Areola Pigmantation (tattoo)

About Areola Pigmentation (Tattoo)

Breast Cancer has become ubiquitous touching the lives of women and their families throughout the United States and the world.  Breast reconstruction has given many women the ability to restore their sense of femininity after mastectomy.  While there are many options in breast reconstruction (including using breast implants or using a woman’s own tissue to reconstruct a breast), all methods end with the reconstruction of the nipple and the areola (pigmented skin around the nipple).

This final step of reconstruction is an easy in-office procedure that can be completed in under an hour.  The procedure is virtually painless and restores the circular pigment around the reconstructed nipple.  For patients who are cared for from beginning to end at our Park Meadows office, the pigment of the areola is chosen prior to mastectomy so that a close match can be obtained at the completion of reconstruction.  Some women elect to choose a darker or lighter color than their original nipple areola color, making the experience a truly customizable procedure.

The pigment is permanently placed using “tattooing” techniques.  As with any tattoo the pigments will tend to fade with time and acquiring the precise shade may require more than one pigmentation (tattoo) procedure. 

This final phase of reconstruction often serves to transform the reconstruction into a breast that is truly your breast.  This enables many survivors to lay their cancer burden down and move forward in life with restored femininity.

Perhaps you have had your breast reconstruction elsewhere and are just looking to have tattooing completed; we can absolutely see you and determine a color that is appropriate for you.  This procedure is done under local anesthetic and is done in our affiliated Park Meadows Outpatient Surgery center.  We encourage you to come in for a consultation today.