Nipples or no nipples??

I can't decide either.

I plan to get some temporary tattoos to experiment with anyway.

I do like the soft round profile, and not having to wear a bra, and am worried about the "headlights-on" appearance of newly constructed nipples ..... then I'm worried about them flattening out (go figure!), or worse, only ONE flattening out!

Can't make up my mind.......

http://cancervictory.com/products-page/product-cat...

Take a look

I am in the no nip category. I always hated mine and would wear siliconeprivacy shields in my bra (mine were large and I found them embarrassing). Even though my surgeon said he could save mine, I told him to throw them out. I do not miss them at all.

I have made the decision to get 3 D nipple/areola tattoos. As far as reconstructed nipples I don't want to go under anesthesia for a 3rd time and nor do I want the headlights on at all times!

Do you think it is possible to get the tatts, ..... and then do the surgical reconstruction afterwards if you decide that you do want it after all?

I never realized you could order those. Now that I saw this, there are tons online, even have them on ebay. I'm going to order some just to see how they look, nothing to loose, guess I've already lost all there is at this point. I'm a uni, so don't think I can match them up but looks better than that blank expression. There is a youtube with one brand, they show them applying and it does look better than nothing.

Good evening ladies! I was able to spare one nipple and had the other reconstructed. I am very happy with my results! My PS is a perfectionist, so the match is quite amazing. I do not always have that "headlights on" look. My reconstructed nip is soft enough to be barely visible under a shirt braless, but I do not look cold. The mental healing that occured for me after getting the new nip was amazing. I felt "whole again", if this makes sense. I traveled to Vinnie's shop in Maryland and Paul Bessette, who works with Vinnie, did my nip tat (the match on the tat to my natural side is amazing). I am extremely happy and content with my recon choices.

It is worth the expense to travel to Vinnie, Paul, or Trent in Maryland. The deciding factor for me was a woman in my support group. She had her tat done in her PS office. Within a year it had completely faded away. PS tats are done with cosmetic ink, which is prone to fading. Vinnie, Paul, and Trent's tats are done with permanent tattoo ink. I did not want to have this done over and over again through the years. I needed it to be done once and for all. Forgot to mention before, my nip was from a skin graft from my hip. I think this is what has helped mine not flatten away to nothing. It is new "extra" skin, not skin from my chest that is "stretched" and thus wants to go "back" to its original location.

Chiming in here as one who has had nipple recon. I had BMX and DIEP flaps, my PS took skin from my abdomen, grafted it on my new breasts and then made nipples 6 months later. I told him that I was used to flat nipples and did not want large nipples with "headlights" on all the time. He said, "So you just want little nubbins then?" in his cute very British accent. LOL!! YES!! Little nubbins! And that is exactly what he gave me.

My nipples are small, very soft, and are only slightly noticeable through a tight top and ONLY when I am braless. I'm going to see Vinnie in May for tattoos because I was concerned that my PS office would only give me "pink circles". After all I've been through, I wanted to look not only complete, but damn GOOD!

Three years ago I had a BMX with immediate DIEP reconstruction.  This surgery left me with oval shaped scars, actually more like a lollipop with a straight line pointing towards my armpits.  I also had 'dog ears' at the end of the abdominal scar.  Last year I had my surgeon clean up the scar tissue, fix the dog ears and make nipples.  He did a terrific job.  When pulling the skin together to make origami nipples, he reduced the circumference of the oval part of the scars.  The nipples themselves fit my breast size perfectly.  While protruding at first, they settled down nicely.  In a tee shirt with no bra, there is a suggestion of a nipple.  No headlights, but a very slight mound. 

This summer I went to the micropigmentation specialist at the PS office to have tattoos.  She did a terrific job!  She  used the scar to define my areolas and incorporated the scars into the design. My husband thought the scars had faded.  While not really a 3d tattoo, she gave enough texture and variation in color to add dimension to my new nipples.  The tats have not faded, but she did offer to do a touch up (free) in a year if necessary.  And she charged less than half of what Vinnie does.

I am very pleased with the whole process. I am glad I did it!

My PS reconstructed a nipple to match my natural one. I had an LX that removed a large section of tissue with the nipple, so the area is a little concave. She used the origami technique and tattooed the areola. This gave a little lift and firming to the nipple and tidied the scars.

My natural nipple is "on" much more than the constructed one. Part of that is the dip from lost tissue. I should have had fat transfer, but didn't want a more complex surgery at the time. If it bothers me in another year, I might.

She did a very good job matching the nipple color, which has to be very difficult. She used tattoo ink, so it is fading very slowly and is still a little darker than the other after almost two years. What I don't like is that she made the areola too large and the color is splotchy. She did it all in one surgery, which surprised and pleased me. It was great to sleep through the whole thing. But I think she might have done a better job if in two stages.

So I am thinking of going for a touch up to Jeff in Chicago who does 3D tattoos nipples at Northwestern. He also works out of a local parlor. One of the gals on the Illinois Women with BC thread used him at Northwestern. I think the cost was $300. My RO isn't crazy about me going to the parlor, he'd rather I go to Northwestern because of the radiation. I had mild issues with localized infection after the nipple surgery which was likely directly caused by the radiated tissue. And I have chest LE, so that's a complication also.

I just had nipple reconstruction last week. The nipples are very large and I was told by my Dr to try and keep the nipples "up" so they wouldn't flatten. I called several medical supply store's but could not find anything that was made for nipple reconstruction. I went to Wal-Mart in the nursing section and.found contact nipple shields. using the shield along with gauze and tape seem to help but now I have to go back to work and I'm not sure what I'm going to do. I still don't think nipple reconstruction is all that great.