Brief overview
- What is micromastia? Bilateral underdeveloped, very small breasts. Do not cause any physical complaints, but possibly psychological ones (e.g. feelings of shame and inferiority).
- At what point do we speak of micromastia? When the breast size is clearly too small in relation to the woman’s age, height and stature.
- Causes: Predisposition, Turner syndrome, pseudohermaproditism feminus, adrenogenital syndrome, anorexia, after pregnancy and lactation.
What is micromastia?
By micromastia, doctors mean underdeveloped, very small breasts.
From a medical point of view, small breasts in women are usually not a problem. They do not cause any physical discomfort. In addition, micromastia does not hinder breastfeeding.
For the women affected, however, small breasts are often a cosmetic problem that is not infrequently associated with feelings of shame and inferiority.
How do you recognize micromastia?
Basically, however, micromastia can be recognized by the fact that the breasts of the affected woman are clearly too small in relation to her age, body size and stature and, in addition, both breasts are equally underdeveloped.
What can be the cause of micromastia?
In most cases, micromastia is genetic, i.e. congenital. However, it can also have other causes, for example:
- Pseudohermaproditism feminus: In this case, the chromosome structure of the affected person is female, but the external appearance is male.
- Adrenogenital syndrome: Group of metabolic disorders in which the body produces too many male sex hormones.
- Anorexia nervosa: Girls/women with this eating disorder are often also observed to have micromastia.
How can micromastia be treated?
In very young women, doctors must ensure that breast growth is complete before treatment. This is because the breasts sometimes develop with a delay during puberty – a longer period of standstill can be followed by a growth spurt.
If it is clear that breast enlargement can no longer be expected naturally, there are basically two different therapies to choose from:
- Surgical breast augmentation (mammary augmentation): The surgeon usually uses silicone implants for this. Less commonly, he uses the woman’s own fat to build up additional breast tissue to eliminate micromastia.
