1. You have one of four different types of nipples. Are yours normal, flat, puffy, or inverted? There's never been a better time to find out. Thank you, hand mirrors! 2. There is a weirdly good chance that one of your friends has an extra nipple. Six percent! Makes you wonder about everyone you know, right? 3. Your nipples might not even be the most erogenous zone of your breasts. Alyssa Dweck, M.D., the assistant clinical professor at Mt. Sinai School of Medicine and co-author of V is for Vagina, told us that she gets a lot of patients who say that their nipples are so sensitive to the point of pain and they don't want them touched during sex. Basically, it's different for everybody and everyone has a different erogenous zone. 4. Yes, almost everyone has hair on theirs. Not only can there be hair on your areola but some women often try to chemically remove it, which Dweck says can lead to painful chemical burns because it's such a sensitive area. That said, if you're developing a lot of coarse hair on your breast quickly where there was none before, it could be a sign of hormonal imbalance and you should get it checked out. 5. Your nipples could change and if so, it could be a sign of breast cancer. Dweck says the one to watch out for is inflammatory breast cancer, which is much more aggressive than other types and usually causes a rapidly changing skin change where the skin gets firmer and thicker. It's very rare (accounting for only 1 to 5% of all breast cancers diagnosed in the U.S.) but you definitely don't want to ignore or miss it because it is so aggressive. 6. Your nipples might not even look alike. Nobody is 100% symmetrical so certainly one breast could be larger than the other and so can nipples. Unless one breast or one nipple suddenly becomes massively larger than the other, (in which case you should get it checked out), Dweck says you're fine. 7. There are little bumps around your areola and that's OK. And no they're not pimples or a lump necessarily. They're called areolar glands and as long as those little bumps come and go and don't just keep growing and growing, it's probably nothing to worry about it. If you notice they're consistently changing and don't go back to normal though, contact your doctor. 8. They can change colors. Women tend to get darker nipples after pregnancy or even when they're on birth control, which is completely normal but as always, if you're really worried about your changing nip color, the doctor is a phone call away. 9. Your nipples can have orgasms. When they're stimulated, your brain releases oxytocin, which causes your vagina to contract, thereby leading to orgasms. Source
