Nipple is Tissue

For a while I couldn't understand why surgeons wouldn't just remove the areola and nipple, remove the tissue from the breast and then sew the areola and nipple back on.


First of all, the nipple is tissue that is predisposed to cancer, and according to one surgeon I spoke with, a high percentage of breast cancers occur behind the nipple.  That is a convincing reason to remove the nipple and areola all together.


Multiple surgeons have explained that when you remove the areola and try to replace it, it often undergoes necrosis and dies because there is no good blood supply after you sever it by removing it in the first place.  That is why if you want to save your nipple, you have an incision somewhere else to keep the blood supply to that area.