nipple

Eva Rudolf-Müller is a freelance writer in the medical team. She studied human medicine and newspaper sciences and has repeatedly worked in both areas - as a doctor in the clinic, as a reviewer, and as a medical journalist for various specialist journals. She is currently working in online journalism, where a wide range of medicine is offered to everyone.

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The nipple (nipple) is the elevation in the middle of the areola (areola). This is the round, more pigmented area of ​​skin in the middle of the mammary gland. The milk ducts from the breast through which milk flows outwards when breastfeeding meet in every nipple (woman). The nipples (man), like the male mammary glands, remain underdeveloped. Read everything you need to know about nipples!

What is the nipple?

The nipple (nipple) rises in the center of the circular, dark-tinted areola that forms the center of the breast. The 12 to 15 milk ducts, which expand under the nipple and areola to form milk sacs and then rise vertically in the nipple, open outwards in the bays of the tip of the nipple.

Both in the nipple and in the areola there are smooth muscle cells that contract through mechanical stimulation (such as from the infant's mouth): The nipple erects as a result, although it looks more or less wrinkled depending on the contraction of the muscles. This erection makes the nipple easier to grasp for the baby to suckle. In response to the mechanical stimulation of the nipple during breastfeeding, the hypothalamus in the brain releases the two hormones oxytocin and prolactin:

Oxytocin causes the milk ducts to contract, causing the milk to leak out of the nipple. It also promotes contractions of the uterus, which are important for regression after childbirth. Prolactin stimulates milk production.

Nipple shapes

There are different shapes of nipples. Inwardly directed nipples are known as inverted or inverted nipples. They are caused by shortened milk ducts that pull the nipple into the tissue. While they are not a medical problem, they can make breastfeeding difficult if the infant cannot grip the nipple with their mouth. The same applies to flat nipples, which are level with the surrounding tissue.

Nipples: color, sebum and scent glands

The areola and nipple in girls and young women are usually pale pink to brownish in color. Under the influence of pregnancy, they become darker because pigmentation increases.

Circular cusps surround the areola. These are small sebum glands (Montgomery glands), the secretion of which moisturizes the skin of the areola.

What is the function of the nipple?

The primary function of the nipple is to enable newborns and infants to suckle and thus to take in food.

What problems can the nipple cause?

Flat or inverted nipples are usually innate and harmless. However, they must be differentiated from a disease-related withdrawal of the nipple, which usually only occurs unilaterally. The cause is usually a tumor.

The nipple can be completely absent (athelia), usually in connection with the absence of the entire breast concerned (amastia).

Inflammation of the nipples (thelitis) can occur during breastfeeding or in the puerperium. Fissures or fissures of the nipple are mostly caused by pregnancy or the puerperium.

Benign and malignant neoplasms (growths, tumors) can develop in the area of ​​the nipple.

Some people have more than two nipples, which medical professionals call polythelia. The surplus nipple can form along the milk ridge - a strip-shaped epidermis area that extends from the armpit over the groin to the labia majora on both sides of the trunk and from which the breast develops in the embryonic development. The excess nipples usually appear on one side.

Some women also have an additional “whole” breast along the milk bar (usually under the armpit). Doctors speak of polymasty here. The excess breast (including the nipple and atrium) can be completely removed surgically.

Tags:  skin gpp anatomy