{"id":32964,"date":"2024-06-07T21:00:07","date_gmt":"2024-06-07T19:00:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lelo.com\/blog\/?p=32964"},"modified":"2026-02-17T06:49:10","modified_gmt":"2026-02-17T05:49:10","slug":"why-the-heck-do-men-have-nipples","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lelo.com\/blog\/why-the-heck-do-men-have-nipples\/","title":{"rendered":"Why the Heck Do Men Have Nipples?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Jump to:<\/strong>
\nEmbryo Development<\/a> | Purpose<\/a> | Breast Cancer<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Have you ever wondered why guys have nipples, considering they don\u2019t use them for anything? They don\u2019t nurse babies with them like women do. <\/span><\/p>\n

Come to think of it, there\u2019s a strange double-standard when it comes to nipples in that men can show off their useless nips with no problem. However, when a woman does it (think <\/span>Janet Jackson\u2019s \u2018wardrobe malfunction\u2019<\/span>), there\u2019s a huge fuss. So not only are male nipples useless, they\u2019re somehow considered benign when compared to women\u2019s nipples. Weird, isn\u2019t it?<\/span><\/p>\n

Why Men Have Nipples<\/h2>\n

It all starts in the embryo.<\/span><\/p>\n

When you\u2019re an itty-bitty baby in your mommy\u2019s tummy, everyone begins developing certain biological structures in the first few weeks after conception, including itty-bitty embryonic nipples. The biological structure of breasts and nipples starts developing between the 4th and 6th week of development, before the development of the genes that dictate your sex, which come around week 7.<\/strong> Very basically put; you have nipples before you ever start to develop your specific male or female (sometimes a mix of both) traits.<\/span><\/p>\n

After being born, baby breasts and nipples look the exact same, regardless of sex. They don\u2019t undergo any significant change in appearance until puberty<\/strong>: for both boys and girls, this is a time when nipples enlarge, however, female nipples grow more, and the ducts inside the breasts enlarge and reshape the breast. Meanwhile, male ducts shrink and their nipples become more or less uniform. Both men and women end up with varying nipple shapes and sizes due to their individual developments.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Why Males Didn’t Evolve Without Them<\/h3>\n

In evolutionary terms, having nipples is essential if a fetus develops toward the female form, given their role in breastfeeding. This is probably why the nipples start developing so early. However, there\u2019s no advantage or disadvantage to having nipples that do not serve a functional purpose, which likely explains why males still have them.<\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The male nipple is just a byproduct (or, in evolutionary terms, a \u201cspandrel\u201d). They\u2019re not really needed for anything, but they don\u2019t cause any problems either, so there\u2019s no reason for the body to make them disappear. <\/span><\/p>\n

Do They Serve Any<\/em> Purpose, Then?<\/h3>\n

\"whyIt depends on what you think they\u2019re useful for. Assuming that \u2018giving milk\u2019 is the benchmark of a nipple\u2019s purpose, some men can actually do that, but only under very specific and rare circumstances. For instance, some men\u2019s nipples will produce milk if they\u2019re experiencing a\u00a0<\/span>hormonal imbalance<\/span><\/a>. <\/span><\/p>\n

Likewise, some men, if recovering from starvation or extreme malnourishment may also lactate due to extreme hormonal swings. In these cases, research suggests that the\u00a0<\/span>milk that comes from their nipples<\/span><\/a>\u00a0is very similar to the milk that comes from mothers who are lactating.<\/span><\/p>\n

Aside from possibly (rarely) giving milk, male nipples do have an alternative use: pleasure.<\/strong> Many (but not all) men find that their\u00a0nipples are an\u00a0<\/span>erogenous zone<\/span><\/a>. For example, they can be teased during foreplay and lovemaking, and some men and women enjoy kinkier nipple activities like\u00a0<\/span>wearing nipple clamps<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Does That Mean Men Can Get Breast Cancer?<\/h3>\n

It\u2019s pretty rare, but yes, they can. Of all breast cancer diagnoses, 0.5% to 1% are men<\/strong>, while the other 99.5% to 99% are women. Because it\u2019s so unlikely, men who do get breast cancer often don\u2019t find out until it reaches a very advanced stage, so if you (a guy reading this)\u00a0notice any unusual changes\u00a0in your chest, like a lump in your breast tissue, nipple discharge or cracking on the skin of your nipple, see a doctor to be safe.<\/span><\/p>\n

Discover pleasure with:<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jump to: Embryo Development | Purpose | Breast Cancer Have you ever wondered why guys have nipples, considering they don\u2019t use them for anything? They don\u2019t nurse babies with them like women do. Come to think of it, there\u2019s a strange double-standard when it comes to nipples in that men can show off their useless nips with no problem. However, when a woman does it (think Janet Jackson\u2019s \u2018wardrobe malfunction\u2019), there\u2019s a huge fuss. So not only are male nipples […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":101,"featured_media":42275,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17,1245],"tags":[909,669],"coauthors":[951,934],"class_list":["post-32964","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sexual-health","category-mens-health","tag-fact-checked-by-doctor","tag-sexual-health"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWhy Do Men Have Nipples?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Males don\u2019t produce milk for babies, so why do they have nipples? 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