Tattoos after breast cancer - almost like your own nipple

Health - Tattoos after breast cancer - almost like your own nipple

"Wow." Anja D. reacts with this word and an almost reverent silence when she sees her new nipple in the mirror for the first time. From a distance, it is impossible to tell that the left nipple is not real. It is not even three-dimensional, just two-dimensional. A tattoo.

Anja D. had breast cancer in 2021. An aggressive form, she says. She underwent chemotherapy and had her breast removed. Last year, the 57-year-old woman from Aichach in Swabia had a new breast formed from her abdominal fat. But she didn't really feel comfortable until then. "I never used to have problems with nudity, but now I often feel ashamed," says the office administrator. The new nipple is supposed to be the end of a story of suffering. "I hope to be able to put a hook in the story."

For Anja D., the nipple is not just "the cherry on top of the cake", as she says, but it completes her self again. Anja D. is a lively and committed woman. She rides a Harley, used to model and also talks vividly about difficult times in her life. When she sees the tattoo for the first time, however, she suddenly becomes calm and relaxed. "Now it finally looks the same again. That's good," she says, sighing slightly.

International research results

According to a review by Italian researchers, nipple reconstruction is an essential part of breast reconstruction from the point of view of cancer patients. Complications are relatively rare with tattoos. "Patients with nipple reconstruction have a higher general and aesthetic satisfaction," write the authors. Korean scientists found in a study that patients with nipple tattoos are particularly satisfied. According to Australian researchers, the satisfaction continues even years later.

The tattoos are sometimes done by doctors, sometimes by tattoo artists. Anja D. had her tattoo done by tattoo artist Andy Engel in Marktsteft, Lower Franconia (Kitzingen district). "I had read stories online about women who had been to doctors who rarely do tattoos. Some of them had nothing to do with natural nipples," says Anja D. For example, the color was rather gray. That's why she wanted someone who really knew about tattoos.

An artificial wart from an artist

Engel's tattoo studio is comfortably furnished and decorated for winter. Photos and pictures of Engel with rock musicians, Bud Spencer and family members hang on the walls, which are painted a warm dark red. The piercing took a good half hour. The whole treatment took two to three hours. First, Engel took a photo of the healthy nipple and used it to make a template for the artificial nipple.

Engel and a colleague say they stitch around 200 to 250 nipples a year. "The idea came from a customer in 2008," says Engel. The 51-year-old is actually known for his photorealistic portraits of people and animals. According to him, customers have to wait several years for an appointment. But he prefers cancer patients.

Engel has developed his own colors for nipple reconstruction and has watched breast operations. Several tattoo artists throughout Germany, Austria and Switzerland now work according to his principle. After the tattoo appointment, women can come back for a year and a half for touch-ups. "It takes about that long to fully see how the colors work," says Engel.

Not all health insurance companies cover the costs

Anja D.'s health insurance pays the almost 2,000 euros. According to the tattoo studio, 60 percent of health insurance companies cover the costs in full, 20 percent partially and 20 percent not at all. Anja D. changed health insurers especially for the tattoo. She is very annoyed that her previous insurer turned a deaf ear. "Breast cancer is no walk in the park," she says. In addition to the physical complaints, the medical system was a great burden for her. She often met people who already seemed jaded to her. "To then have to fight for the tattoo in the end, even though the treatment cost so much beforehand - I don't understand that," says the 57-year-old.

Tattoos are more than just art on your own body

Incidentally, the nipple is Anja D.'s second tattoo. Her upper arm is adorned with the engine of a Harley Davidson. Tattoos in general often not only have an aesthetic effect, but usually also a psychological one. Especially for cancer patients. A tattoo can be a step towards regaining sovereignty over one's own body and life story, as the scientist Kristin Langellier writes in a book chapter entitled "You're marked - Breast cancer, tattoo, and the narrative performance of identity".

According to studies, tattoos in general can make it easier to cope with difficult phases in life, for example after the death of a loved one or after abuse. According to the study, tattoos can help people to come to terms with a traumatic experience and incorporate it into their own life story.

Nipple tattoos are among the so-called medical tattoos. They are not only used after breast cancer, but also for trans women. Another form of medical tattoo is to cover scars. For example, scars after breast operations can be decorated with flower tendrils. Engel also tattoos the penises of trans men (called penoids) to give them the right body color.

A few days after the tattoo appointment, Anja D. is happy with the work of art on her skin. "I'm so glad I had it done," she says.