Who is a candidate for Areola Tattooing ?
Many breast cancer survivors undergo major breast reconstruction surgeries including mastectomies of one or both breasts. Some surgeries only remove nipples and areolas according to the location and extent of the cancer. Besides enduring pain and emotional trauma, post-op cancer patients who have undergone breast surgeries often face disfigurement with irregularities in size, shape, pigmentation and scarring. And along with the gratification of surviving the disease at the point of reconstruction to return a woman’s body back to some semblance of normalcy, women often experience feeling overwhelmed by the emotional adjustment even after successful breast augmentation. This is because reconstruction that frequently replaces the size and shape of the breasts does not necessarily include the addition of nipples that in most instances are removed. For many women, this is a most critical part of feeling feminine and whole again.
How is Areola Tattooing different from regular tattoos?
Areola tattooing is a cosmetic enhancement procedure that actually consists of creating either one or both areola and nipples which are tattooed on an area of the breast or chest where the areola and nipples are normally found. Similar to the way that other tattoos use pigment that is deposited under the skin to create a permanent image, areola tattoos tend to be specifically detailed with regards to blending and feathering to achieve an extremely natural and realistic appearance. This type of tattooing which replicates an image of a natural body part is called medical micropigmentation and requires a tattoo license by a professional who is trained and skilled in this area and can only be performed in a licensed tattoo establishment complete with an additional biomedical waste license.
What’s involved with this procedure?
Whether these tattoos are performed to enhance an existing areola and/or nipple that has suffered disfigurement from disease, or to recreate an image from scratch when completely absent, many steps of the procedure are necessary to be established in order to achieve professional, lifelike results. These steps include considerations that are to be evaluated before the images are executed. To start, an initial consultation to examine the condition of the skin is then followed by the selection of color (which varies with each ethnicity and skin type), measurements for size and placement, and post-op instructions that are critical to avoid infection and to achieve optimal results.
Will this type of Tattooing look realistic?
After the preparation, areola tattooing still remains technique dependent and is subject to the level of talent of the medical micropigmentation artist. The most realistic images of nipples and areolas are ones that actually look three dimensional and exhibit natural characteristics. In this case, as with myself as a medical micropigmentation artist who has been a licensed professional in the cosmetic enhancement industry for close to thirty years, I have developed a technique of tattooing layers of pigment to “build out” an illusion of a three dimensional nipple. I do this with light and dark pigments in conjunction with natural nipple and areola colors to master the use of light, shade, contour and details.
The entire process of a patient’s experience with breast cancer from the onset of detection, to surgery, to recovery, reconstruction (including breast implants) and the final stages of tattooing of areola and nipple images can be an emotionally challenging and yet a deeply rewarding experience. I, myself, never lose sight of the fact that by the time a breast cancer survivor ends up on my treatment table for areola tattooing, I know that I am their final stage of their journey to feel whole again. And, for me, it’s an honor to be a part of this brave warrior’s path to ultimately regain her beauty and dignity.
For more information about areola and nipple tattooing and medical micropigmentation, contact us at 561-757-5814. Consultations are always private and complimentary. More before and after photos of Christina Davies’s lifelike images can be viewed upon request during the consultation process.
