Nipple Tattoos & Helping Women
- Vicky Martin tattoos nipples onto women who have had breast cancer, and she practices on herself first.
- Martin says she loves having the ability to help women and lift them up.
- For many women who get nipples tattooed on their breast after cancer, they have had surgery on their breast, necessitating the want or need for a tattoo in that area.
That’s so she can perfect the look of nipple tattoos for women who have gone through breast cancer treatment.
Read MoreNipple Tattooing for Cancer Survivors
Martin has specialized in nipple tattoos for the past fifteen years. She helps women who have had their breasts removed to treat their disease, and Martin is an expert at her craft.
Related: Feeling Whole Again The Increasing Popularity Of Nipple Tattoos After Breast Cancer Surgery
But all experts need practice. So Martin takes to her own body to practice her nipple tattooing ability, and keep it sharp. "I'm always coming up with new techniques and trying out new products, and I am happy to use my leg as a canvas if it means the outcome is better for my clients," says Martin. "I currently have two realistic nipples on my leg. I definitely get some strange looks but it doesn't bother me."
Martin has put eight tattooed nipples on her thighs, and covers them up with other tattoos. It’s helpful for her to observe the longevity of the tattoo’s ink on her body, to see how it might look on other women.
She also says, "It's worth it to see how the nipples heal on skin so I can assess my work.”
“I love being able to help women to move past what they have been through and help them to feel strong and proud.”
While it may seem like a small literally and figuratively thing to others, Martin knows the impact a nipple tattoo can have on a cancer survivor. She says, “People might think 'Nobody really sees your nipples, so what does it matter?' But women see their own nipples every day, and it is a reminder of what they have been through.”
"I see my work as giving cancer survivors their medals for what they have been through, which is why I am always trying to improve. I love being able to help women to move past what they have been through and help them to feel strong and proud," she said. "If that means sporting nipples on my legs, then so be it!"
SurvivorNet News Magazine: Nipple Tattoos
Surgery for People with Breast Cancer
For many women who get nipples tattooed on their breast after cancer, they have had surgery on their breast, necessitating the want or need for a tattoo in that area. Dana-Farber oncologist Dr. Ann Partridge explains in a previous interview the process around deciding to treat a patient with breast cancer surgery also called a mastectomy.
"So when I talk to a woman who comes to me and she has breast cancer, I evaluate what the standard options for treatment for her are," she explains. "[This] typically includes cutting out the cancer, which is either a lumpectomy if you can get it all with just a little scooping around of the area that's abnormal or a mastectomy for some women meaning taking the full breast because sometimes these lesions can be very extensive in the breast," she explains. "And I'll talk to a woman about that and I'll say these are two main options or the big fork in the road."
Dr. Raheem Nazerali, a breast reconstructive surgeon at Stanford Health Care, explained the nipple tattooing process in a previous interview with SurvivorNet.
“Nipple tattooing is generally for patients who have undergone a skin sparing mastectomy or a delayed reconstruction. So patients who are not eligible for nipple sparing mastectomies can have a nipple reconstructed by their plastic surgeon,” he explains. “Generally I tell patients that there’s three different types. There’s a 2D reconstruction, a 3D reconstruction, and a 4D reconstruction. So a 2D is basically just the tattoo done by either a tattoo artist, or done by a physician assistant, or an advanced practitioner, that provides color to where the nipple was supposed to be.”
“The 3D tattoo involves shading, so different amounts of shading just like makeup can make things look either flat or can make things look, in three dimension,” he explains. “And utilizing color and shading, tattoo artists are able to provide excellent 3D reconstructions of a nipple that appear from the front to have a papule of the nipple, or the center portion of the nipple, with the surrounding color.”
When Should You Consider a Mastectomy?
Learn more about SurvivorNet's rigorous medical review process.