Post Date April, 19 2023
Nipple retraction is a common condition that troubles many women, and many expectant mothers are worried about future breastfeeding issues. This is also a situation that we need to pay attention to.
Type of nipple invagination
1. Type I: The nipple is partially inverted, with the nipple neck present. It can be easily squeezed out by hand, and the size of the nipple after extrusion is similar to that of ordinary people.
2. Type II: All nipples are trapped in the areola, but when squeezed out by hand, the nipples are smaller than normal and there is often no nipple neck.
3. Type III: The nipple is completely buried under the areola and cannot be squeezed out of the invaginated nipple.
Does nipple retraction affect lactation?
Many people are concerned that inverted nipples can hinder breastfeeding. In fact, even if the appearance of the inverted nipple is not good, it is not directly related to the degree of lactation disorders. There are many expectant mothers with pseudoinverted nipples, which naturally recover in the early or late stages of pregnancy and become normal nipple conditions for mothers. As long as it can recover during pregnancy, regardless of the degree of previous depression, it will not affect the mother's own breastfeeding in the future.
The hazards of nipple retraction
1. Influence on breastfeeding: flat, invaginated and everted nipples are not convenient for breastfeeding, and nipple dysplasia, especially invaginated nipples, will affect the attraction of newborns, making it difficult to breastfeed normally. In addition, due to inverted nipples, newborns cannot contain nipples and milk cannot be sucked out, making them prone to dehydration. Patients with inverted nipples experience enlarged breasts during pregnancy, resulting in increased milk secretion and severe inverted nipples. Mothers also give up breastfeeding due to their own reasons
2. Affects breast aesthetics: nipple retraction affects the health and aesthetics of women's breasts, loses curve aesthetics, and affects the overall image of women.
3. Impact on sexual life: The nipple is also one of the sensitive points for women, and nipple stimulation can also help women reach orgasm. The inverted nipple can make it difficult for women to obtain effective sexual stimulation, and even affect men's sexual desire.
4. Impact on patients' mental health: Women with inverted nipples often feel uneasy, lack confidence, and worry excessively, which seriously affects women's mental health.
5. Impact on infant health and postpartum recovery of women: nipple retraction prevents sufficient breast milk, affects physical development, and affects health. For new mothers, postpartum recovery can also be affected.
6. Causes diseases such as nipple areola inflammation and mastitis: Long term nipple invagination compresses the lymphatic vessels under the areola, causing lymphatic reflux disorders and penetrating collagen tissue. In addition, nipple invagination causes epidermal cells and areolar secretions that detach from the nipple surface to not be cleared in a timely manner, stimulating the nipple skin and causing nipple areola inflammation. Severe cases can lead to mucosal degeneration and eczema of the invaginated skin, and some patients may experience erosion, bleeding, and chronic inflammation. The mammary duct leads to invagination, and inflammation spreads back into the breast, causing mastitis. If corrected in a timely manner, long-term stimulation can lead to the contraction of the breast duct due to chronic inflammation, causing more severe invagination and forming a vicious cycle.
