So, You Have Tuberous Breasts…

Breasts come in all different shapes and sizes. They are considered to be a quintessential part of the “feminine” look. Unfortunately, this is what makes a deformity in one or both of them to be hard to deal with mentally and sometimes even physically.

Tuberous breasts are one of the types of deformities that can occur. In this post, more about these types of breast and how to live with them will be discussed.

About breasts in general

The development of breasts is considered to be a secondary part of the female reproduction system. Their main purpose is to provide nourishment for infants.

Breast’s development in females begins right away in the womb. This is when the baby’s breasts and milk duct system starts to form. Then in puberty, estrogen is released from the ovaries which causes fat to build up in the connective tissues resulting in enlarged breasts.

The breasts go through five stages of development with the last stage being when the breasts take on a round shape. As a female goes through life, their breast size may change even after puberty. This would be due to the menstrual cycle (bloating can occur in the breast area), pregnancy/breastfeeding (this is when breasts are fully matured), menopause (can get bigger or smaller) and weight gain/loss.

There are several conditions that can affect the breasts. These include the following:

• Breast cancer- This is well known and an often devastating issue (as any cancer is). There are five different types of this type of cancer.
• Non-cancerous lumps.
• Gynecomastia- This is excessive breast tissue in males.
• Tuberous breast deformity.
• Poland syndrome- This is when one’s chest muscles are either missing or underdeveloped.
• Overly large breasts- These can cause one’s back to hurt.
• Blocked milk ducts when breastfeeding.
• Mastitis– This is when breast tissue becomes inflamed causing pain, swelling and malaise.

About tuberous breast deformity

This is a congenital deformity of the breast and was first documented in 1976 by two surgeons (named Rees and Aston). It is when there is a failure for the breasts to properly develop. More specifically, something goes wrong during puberty which causes the breast tissue to not proliferate and thus leads to an insufficient amount in the breasts.

Tuberous breasts are put into four different severity types. Each type refers to the amount of tissue in the four quadrants of the breasts. The forth type of tuberous breasts is the most severe and means that there is a great deal of tissue deficiency in all quadrants.

As a result of the breasts not developing properly and having a reduced amount of tissue, they will often have the following appearance to them:

• Large areolas.
• Saggy/droopy.
• Widely spaced.
• Oval, elongated, square or pointed in shape.
• Asymmetric
• No cleavage in bras.
• Pointed or narrow.
• Flat, floppy shape on side view.
• Often small but can sometimes be large (they are still not rounded even if they are large).

This condition is not life threatening but it does typically have a negative effect on one’s self-esteem. It also may affect breast feeding by making it hard to produce very much milk (the more severe, the less the glandular tissue).

Tuberous breasts can occur in males and females. The exact percentage of its prevalence is unknown. It is said that around 5% of females that are seeking a breast augmentation have this condition. A lot of times they don’t even know they have the condition- they just come in seeking to correct the asymmetry and size.

How to live with having tuberous breasts

Some of the top search terms regarding breasts include the following:

• ” Perfect tits”
• “Big tits”
• “Big natural tits”
• “Best boobs”

Those terms along with obvious other signs in the media (and just life in general), show just how much breasts that look a certain way are valued.

The unfortunate thing is that tuberous breasts do not typically fit into anyone’s ideas of what is attractive. This makes it extremely hard on people who have them because looking attractive is important to many.

Some women with this condition may not feel feminine and also may believe that they are ugly. It has been reported that some are led to tears whenever they see their tuberous breasts and try to avoid looking at them in the mirror.

It is easier said than done but here are some ways that may help you deal with having them:

• Counseling- There are many counseling options out there that can possibly help you work through your feelings about the way you look. Many counselors are now doing appointments online which is very safe and can be just as effective as in-person ones. It may not help you to feel 100% better about your breasts but it could be a good thing to try if you have the budget for it and are interested.
• Self-love workbooks- If you like to write, a workbook focusing on self-love may be of use to you. They may help to change your mindset about how you see yourself and how you are more than your breasts. The self-love workbook by Megan Logan is a particularly good choice for this.
• Tell prospective partners beforehand- We all want someone that will accept us for who we are and how we look. Unfortunately, some people we meet might be put off by tuberous breasts. Because of this, it might be a good idea to have an open and honest talk about them to a prospective partner before intimacy occurs. If they bail- they weren’t good enough for you and you weeded them out.
• Wear nice underwear- A sexy bra might make you feel better about yourself and your partner might like the way you look, too! It can be a bit tricky to find the best fitting bras for tuberous breasts though. If you are going for bras with molded cups, it might feel like a lot of them are too big even though you think they should be the right size. This is all due to the shaping of the cups. They are simply not made for the tuberous breast shape. People with this breast shape have found successful fits in unlined, unmolded and plunge bras. Some specific types of good bras for tuberous breasts are Smart & Sexy Bralettes and Freya Longline bras.
• Work on other parts of your beauty- If you keep up the rest of your body, you may not feel so bad about your breasts. This means that you could get/stay in shape, eat healthy most of the time, find an effective skincare routine, style your hair once in a while, pamper yourself etc.
• Don’t look at porn- It is unrealistic and will probably tank your self-esteem even more.
• Supplement with formula if you have problems with breast milk production- Not everyone with tuberous breasts has difficulty breastfeeding but many do. If breastfeeding is really important to you and you are having trouble with milk production, try to give formula to your baby but continue to pump multiple times a day. This will have your baby getting some breast milk (even if it is just an ounce here or there) while also getting fully nourished with the formula supplementation. It is important to remember that fed is best. If you decide that breastfeeding is just not working for you, try not to beat yourself up about it when you switch to all-formula feeds (easier said than done!).

Tuberous breast correction surgery

If you just can’t handle having tuberous breasts, a breast augmentation is an option. This is not something to just jump into though. There are a few things that you need to do before you say, “yes,” to it. They are as follows:

1. Really think about it- Getting a breast augmentation is a big decision. You need to ask yourself if you will really be happy when you get them looking the way you think you want.
2. Look around the web at other people’s experiences with getting their tuberous breasts corrected.
3. Figure out your budget- Plastic surgery can be expensive. Sometimes tuberous breast corrections are more expensive than the average breast augmentation because of it being more complex. Costs can range from $6000-11,000.
4. Figure out the logistics if you were to get surgery- Will you be able to get the time off that you would need? Will you have someone that can help drive you to and from the appointment? Do you have someone that can be of assistance as you are recovering at home?
5. Think long term- Breast implants may only last 10 years and a removal or new implants may be necessary. This is something to think about when you are trying to make a decision.
6. Research doctors- It would be a good idea to search for doctors that have experience in correcting tuberous breasts and look at pictures of results. Dr. Hoefflin, based out of California, is an example of a surgeon with a good amount of experience with tuberous breasts.

For all things plastic surgery, the RealSelf site is the way to go. There are tons of reviews on all of the different procedures as well as doctors all over the world. Not to mention the thousands of pictures to look through.

I have tuberous breasts, too

I honestly didn’t realize that my breasts were an odd shape until I was around 24. I guess just didn’t think about them very much before then.

I came across this deformity one day and I could tell right away that that is what I have going on. At that point, I was already feeling bad about how they looked and to read the term, “deformity” made it even worse.

I cried and cried.

When I was done crying, I immediately started looking up breast augmentations done on this deformity and longed for one. I knew that they were completely out of my budget so I pushed that thought out of my head.

It wasn’t until seeing them not grow during pregnancy and not being able to breastfeed afterwards, that I felt bad about them again. All I wanted was for my son to be fully breastfed and I was so mad at my breasts for not allowing that. Not only did they look weird, they were also useless (in my mind).

My son is now a healthy seven year old who has barely gotten sick in his life despite being formula fed. While I still feel bad that he didn’t get very much breast milk, I know that fed truly is best.

I still have days here and there where I hate the way my breasts look. I am not completely overwhelmed by this hatred but I definitely feel it. Because of this, I am MIGHT consider getting an augmentation done in the future.

I can still slay without my breasts being “perfect” though. Everyone can.

In conclusion

It may be really hard to come to terms with having a tuberous breast deformity. You may feel ugly and that everyone else thinks you are ugly. Fortunately, if you put a some work in on yourself- you may begin to feel a little better. Your confidence and happiness will then increase which will be noticeable to others around you.

It is up to you on what kind of “work” you put in (could be counseling and/or surgery) as everyone is different. Just know that it is possible to get to the point where you see how worthy, beautiful and unique you are- because you are.

Let me know in the comments if you have a tuberous breast deformity or know someone who does.

Thanks for reading!

Some good articles-

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/320309

https://www.healthline.com/health/tubular-breasts

https://thewell.northwell.edu/true-story/my-breast-reconstruction-journey

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5052987/#:~:text=Tuberous%20breast%20deformity%20was%20first,and%20the%20’tubular%20breast’.

https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/normal-breast-development-and-changes

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