Unable to breastfeed normally! What is the cause of inverted nipples?

As we all know, the most important part of the breast is the nipple. Although the areola is also important, it has no substantial function. The health of the nipple is the most important guarantee for breast milk. If the nipple is inverted, it is impossible to breastfeed normally. What is going on?

Causes

The occurrence of inverted nipples is generally caused by congenital development, shortened mammary ducts, fibrosis and contraction of some tissues, and poor development of nipple smooth muscle. Among them, shortened mammary ducts and fibrosis and contraction of tissues are the main causes of inverted nipples.

Secondary nipple inversion (acquired nipple inversion) is caused by the nipple being pulled by pathological tissue in the breast or by the pressure of a bra or a chest binder. It is often caused by diseases such as inflammation and tumors, which invade the ducts, ligaments, and fascia of the breast, causing the invaded ducts, ligaments, and fascia to contract; unreasonable chest binding or wearing too tight bras during adolescence, due to tight chest, poor blood circulation, poor breast development and nipple inversion.

Clinical manifestations

According to the depth of nipple inversion, it can be divided into three degrees:

1. Partial nipple inversion, the nipple neck exists and can be easily squeezed out. After squeezing out, the nipple size is similar to that of normal people;

2. The second degree is that the nipple is completely sunken in the areola, but can be squeezed out by hand. The nipple is smaller than normal and most of the time there is no nipple neck;

3. The third degree is that the nipple is completely buried under the areola and the inverted nipple cannot be squeezed out.

Inverted nipples can easily cause diseases such as nipple areola inflammation and mastitis. Severe inverted nipples can lead to mucosalization of the inverted skin accompanied by eczema. Bleeding and erosion may occur, forming chronic inflammation. The mammary ducts are connected to the inverted part, and inflammation can spread retrograde infection into the mammary glands, causing mastitis. If the inverted nipples are not corrected in time, the inflammation will be stimulated for a long time, causing the mammary ducts to shrink due to chronic inflammation, and the inverted nipples will become more serious, which is easy to form a vicious cycle.