Nipple Tattoos and Nipple Reconstruction Surgery Tampa
Nipple-areolar reconstruction and tattoo, also known as stage 3 breast reconstruction surgery, is performed by Dr. Lee in our private office-based surgery center or at one of the local Tampa Bay hospitals that Dr. Lee is credentialed at.
During the mastectomy procedure, some patient’s breast cancer surgeons may recommend that they have a skin-sparing only procedure, meaning that the nipples are removed along with the breast tissue. For some women, the look or feel or not having nipples may have an emotional impact. Dr. Lee is able to surgically re-create nipples using the patient’s own skin, known as a Bell Flap.
Dr. Lee also performs nipple-areolar tattoos in the privacy and comfort of our Brandon, FL office, instead of a tattoo parlor. Rarely do you find a plastic surgeon that does their own nipple-areolar tattoos. Dr. Lee learned how to perform nipple tattooing while at University of Florida during his surgical training and he has invested time to perfect the tattoo technique so that his patients maintain continuity of care. At WLMD we have two tattoo systems. Dr. Lee uses sterile, one-time-use, ink and tattoo needles and our hand pieces are run through the autoclave for sterility. Nipple-areolar tattoos can be performed along with nipple reconstruction surgery or alone for those who choose to not undergo a full surgery. The nipple-areolar tattooing is a procedure that can be done in the office using local anesthetics in less than one hour.