The collective term for nipple and areola is the nipple areolar complex (NAC). The ideal NAC position will obviously vary from patient to patient depending on the size and shape of the bust, chest wall and height of the patient.
Despite this, there are some general rules of that thumb that state that the NAC should sit halfway up the bust vertically and just marginally to the outside of the middle of the bust in the horizontal plane. The NAC should sit above the fold of the bust (this is where the bust meets the chest wall at the bottom of the bust and is called the inframammary fold).
The collective term for nipple and areola is the nipple areolar complex (NAC). The ideal NAC position will obviously vary from patient to patient depending on the size and shape of the bust, chest wall and height of the patient.
Despite this, there are some general rules of that thumb that state that the NAC should sit halfway up the bust vertically and just marginally to the outside of the middle of the bust in the horizontal plane. The NAC should sit above the fold of the bust (this is where the bust meets the chest wall at the bottom of the bust and is called the inframammary fold).
In a youthful bust the above description of NAC position is true, however with age the female bust changes. With time and also pregnancy, bust feeding and weight fluctuations bust sagginess (ptosis) may develop.
The degree of ptosis is generally discussed in terms of the relative position of the NAC to the inframmary fold:
• MILD; the NAC is at the level of the inframammary fold
• MODERATE; the NAC is between the fold and the lowest part of the bust
• PROGRESSIVE; the NAC is at the lowest part of the bust
Sometimes the NAC is in the correct position above or at the fold but the bust tissue sags well below the fold. This is termed pseudopstosis.
The treatment for ptosis depends on its severity.
Treatment may include bust augmentation alone, bust lift (mastopexy) alone, or bust reduction alone or a combination of all three. bust augmentation involves the surgical placement of a correctly sized Motiva cohesive gel silicone bust implant or with fat taken from another part of the body following liposuction.
