Constricted or tubular breasts tend to be too narrow with a breast crease that is too high. Tight ring-like bands of tissue around the areolae and nipples may create the appearance of protruding or puffy areolae. A higher than normal breast crease may make your nipples appear to be too low or down pointing. Constricted breast features can be very mild or severe. In fact, mild variations are relatively common. To summarize, the features can include:
- Inframammary fold (breast crease) too high
- Inframammary fold misshapen
- Breasts too narrow (disproportionately narrow base width)
- Insufficient breast skin
- Constricted or tubular shape, resulting from tight bands of tissue within breasts
- Protruding or bulging appearance of areolae (pigmented area around nipples)
Improvement is possible and generally includes a breast augmentation, sometimes combined with a lift (mastopexy). The lift is sometimes limited to an incision around the areola. During the procedure, I release the tight, constricting bands from the inside, allowing the skin to expand properly. I sometimes lower the inframammary fold to a more ideal position and improve its shape. Breast implants help create the right amount of volume and improve breast contours, resulting in a more rounded or teardrop shape. In some cases, I have been able to fix this with just fat grafting in milder cases.
