Potential side-effects of inverted nipple correction

Inverted nipple correction is normally very safe and effective, but there are a number of side effects which are possible following your surgery:

Mild Discomfort

Following your operation, when the local anaesthetic wears off, your nipple will be slightly tender and most of our patients experience moderate discomfort. The discomfort is normally managed adequately with oral painkillers such as paracetemol. Most of the discomfort will have settled in a week and you should not suffer any long term discomfort following your surgery.

Infection

Some patients, following inverted nipple correction surgery, may suffer an infection within their breast tissue. This is extremely rare and we perform over 200 hundred inverted nipple correction surgeries per year and very rarely see infections in the breast tissue. If infection does occur it may be because the milk ducts have been divided and a small amount of breast milk has leaked into the surrounding tissue causing an infection.

If infection does occur we would like you to contact us immediately on 0800 328 5743 and we can arrange for you to be treated with the appropriate prescription.

Bruising

Most of our patients experience some bruising in the nipple area following their inverted nipple correction. This is usually mild and does not need to be treated as it will resolve on its own. Bruise resolution can be speeded up by the application of arnica cream or Auriderm which is our recommended anti-bruise treatment.

Inability to Breastfeed

Following your inverted nipple correction surgery it is likely that your ability to breastfeed will be affected. If your inversion is Grade 1 then your surgeon will correct your inverted nipples by gently stretching the milk ducts in which case your milk ducts will still be open and will be able to convey milk from the breast glands to the nipple after which breastfeeding will still be possible.

If, however, you suffer from Grade 2 or 3 inverted nipples then, in most cases, your surgeon will need to divide the milk ducts in order to correct the inversion. If your milk ducts have been divided then there is no intact channel from the breast glands which produce the milk to your nipple and you will, therefore, be unable to breastfeed.

Overall, side effects following inverted nipple correction are rare and the vast majority are not a cause of major concern. The most significant side effect to consider following inverted nipple correction is that your ability to breastfeed is likely to be affected and you need to consider this carefully before deciding to go ahead with the operation.

Changes in sensitivity to the nipple after inverted nipple correction do not usually occur and your sensation should be as it was prior to your inverted nipple correction.