Is “Designer Nipples” a Real Trend in Cosmetic Surgery?

Trends come and go, even in the field of aesthetic plastic surgery. One attempting to emerge is “designer nipples,” or simply nipple-correcting procedures. Is there a niche available for such a trend? Board certified plastic surgeons discuss on the latest episode of No Spin Live.

Nipple Correction – A Real Issue?

As cosmetic surgery continues to rise in patient numbers and popularity, sometimes strange niches form to capture some of the wind from the sails. Nipple correction as a “trendy” procedure may be new, but to plastic surgeons the procedure is fairly routine when it comes to breast augmentation.

“I don’t really have a problem with it, but I think we’re making too much of an issue of these kinds of specific procedures – which many of us do in conjunction with our breast augmentation or other breast procedures,” shares Dr. Steven Camp, a board certified plastic surgeon in Fort Worth. “I think it’s too much hype for something we do every day.”

Board certified plastic surgeon Dr. Jason Pozner of Florida agrees: nipple correction is a routine procedure during breast surgeries.

“You know it’s funny,” he begins. “I read this article about these designer nipples and this doctor who sees 18 patients a day for nipple correction. You’ve gotta be kidding me! It’s something we do on a routine basis. I see inverted nipples, I do the same thing he does – I like to pierce them, I think it works really well to stretch the nipples. Although last week I had the weirdest request I’ve ever had in my life (a patient wanted heart-shaped nipples), I haven’t really seen any uptick in business based on these trends.”

Drs. Pozner and Camp highlight the small aspect of nipple correcting in the bigger picture. While it is important, and even critical in some patients, it is but one component of larger, more complete procedures.

Marketing in Aesthetic Plastic Surgery – Not Always a Friend

When a field begins to grow in popularity, outsiders or fringe practitioners see opportunity for success. Slick marketing can be used to drive trends and business when surgical skill and reknown aren’t available. For nipple correcting procedures – again, routine components of breast surgery procedures for experienced surgeons – there may not really be an actual niche, but that won’t stop some from trying.

“He’s just trying to create a niche,” says Dr. Charles Messa, a board certified plastic surgeon also in Florida. “Like everyone said so far, we all do inverted nipple repairs, nipple reduction, and areola surgery. It’s all about giving the patient an aesthetic look that’s more pleasing to them.”

The attempt to create this niche does at least have interested customers. The procedures are real, the results could be real (assuming there was an actual issue to begin with), and the money is real. Whether or not this survives past a multi-month trend is yet to be seen, but for the experts, there’s nothing extraordinary being brought to the table. Neither for surgeons nor patients.