Does a Woman Have Nipples Post a Mastectomy If you’re doing mastectomy without reconstruction, there is no point in leaving the nipple areola complex behind and you want to try and maximize a lot of skin you take off so that again the skin is down flat against the chest wall so that a prosthesis either inside the bra or stock of the chest wall that can fit properly. So now there is no point in leaving the nipple or the areola area behind.