The nipples that are tucked into the areola are removed with a small breast surgery procedure that clears the nipple out of the breast.
The umbilical nipples are due to a congenital malformation. The mammary ducts are too short and the nipple is tucked inside the breast. The nipple is then totally invisible or not very prominent.
More rarely, nipple invagination can also occur after breast plastic surgery or reduction surgery and after breast abscesses.
The operation is performed under local anaesthesia on an outpatient basis and lasts a maximum of 45 minutes.
The surgeon makes a small incision of two or three millimetres at the base of the nipple and cuts the galactophoric ducts to free the nipple.
Post-operative pain is very mild. There is a slight edema that disappears after ten days and a decrease in nipple sensitivity for a few weeks.
The resumption of daily activity is possible after two days.
If the mammary ducts do not regenerate after the operation, subsequent breastfeeding may not be possible.
The result is visible immediately, but it takes two to three months for the final shape of the areola to become clearer.