Hey ladies: we all know that having boobs is seriously great. And they
have a way of surprising you in the best ways - take puberty for
example. One day there’s nothing and then BOOM: it’s tit city right
there on your chesticles. And once they’re there you love them more than
anything, which is why we need to make sure look after them. In honour
of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, which starts today, here’s some weird
titbits you should probably know about your breasts.
1. Your nipples can have orgasms
Or
nipplegasms, if you will. Isn’t that great news? As if we needed any
more erogenous zones! Some people don’t believe in nipple play. We say,
start believing sister. Y’see, when your nipples are stimulated, oxytocin is released,
which causes more blood to flow to your genitals and leads to vaginal
contractions. In more sexy terms, the big O-G: the female orgasm.
2. Men can get breast cancer too
Yup, you saw correct. Men can get breast cancer.
It’s really rare, but definitely still possible. For an idea of how
rare it is, there are about 350 men diagnosed with breast cancer in the
UK, compared to around 50,000 cases of breast cancer in women. A lot of
the info when it comes to breast cancer in women can be applied to men,
and the same goes for the treatment. So if your man has a suspicious
lump, make sure you send him straight to the doctors because, as we
learn with so many things, nothing is impossible.
3. There’s eight different types of nipple. Saywhaaat.
If you’ve looked at enough
boobs in your life, you’ll realise no two are the same. Not even your
own. This applies to nipples as well. In fact, there are actually eight different kinds of nipple. Eight. These are as follows: Normal, flat, puffy, short, long, inverted grade 1, inverted grade 2, and inverted grade 3.
Then there are unilateral nipples, which means one is inverted and one isn’t. Despite the fact that one category is called ‘normal’, one nipple study indicated that up to 35% of women have nipples that don’t protrude well, meaning that ‘abnormal’ nipples are actually a pretty common occurrence. Which is confusing, but great.
Then there are unilateral nipples, which means one is inverted and one isn’t. Despite the fact that one category is called ‘normal’, one nipple study indicated that up to 35% of women have nipples that don’t protrude well, meaning that ‘abnormal’ nipples are actually a pretty common occurrence. Which is confusing, but great.
4. Third nipples are more common in men than women
Which
is a fact that doesn’t seem that strange when you realise that men’s
other two nipples are redundant anyway. Third nipples, which can also be
referred to as ‘triple nipple’ or ‘accessory nipple’ (I’m still unsure
about this term - accessory nipple as in ‘third nipples are the new
tote’?), occur in 1 in 18 males, but only 1 in 50 females. So don’t be embarrassed about your nubbin, lads. It’s more common than you think.
5. How you sleep affects your boobs in a big way
Y’know
that rumour that always went round the girls at school - just as your
boobs are about to plump out, and your mum can finally stop asking you
why the house toilet paper always runs out so quickly - that if you
sleep face down, your boobs won’t grow? Well it’s true! Kinda. According
to this CNN report,
the only way to maintain perky breasts is to sleep on your back. All
other positions - foetal, on your side, on your stomach - are going to
make monsters out of your mammaries. Seriously. They’re going to look
like a pair of basset hound ears. Take your bra off at the end of a long
day and they’ll roll out onto the floor like the red carpet at the
Oscars. So what’s more important to you for the rest of your life: a
good night’s sleep, or a top notch pair of tits? It’s a toughy.
6. Your boobs can carry on growing past puberty
HALLELUJAH AND REJOICE SMALL-BOOBED WOMEN! There is hope for you yet! Planned Parenthood Toronto say in this boob 101
that your breasts can carry on growing in your late teens, and even
into your 20s. So don’t worry twentysomethings, you’ve still got time to
push out some giant puppies! Thirtysomethings I’m sorry.
7. Scientists still don’t know why women have full breasts all the time
This
is actually one of life’s greatest mysteries. Primates have full
breasts when they are breastfeeding their young, but that’s it. Women
have milk in their breasts for breastfeeding, but all other times the
breast is mostly made up of fat and breast tissue. But damnit, scientists just cannot figure out why! What’s up science??! WHAT IS HAPPENING?!
8. There are quite a few different types of breast cancer
Scary,
right? Breast cancer is not just one thing. It’s an umbrella term for a
number of different types of cancer that can affect your breast. It’s
quite a list, so here goes: Ductal Carcinoma in Situ, Invasive Ductal Carcinoma, Triple Negative Breast Cancer, Inflammatory Breast Cancer and Metastatic Breast Cancer. There are some other, rarer types of cancer that you can see here. Whatever the case, it’s important to check your breasts regularly, ladies!
9. Apparently men who like big boobs are less financially secure
Hey guys, way to be a cliche! This study
states that men who were from a low socioeconomic background rated
large breasts much higher than those who are from a higher socioeconomic
background. This might be because they tend to associate large boobs
with even larger resources, or ‘resource security’. So weird...
10. Your boobs can fluctuate in size all the time
There’s so many different things that can change your boob size. For instance, as your oestrogen levels rise during ovulation,
you’ll experience a rush a blood to the boobs, making them fuller.
Certain medications have the same effect, such as birth control.
Strangely, spider bites can make your lady lumps swell, which definitely
puts the ‘creep’ in creepy crawly, the pervy old blighters. Putting on
weight will also make them bigger, because the stuff that makes up your
breasts includes fat, so more fat means more boob. That’s a good enough
reason to keep eating the office doughnuts, right?