Every day, thousands of women type the same words into a search engine ("nipple reconstruction after mastectomy", "3D areola tattoo", "options after breast removal"). They are looking for a way to complete their care journey and to regain an areola and a nipple as close as possible to what they had before.
I know this question from the inside. My mother went through it. And I have been looking for a way to be useful from the other side.
I started with 3D nipple tattooing. Because it was a way of giving back, at least visually, what surgery had taken away. I believed in it. Truly.
Then I discovered medical-grade silicone moulding. It completely changed the way I saw things when I saw the effect it had on my mother, and also on other women. I can tell you that when you see a woman cry with (positive) emotion because she is reconnecting with something she thought she would never see again, you no longer look at things the same way.
"Giving a woman back the exact imprint of her own body is something other than a prosthesis."
Nipple reconstruction, an option that should be accessible to all
When you reach the end of the journey, after the chemo, the operations, the radiotherapy, the reconstructions, the question of the nipple comes last. As if it were a detail. As if the shape of the breast were enough.
But no. The nipple is what makes the breast recognisable. To oneself. To the gaze. To the touch.
The 3D tattoo, however beautiful, remains an act that takes you back there. At this stage of the journey, women no longer want to suffer or revisit what they have been through. They want to let go. To turn the page.
The custom-moulded silicone prosthesis, by contrast, is gentle. It is silent. And above all, it is true. Not an approximate reproduction, but the exact imprint of what was there. The precision of medical-grade silicone goes all the way to the touch, in a way that is quietly striking. We are no longer in the visual alone.
That is why I am working so that every woman can take her own imprint at home, before the operation, wherever she lives. So that the promise of finding herself again does not depend on a postcode.
Taking the imprint before mastectomy, a promise from the very beginning of care
What if surgeons offered taking the imprint before the operation? Not as a formality. As a promise. The promise of finding, whatever happens, a part of herself at the end of the path.
Imagine what this changes, psychologically. It is no longer just a removal. It is a round trip. You leave, then you come back with this small something extra.
"Something other than simply putting on a prosthesis is at play. What is at play is the question of recognising oneself again and picking up where everything stopped."
I have seen women, at the moment when what was missing is put back, have a reaction that I would not know how to describe other than coming back to themselves. Not to before. Not to who they were. But to something essential, intimate, that still belongs to them.
This gesture, taking the imprint beforehand, could be integrated into the care pathway. Not as a luxury, but as a full act of care in its own right, offered to all, from the very beginning.
Because healing is not only about surviving.
It is also about finding yourself again.
Read this article if you want to learn more about the healing power of nipple tattooing.
FAQ · Nipple and areola reconstruction after mastectomy
The questions you are asking yourself
What are the options to reconstruct the nipple and areola after mastectomy?
Three paths exist today: surgical grafting (using part of the nipple from the other breast, a complex operation), 3D trompe-l'œil tattooing (realistic, somewhat painful), and medical silicone prostheses, which can be worn and removed at will. Custom imprint-taking, done before the operation, opens up a fourth path: restoring the exact imprint of your body.
Does 3D nipple tattooing hurt? And how long does it last?
The skin has often lost part of its sensitivity after mastectomy, but tattooing remains an invasive act that can be uncomfortable, even painful, depending on the area and the person. You need to wait 4 to 6 months after the last operation. Colours may fade over the years, but touch-ups are possible.
Does a silicone nipple prosthesis really look like a real nipple?
It all depends on how it is made. A standard prosthesis will look like a generic nipple. A custom-moulded prosthesis, made from the imprint of the woman's body taken before the operation, is her nipple. The precision of medical-grade silicone goes all the way to the touch. We are no longer in the visual alone.
Can you take the imprint yourself, at home, before the mastectomy?
That is exactly what I am developing. Because the practitioners who offer this are rare, and it should not be necessary to travel to benefit from it. The idea: a kit designed so that every woman can take her own imprint at home, before the operation, and then receive her custom-made prosthesis. So that the promise of finding yourself again is accessible to all.
