The tubular breast base is constricted, making the breast narrow. The base of the breast needs to be expanded to make the breast appear more normal.
The tubular base has several characteristics. The most defining one is that they have a small breast base perimeter, referred to as a constricted breast base. A small breast can have a constricted breast without being a tubular breast.
A tubular breast also has a large areola in relation to the amount of breast tissue. In some cases, it appears as if the entire amount of breast tissue is behind the areola (nipple). Finally, the breast tissue tends to hang over the constricted base, so you may have a breast that hangs, even though it is quite small.
These three characteristics put together give the breast the look of a tube, or a root tuber. The correction of a Tubular breast deformity must then address all three components of the deformity.
It must enlarge the base perimeter of the breast. Given a high profile implant and a moderate profile implant of the same volume, for example 325 cc’s, the moderate profile implant has a larger base perimeter. For this reason it is better suited to correct the appearance of a constricted (smaller) base at the bottom of the tube.
As far as the areola, one must make it smaller. If you don’t, as the entire breast skin stretches to accomodate the implant the areola will expand too. There is a shortage of skin at the base, and some surgeons in the past have advocated creating a flap of skin from the breast crease and adding it to the lower pole of the breast. I don’t think that is necessary and leaves too much scarring. For the same reason of scarring I don’t like either a lollipop (Vertical) or keyhole (Inverted T) scar. These procedures remove skin from the lower pole of the breast, when you need all the skin you have. The perfect solution then is the Bennelli breast lift, or Donut mastopexy. It reduces the areola size and gets rid of the least possible amount of skin. The Crescent Lift breast lift takes even less skin, but would not reduce the size of the areola (nipple).
The final element in correction of the Tubular base deformity is doing some kind of alteration to the gland tissue so there is no visible step off between the gland tissue and the implant. I have tried many things in the past, and what worked out the best for me is to score the gland tissue so the gland tissue can spread out over the implant evenly, instead of being concentrated as a lump behind the areola.
I recently performed breast augmentation to correct this patient’s tubular breasts. With her permission, I will keep you posted on her progress.
Ricardo L Rodriguez, MD
Board-Certified Plastic Surgeon
© Cosmeticsurg.net
As promised, here is the 4 month post op picture of the patient:
Breast Augmentation and Lift for correction of Tubular Breast
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32 Comments
July 13, 2010 at 8:44 am
Jane:
Yes it could.
Stand in front of a mirror. Grab the top part of the areola and pull it up to where it more or less looks right and the bottom of the breast is more rounded out. That is the look we’d try to get, along with making the areola the right size and shape to your taste. The breast, needless to say, would remain the same size unless you put an implant. Alternately, you could inject your own fat for a naturally fuller breast.
We’d love to hear from you!
July 8, 2010 at 7:27 pm
If one decided to not get an implant, could the “tube” shape of the breast be corrected and the size/position of the areola?
June 29, 2010 at 10:09 am
Michele:
Implants that have upper pole fullness always look harder in a picture than they are in reality. The flash tends to illuminate the central part and throw strong shadows on the periphery of the implant. In this case, in person, the appearance is much softer, and the feel is also very natural. It is also possible to place the implants in a much lower position, this patient just wanted more upper pole fullness, or cleavage.
The sagginess can be corrected by a breast lift, but without an implant, there won’t be an increase in size. It will be a small breast with better shape. One could also augment the breast with fat injections. This is a good alternative, but more expensive.
June 28, 2010 at 10:14 pm
Im very concerned that implants will have a very hard, fake feel to them. If someone did not get the implants, would their breasts still have the look as the photo above or will they still be saggy?
May 24, 2010 at 5:06 pm
Susan:
Unfortunately, I don’t think you will be able to deal with this on your own. If anything, as the breasts grow larger the appearance will become more apparent.
As far as pricing information, please call Kelly at kelly@cosmeticsurg.net, she will be more than happy to answer your questions.
We’d be happy to hear from you!
May 22, 2010 at 11:25 pm
After reading this, I’d definitely say that I’m dealing with this. The only questions I have are if it could fix its self since I’m only 18, but I seriously doubt this. Also, Do you have any range of costs that you could tell me?
May 16, 2010 at 8:35 pm
Kat:
It sounds like you indeed have tuberous breast. There is no need to continue suffering, as we have the technology to improve your breasts.
You are not deformed, you have a correctable appearance of the breast and you should take care of it. What’s stopping you now?
Go forward and take control of your problem, we can help you!
Call Kelly at kelly@cosmeticsurg.net for more info. We’d love to hear from you.
May 16, 2010 at 7:50 pm
Hi
Im 26 i have been looking at tubular breast and i believe that is what mine are. My left is slightly bigger than the other my nipples huge! My right breast looks the nipple(areola ) goes under an they are almost like a cylinder an kinda long.. I cant think of anyway else to describe what my breasts look like! Can this be fixed? It hurts my self esteem by the way i look i dont even like putting a bathing suit, because im almost ashamed to have breast that look the way the do!! I don’t feel like a woman i feel like im deformed. I cant even buy a nice bra because the left breast fits an the right don’t! I just want to be able to look in the mirror an see a deformed person
May 5, 2010 at 4:17 pm
Monique:
To really give you any specific advice about your condition I would need to see pictures, and for that it would have to be a virtual consultation.
In general I can say that YES, it is possible in some cases to correct tubular breast without implants. If you like the size your breasts are now, a well crafted Bennelli mastopexy can do the job.
If you want larger breasts, fat injections can be done in combination with a mastopexy.
You will find that there are not many people here in the US doing tubular breast correction without augmentation, as most patients want the breast augmented if they are going to have surgery done.
From the sounds of what you describe, anybody with good experience doing a Benelli mastopexy should be able to handle your case. I do 95% of my combination breast augmentation/mastopexy procedures using a Benelli, but I don’t know what surgeons do in Australia.
May 5, 2010 at 8:18 am
Dr Rodriguez,
I am a 21 year old woman in Australia who has tubular breasts. They have developed this way since puberty and i have always been deeply ashamed and insecure about them, but only recently discovered that they were in fact a condition (or ‘deformity’) and i have decided that its time to take some action towards improving them, however i really don’t want to get implants. I don’t like the idea of having a foreign object in my body, and feel that no matter how good the surgery, implants always have that fake, hard look to them. Also, its not the size i care about, only the hanging/positioning, large and puffy areola etc. Although i fit into a D cup bra, this is only because its so difficult to find bras to fit my breasts because they are tubular, i have always viewed them as a B at most. This long-winded backstory is leading up to the question:
Is there any way to correct the breasts without implants? Ive read that some patients are able to have ’tissue expansion’ to fix the base wideness between cleavage and a benelli (?) lift to correct the areola. My breasts arent large, but there is more tissue there than in pictures of tubular breasts that were basically only the herniated areola and nothing else. Is there any way that i can have my breasts corrected to look ‘normal’ and sit/look/feel like the average womans would without needing to have implants put in? I know it varies from person to person, but if you have any photos of tubular breasts that have been corrected without implants i would love to see them as i cannot seem to find any without implants online.
Thank you so much for your time, sorry to ramble on.
Monique
April 25, 2010 at 7:46 am
Shawna:
This is a very personal decision and is based on evaluating your appearance and discussing what your goals are. Without knowing what you look like or what kind of result you have in mind, it would be irresponsible of me to give an opinion.
If you would like a second opinion just to educate yourself on what you want, you could send us pictures and arrange for a phone conversation in which I could evaluate you and discuss your goals. This way you could get well educated on your choices and decide what you want. The implant recommendation would come from that conversation.
If you are interested, contact Kelly at kelly@cosmeticsurg.net and set up a virtual consultation
We’d love to help you!
April 21, 2010 at 1:48 pm
I recently had a consultation with a surgeon to correct the tubular breast deformity that I have. I was wondering what your opinion is for the best type of implant to use. The Dr I saw said both are an option and that it more or less comes down to my preference of what I would like. I understand the pros and cons of both types of implants, but I know there are many factors that play on which is better for that circumstance. i would really appreciate your input since you have dealt with this many times. Thanks.
April 14, 2010 at 9:55 pm
Liz:
You can contact Kelly at kelly@cosmeticsurg.net for pricing info.
She is very nice and helpful, and we’d love to hear from you.
April 14, 2010 at 7:17 pm
Hi, could you tell me what would be the cost of this procedure?
February 5, 2010 at 3:47 pm
Emma:
The areola smooths out significantly after a few months. This particular patient is very happy and doesn’t want anything else done.
Some patients can have the areola scar revised under local anesthesia, but this is a rare event. The areolar scar is very well disguised.
February 4, 2010 at 1:20 pm
Hi I was wondering what the end result of the areola would be? is there a big difference from the 4 month post op picture?
January 22, 2010 at 1:17 pm
I am happy you like our site, we do try to keep adding info as time goes on.
You do not need any more incisions than the one around the areola. Do not let anybody tell you otherwise. If they do, get another consult.
Of course, we would love to be the ones to help you.
Don’t be jealous, get it done and be happy!
January 22, 2010 at 10:41 am
Its so strange to stumble accross this site. Looking at the pre op pics, and reading how you chose to perform the surgery really impressed me. then the post op looks fantastic. they look like boobs. I have tubular breasts, so much so I thought it was a picture of me in the pre-op!
the only thing I was told in a consultation was that, due to the deformity the only thing they could do was make them huge, with an incision below the bust. I wasn’t happy with that after seeing how that looked on after images.
Now it looks like there is something I can do, leaving me with a beautiful confident result. I really hope she’s happy, I’m so jealous!!!
January 9, 2010 at 3:23 pm
Justine:
Thanks for looking into our blog.
Yes, there is a lot we can do for you. There is no need to walk around feeling like this. The rippling may be due to several factors. Implants placed above the muscle have more of a chance of visible wrinkling. Saline also tends to show more wrinkles.
Check out this post about wrinkling.
You can contact Kelly at kelly@cosmeticsurg.net for more info.
We’d love to hear from you!
January 9, 2010 at 3:12 pm
Leslie:
See my previous answer about legal age.
As far as choices, yes, there are many choices available, just like for breast augmentation. You could get moderate profile implants which look softer and don’t have as much projection.
Another alternative would be fat grafts instead of implants.
January 9, 2010 at 3:06 pm
Leslie:
If you have a tuberous breast deformity, it can be corrected now, as it’s not going to get any better.
Your breasts will look better and rounder.
At your age; however, I would need your parents to be on board as you are not of legal age to make these decisions.
Feel free to have your parents contact us for any questions.
At age 18 you will be able to make these decisions on your own, as far as the law allows.
Happy New Year!
January 7, 2010 at 11:29 pm
Dr. Rodriguez,
I can not explain to you how happy I am to have found this blog!! I have been doing research on my tubular deformity for about 7 years now. I received breast augmentation back in 2006 in Omaha, NE which my insurance covered. I was in such a hurry to get my breast implants that I had my procedure by the first plastic surgeon that I saw. I had my doubts about the surgeon and didn’t like that he didn’t have a special approach to patients with tubular deformity but went for it anyway. I received 230cc’s, over the muscle, incision under the breast. I have not been happy with the outcome. My implants seem very far a part and you can feel A LOT of rippling. I just recently had my 2nd baby in October. I feel that the breastfeeding actually helped the shape of my breast but the rippling is awful. Also.. my areolas are huge(one much larger than the other). I hope that I am correct that you are located in Baltimore, MD? I’m currently living in Baltimore. I honestly feel so relieved reading this and look forward to being your patient hopefully sometime this year. I can not thank you enough for posting this!
January 7, 2010 at 9:01 am
Dr. Rodriguez,
I am 16 years old and also have tubular breasts. I was wondering if this age is too young for surgery and would there be any complications due to my age? Also, is there a way with this surgery that the breasts can look natural, rather than looking obvious/fake? Is there a choice, just like in your regular breast augmentations?
January 6, 2010 at 5:00 pm
Dr. Rodriguez,
I am 16 years old and have tubular breasts. They are saggy and create weird cleavage. I was wondering if this age was too young for surgery and if there would be any complications due to my age? Also, is it possible to make breasts look perky and more round without looking fake, but more natural?
January 2, 2010 at 1:08 pm
Liz:
Thank you very much for your thoughtful comments. There really is no way I could have said what you said.
As for the surgery, there is a scar around the nipple/areola, but it is disguised by the difference in color between the areola and the rest of the breast skin.
Nipple areolar sensation is preserved, although there is a minuscule chance of numbness. I personally have never had numbness occur in this case, but I guess it’s possible.
Naturally, I think the technique I use is the best, otherwise, I would not use it. I like using an implant because it expands the base of the breast. As far as the lift goes, I do not think anything more than a scar around the areola is needed.
Other surgeons use the “Lollipop” scar, or the “Inverted T” scar, but these are not necessary. I think my results speak for themselves.
Thanks for responding in the blog.
Happy New Year!
January 1, 2010 at 6:06 pm
I feel as though I should say something to “Sarah”
I’m guessing by what you are saying you do not know what it feels like to live with tubular breasts.
This woman will have looked at the risks of having breast augmentation surgery and realised the benefits outweighed the risks.
Do you know what it feels like to not be able to look at yourself in the mirror because you are living with a deformity?
Or not be able to let a man get close to you because you are afraid of what his reaction might be?
Or that he’ll tell his friends and then everyone will know you as the girl with the deformed breasts?
If you do not know what that feels like I really believe that you have no right to judge this woman.
It is not a quest for beauty but an attempt to get a little closer to normality.
Dr Rodriguez:
I was wondering if there would be perminent scarring around the nipple? Also is the nipple tissue still alive and does she still have sensation in them?
Also I would greatly appreciate it if you could give me and explain to me the different, and the best ways, to ammend tubular breasts?
December 26, 2009 at 1:25 am
Sarah:
The woman in this blogpost is happily married. She was already married when she had the surgery.
A wonderful woman with a wonderful husband.
Merry Christmas
December 25, 2009 at 4:05 pm
Should she really have felt the need to have this unnecessary operation done? this may make her look good in the short term,but there will be complications in the long term with those implants.
Also this operation will have affected her mentally if she feels they were a necessary part of her happiness. when are we ever going to learn that the quest for beauty should be entertaining but never life threatening?
In the end these breasts are fake anyway so your not fooling anyone, men prefer real women, not jordan, i thought people knew this? the media is only full of photoshoped women anyway, so why try to compete with this unreachable image?
Just be happy in who you are and youll gain greater happiness than you ever could with 2 lumps of malformed plastic inside of you.
To me there is no counter-argument.
November 9, 2009 at 3:25 pm
Allison:
I last saw the patient about 2 months ago. Her breasts had not completely settled, but she is very happy, and may come back for other types of work.
As you can tell, there is only a periareolar (around the areola) scar. There is no scar on the breast skin per se.
We’d be more than happy to see you in person, in the meantime, the 4 month picture has been added to the blog post
November 7, 2009 at 12:06 pm
Can you update this post with the patient’s status? She should be 6+ months post-op by now. As I have the same condition (and live in the DC metro area), I am quite interested in the results so far, including any complications.
Also, thank you for writing such an informative blog!
June 20, 2009 at 11:19 am
I have not seen you, so all my comments are in a general nature.
Mr. Mister knows what he can do reliably can give you the best result in HIS hands.
My approach is totally different from his.
I have treated many women with tubular breast deformities of many sizes and shapes. I have treated them with saline and silicon implants. I have used many sizes, depending on patients wishes rather than some arbitrary limitation.
There are issues, of course, as tubular breasts pose different challenges than routine breast augmentations, but these are not impossible to overcome.
The main challenge is expansion of the constricted base, as that is the primary deformity. Many surgeons rather call it constricted breast deformity, which encompasses a wide variety of appearance, of which tubular breast is the most extreme. You can augment by staying within the boundaries of the constricted base. This is a sound approach, used by Mr. Mister. The other approach is to expand the base. This creates the risk of a “double bubble” deformity. This can be prevented by various gland manipulations and careful lifting of the breast so displacement of the breast base is minimized.
I love doing it, and it is a challenge, but as long as patient and Doctor understand the choices and risks, there is a choice.
Don’t be discouraged, you DO have a choice.
June 19, 2009 at 11:28 pm
I recently had a consultation done with a plastic surgeon in Kitchener, ON. He told me that I have a very mild case of tubular breast. Obviously, I am not happy with my breast shape, or size, or I would not be seeking breast implants. And after viewing other cases of tubular breast online, I can definitely see that I have that issue. But, as the doctor I spoke to said, it is a very mild case. My breasts, though small, seem to be a little bigger than many of the cases I’ve seen, and not quite so…malformed. They do take a bit of the odd shape, and they are very far apart. I don’t doubt the doctor’s diagnosis of my breasts, I’ve seen for myself that I have tubular breasts. What I question is this: this doctor, let’s call him Mr.Mister, told me that I couldn’t go above a large B or (maybe) small C in size…yet I’ve seen pics of women with smaller, more malformed breasts with easily a large C or small D (which is what I wanted). Mr.Mister also told me I had NO CHOICE but to use the formed cohesive gel implants…yet many of the women I’ve seen online got saline, and they seemed fine.
It’s not that I don’t trust Mr.Mister, he seems like a very honest, wonderful doctor. But after seeing certain things online, I’m questioning whether he is erring a bit TOO much on the side of caution…
I know that you can’t give me specific advice without seeing my breasts for yourself. But please trust, I’ve been researching this for 10 years. I just don’t see why I have to have cohesive gel, and why I can’t achieve a large C or small D, when I’ve seen women (with tubular breast) that have smaller, more malformed breasts, and are skinnier than I, so they have less extra skin to work with, achieve the results I’m looking for.
I’m also looking to have this surgery quickly, I’ve been waiting 10 years to have the cash, I have it now and I’m ready to go.