Does My Nipple Have to Be Removed After a Mastectomy?

Breast cancer is a difficult and emotional disease to face. Finding out that not only do you have breast cancer, but you also need to have a mastectomy can make the diagnosis feel even worse. While intuitively, you know that your oncologist is looking out for your best interest by recommending a mastectomy, you still can’t help but feel a sense of loss as you are going to lose a part of your body that accentuates your womanly shape, and that you may have even used to feed your children. Not only that, but knowing that even with a breast reconstruction, you will lose sensation in your breast can make the grieving process of a mastectomy recommendation even more difficult.

However, today’s oncologists and breast reconstruction plastic surgeons like Dr. Fusi & Dr. Craig of Houston Fusi & Craig Plastic Surgery are able to offer Houston breast cancer patients more treatment options than ever before. And today, it is possible for Houston women who meet certain criteria to have a nipple sparing breast reconstruction, allowing them to keep their natural nipple and areola, and minimize scarring on the breast.

Nipple Sparing Breast Reconstruction Explained.

You may have already researched the breast reconstruction process. If so, it’s important for you to know that a nipple sparing breast reconstruction is performed differently. With a Houston nipple sparing breast reconstruction surgeon, a smaller incision is made around the areola, through which your breast surgeon will carefully and skillfully remove your breast tissue. As a result, the majority of your natural breast skin – and its nipple – remains intact. This breast skin serves as a kind of envelope or shell for the nipple sparing breast reconstruction and is filled either with your body’s own tissue if you are having a flap breast reconstruction, or a breast implant if you are having an implant-based breast reconstruction.

Am I a Candidate for a Nipple Sparing Breast Reconstruction?

It’s easy to understand that since a nipple sparing breast reconstruction provides better aesthetics, that many mastectomy patients would desire this procedure over a traditional mastectomy and breast reconstruction. However, a nipple sparing breast reconstruction is available to Houston women who:

• Are having their breast reconstruction performed at the same time as their mastectomy;
• Have relatively small cancerous cells;
• Have cancerous cells located several centimeters away from the nipple in one area of the breast; and
• Have small or medium sized natural breasts that are not sagging.

Learning More About Nipple Sparing Breast Reconstruction

A nipple sparing breast reconstruction is a relatively new surgical procedure, one that not every plastic surgeon performs. If you are a Houston woman interested in having this procedure, know that both Dr. Fusi & Dr. Craig of Fusi and Craig Plastic Surgery are skilled in nipple sparing breast reconstruction.

To learn more about this breast reconstruction option, and to schedule a consultation to see if you are a candidate for one, call Fusi & Craig Plastic Surgery today at (713) 346-9909.