Tuberous Breasts

This is a relatively common condition that most women don’t like to talk about and can have a damaging impact on their self esteem.

Usually caused by a lack of development in the breast tissue during puberty, it leads to the breasts to grow in a tube shape. They can also appear asymmetrical, droopy and unusually far apart.

Tubular breasts: Am I suitable?

Tubular breasts can affect both breasts or just one and are divided into categories of severity as follows:

Grade one

The more mild form of tuberous breast deformity may be apparent only when the crease under your breast is notably higher on one side than the other. The breast will usually appear slightly smaller.

Often this is very hard to detect and some patients undergo a breast enlargement surgery without realising until afterward, when the enlargement causes the deformity to be much more obvious and can even result in a marked double-bubble appearance to the breast.

Grade two

This is described as moderate and there is a more marked abnormal appearance in terms of size and the level of the crease under the breast. There is a wider gap between the breasts as the inner part of the breasts hasn’t matured properly. The affected breasts can appear more elongated and point downwards.

Grade three

This is the most severe form and it is crucial to see a specialist breast surgeon as many general surgeons will not have the appropriate experience. The lack of development relates to all round the breast, leaving just a narrow base for the breast to have developed from. The breast will appear very elongated and droopy and the nipple will appear long and sausage-like.

Tubular breasts: What do I have to do to prepare?

This can be a challenging condition to treat so it is essential you chose your surgeon wisely. Some surgeons are breast specialists who only perform breast surgery.

Your surgeon will give you instructions to help you prepare for tubular surgery and these may include guidelines on eating and drinking, smoking, and taking or avoiding certain vitamins and medications.

Tubular breasts: What’s the treatment like?

Each case is different and requires an individual approach. Grade one tubular cases are addressed by releasing the constricted tissue internally, using a series of internal cuts within the breast tissue. Grade two and three cases might require a combination of constriction release, uplift, nipple reduction or resizing and breast augmentation.

Tubular breasts: What about after?

The recovery time and results will be dependent on which technique or combination of techniques have been used – click on breast augmentation or breast reduction for more information.

Tubular breasts: Are there any risks or side effects?

The risks or side effects will be dependent on which technique or combination of techniques have been used – click on breast augmentation or breast reduction for more information.

Tubular breasts: What will it cost me?

The cost of surgery to treat tubular breasts is much higher than other breast surgeries, reflecting the complexity of the procedure. They can vary from £5,000 to £10,000 depending on the degree of severity.