipples should be innate. It is very abnormal to not have nipples at the age of sixteen. There may be inverted nipples or other problems. You must go to the hospital outpatient clinic to get treatment as soon as possible to avoid affecting future breastfeeding or appearance.

Symptoms of inverted nipples

1. The main manifestations of inverted nipples

One or both nipples are retracted beneath the skin of the breast. If there is periductal mastitis, the patient may have erythema or pain around the areola and a lump under the areola; if the nipple is inverted due to breast cancer, the patient's breast may suffer from skin diseases such as orange peel and armor-like skin.

2. People who are prone to inverted nipples

Primary nipple inversion mostly occurs in teenage girls, while secondary nipple inversion is more common in lactating women. Breast tumors may be accompanied by breast lumps and corresponding skin lesions due to milk duct dilatation or periductal mastitis.

3. Complications caused by inverted nipples

(1) Local infection. The inverted nipple makes local cleaning difficult and easily accumulates dirt, causing infection and chronic complications. Exudate will accumulate locally, and some even have symptoms such as foul odor and skin erosion.

(2) Difficulty in breastfeeding. Because the inverted nipple makes it impossible to clean the area, milk accumulates and may even cause acute mastitis due to secondary infection.

(3) Affects appearance. Inverted nipples affect women's appearance and require plastic surgery.

Causes of inverted nipples

1. Primary nipple inversion

(1) Smooth muscle dysplasia. The nipple has 15 to 20 lactiferous duct openings, and the lactiferous ducts are surrounded by smooth muscle fibers. The nipple is pulled inward by the muscle fiber bundles that surround the lactiferous ducts and insert into the nipple dermis. The texture of these muscle bundles is significantly different from that of the lactiferous ducts.

(2) Lactiferous duct hypoplasia. The immature lactiferous ducts fail to ductalize and appear as cords.

(3) There is a lack of supporting tissue under the nipple.

2. Secondary inverted nipple

(1) Caused by disease. Caused by contraction of invaded ducts, ligaments, and fascia.

(2) Breast malignancy. Women with normal breasts who experience inverted nipples without obvious cause should undergo mammograms and other examinations to rule out the presence of breast malignancy.

(3) Breast surgery. When using dermal pedicles in breast plastic surgery, nipple inversion may also occur due to tension and scar contraction.

3. Other common causes

(1) Clothing that is too tight. If women's underwear is too tight during the period of breast development, it is easy to cause nipple retraction.

(2) Improper use of bra. Wearing a bra that is too small, too tight, or too early can cause inverted nipples.

(3) Related to genetics. Clinical observation shows that if the mother and her maternal generation or grandmother has a history of inverted nipples, the next generation is more likely to suffer from inverted nipples than normal people.