It is difficult to answer "how much" sensitivity you can expect to lose in your nipples after breast lift (mastopexy) surgery. My personal experience has been that most patients retain complete or near complete sensation.
In the initial postoperative period there may be temporary loss or decrease in sensation due to swelling. As swelling subsides the sensation will return. However, there is a possibility that you may experience a change in the sensitivity of your nipples and the skin of your breast. In fact, permanent loss of nipple sensation can occur after a mastopexy in one or both nipples.
Occasionally a patient will report that her nipples are "supersensitive." In this case desensitization, exercises can be preformed (gently rubbing the nipples with cotton ball and then progressing to a more course material) to diminish the sensitivity.
You can generally expect that your nipples will get as erect after surgery as they were before.
Mastopexy is not known to interfere with breast feeding. However if you are planning to become pregnant, I would suggest you defer breast lift surgery until after pregnancy . As your breasts enlarge during pregnancy the skin will stretch. Depending on the elasticity of your skin before pregnancy and the degree to which your breasts enlarge during pregnancy, your breast skin may permanently stretch. In this case the results of breast lift surgery performed before pregnancy would be lost. Therefore, I recommend that breast lift surgery be deferred until after pregnancy.
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Dear Dr. Bruck,
