Is inverted nipple
a concern?

inverted nipple

A slightly inverted nipple

Inverted nipples

Teenagers, pregnant moms, or women in general may be concerned about so-called inverted nipples.

An inverted nipple is 'turned inside' instead of pointing outside. It appears like a indentation in the middle of the areola.

Should I worry about my inverted nipple?

An inverted nipple is usually not of any medical concern as such. For most girls, it is only a cosmetic thing, and as such, you can for the most part have a peace of mind of it.

In fact, if you go look at our nipple gallery and breast gallery A and B, you will see how much women's nipples vary anyway!

However, the nipple inversion can also be a symptom of some medical conditions. This is only if it suddenly becomes inverted after first being erect (everted). This could be one symptom of breast abscess, mastitis, mammary duct ectasia, or even inflammatory breast cancer. So, in that type of situation you might want to see a doctor.

Also, an inverted nipple can make breastfeeding harder. The milk can still come out of the nipple, but it is harder for the baby to grab the nipple and suck on it.

Fortunately, inverted nipples often evert during pregnancy, as the adhesions at the base of the nipple that bind the skin to the underlying tissue loosen up and the skin becomes more elastic.

However, you don't necessarily have to wait for that, either:

Can I pull the inverted nipple out?

You can try. It is possible to "coach" the inverted nipple out so it becomes an 'outie' and everts.

To do this, one could try simple rubbing and nipple stimulation. Try massage around the nipple so as to loosen those adhesions. Try put both thumbs at the base of the nipple and then pull both of them outward.

Another possibility is to use a breast shell, or something called Niplette from Philips Avent company. These products exert a suction on the nipple which pulls the nipple out. When worn for a long time, this change can become permanent.

You can find more advice and techniques about everting inverted nipples at BreastfeedingBasics.com.

Surgery?

Plastic surgeons offer two kinds of corrective surgeries to make an inverted nipple erect. In one kind, the milk ducts are cut, and there is no chance of breastfeeding later. In the other kind, milk ducts are preserved. However, even in this second kind of surgery, the nerve supply to the nipple is cut, and this can make breastfeeding impossible.

Any surgery to the nipple area is therefore very risky, in terms of breastfeeding ability. Please think through this carefully, before opting for inverted nipple surgery. Some women find out too late (after the surgery), and are gravely disappointed that their ability to breastfeed has been taken away.

Pictures

inverted nipple

You can find other pictures of inverted/flat nipples on the following webpages:

Also, you can visit plastic surgery websites' "before/after" pictures for inverted nipples to see what inverted nipples look like. Note: any surgery and cutting to the nipple area is likely to affect breastfeeding ability.

More resources about flat / inverted nipples:

Flat or inverted nipples at AskDrSears.com
Advice on how to breastfeed with flat/inverted nipples. And, how to use a breast shell to try to draw the nipple out - which you can try use whether pregnant or not.

Flat or Inverted Nipples - a comprehensive article.

BREASTFEEDING WITH FLAT OR INVERTED NIPPLES

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Other people's comments

The following comments are from various visitors to www.007b.com. 007 Breasts is not necessarily endorsing everything written in the comments. The comments and opinions below belong to the commenters who made them. The comments are posted here because they might further help and encourage men and women who visit this website; however 007 Breasts is NOT responsible for the comments nor for any loss or damage caused by reading them.

EEEK I know inverted nipples are normal. But I still feel conscious about them! I just can't help it even though I know teenagers have a chance of growing out of them because I got it from my mum's side of the family. My grandma, mom and older sister all have them. I ABSOLUTELY hate them, even though they are normal.

Celina

I have always been self-conscious of my unusual nipples. I was confused about them. I have inverted nipples on the left side while normal nipples on the other side. I felt very embarrassed and ashamed of them. I'm single.
Your site has helped me understand more about my nipple.
Thank you so much!

I am so relieved to see that there are ways to possibly reverse inverted nipples. I actually only have one that is and it has always made me feel self-conscious and uneven since the other one is normal. It has also worried me for future breastfeeding purposes that I might only be able to from one side. This site has brought much relief, Thank you.

Anonymous

I have inverted nipples (as well as tuberous breasts) and have always felt very embarrassed and ashamed of them. I even had surgery to get them to become non-inverted, but the surgery didn't take and they re-inverted. However, every guy I've been with has not seemed to care at all and didn't see what I was making such a big deal about. They still thought my body was beautiful. So now they're exactly as they were, except now I have permanent scar tissue from the surgery, and they weren't such a big deal after all.

Anne

Hi, I'm Mary Jordan. I found your web site and it made me feel so much better about my breasts. To me, I have always had weird looking breasts, but looking at your site made me understand that breasts come in all different shapes and sizes and they all aren't the exact same. I have inverted nipples or none at all, I can't see them or even attempt to pull them out if they are there. My mom said she had the same thing and when she became pregnant she got hers. But it has always made me very self-conscious of them, never feeling beautiful with them. I showed my doctor one day because I was confused about them, and it didn't help that she gave me a weird look when I showed her them. Oh well. Your site has made me feel so much better about them, that I'm even willing to have my picture there to show other girls my age or older that my breasts are beautiful too. Thanks so much.

Mary.

I have always been self concious of my pale and inverted nipples since my early teens. It didn't used to bother me too much though because I always thought that they would maybe start to protrude over time. My mother's nipple protrude quite a lot and are very dark, so therefore I just believed that as I got older mine would follow suit.

However, as I did mature, my nipples stayed pretty much the same only darkening slightly. I have a really supportive man who has never said anything negative about them, and has never been able to understand why they concern me so much. This made me realise that if they don't worry him then why should they worry me? Many friends have seen my breasts and no one has ever said anything critical about them. Also my guy really likes them and the challenge of trying to get them to come out!

Despite this, by the age of twenty one I still felt inhibited by my inverted nipples and made enquiries about corrective surgery. While I was looking at information for surgery on the internet I came across this fabulous website! I am so pleased that I found it. It has saved me so much money, pain and insecurity, because as soon as I saw all the pictures of different nipples, I realised that I didn't need need to do anything drastic like surgery.

I've realised all women are different and that's a good thing. I also felt rather silly for worrying about them and what people thought of them for all of this time. I came to the conclusion that the only person who had a problem with my nipples was me!

I spoke to a friend recently who has very erect nipples and expressed how I had felt until I discovered this website. I was amazed to discover that she has always been envious of my nipples because I can go bra-less without worrying about them protruding obviously. So there can be a good side to every situation!

It's been a few months since I discovered this website and I can't thank you enough for the reassurance it's given me. I just hope that it helps other people as much as me, because we're all different and I now realise that is a wonderful thing.

You've made me feel so much better about myself - Thank You x

Claire

Female breast as a taboo

Breast health

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Breastfeeding

Baring breasts in public

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Is inverted nipple a concern?