# Cold Nipples **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 26, 2001, 9:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cold-nipples/89746 "2001-10-26T09:29:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![AndyJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8491ac/32.png) [@AndyJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AndyJ)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2001, 9:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cold-nipples/89746/1 "2001-10-26T09:29:42Z")
Why do your nipples go stiff when it’s cold? ---
**Author:** ![hibernicus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hibernicus/32/2802_2.png) [@hibernicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hibernicus)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2001, 9:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cold-nipples/89746/2 "2001-10-26T09:35:11Z")
Depends how cold. If its around -100, it could be that they’ve frozen solid. You can test this with a hammer; if they shatter, that’s your problem right there. On the other hand, if it’s merely “nippy”, probably the flow of blood to the erectile tissue in your nipples has been altered to reduce heat loss. ---
**Author:** ![AndyJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8491ac/32.png) [@AndyJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AndyJ)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2001, 9:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cold-nipples/89746/3 "2001-10-26T09:47:56Z")
But… I thought when it was cold your body takes heat away from your extremities, hands etc, and concentrates on keeping your core, chest/torso, warm. The fact that your nipples are on your chest should make them warm and as such they should not be classed as extremities. ---
**Author:** ![Futile\_Gesture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f05b48/32.png) [@Futile\_Gesture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Futile_Gesture)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2001, 10:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cold-nipples/89746/4 "2001-10-26T10:33:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by AndyJ \* > \*\*The fact that your nipples are on your chest should make them warm and as such they should not be classed as extremities. \*\* But they are, in that if they freeze and drop off it won’t kill you. You couldn’t say that about your lungs, heart, etc. It’d make your eyes water though, I’ll say that. ---
**Author:** ![AndyJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8491ac/32.png) [@AndyJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AndyJ)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2001, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cold-nipples/89746/5 "2001-10-26T10:37:06Z")
For putting me straight. ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2001, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cold-nipples/89746/6 "2001-10-26T17:31:42Z")
> [@](#): > > it could be that they’ve frozen solid. You can test this with a hammer; if they shatter, that’s your problem right there. Well, they didn’t shatter, but now they’re sore. Does this mean I’ve got an infection? **AndyJ** , this is just a WAG, but maybe it’s caused by the same thing that causes goose-bumps. I don’t think it’s a change in blood flow causing it. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2001, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cold-nipples/89746/7 "2001-10-26T17:45:22Z")
According to [Dr. Karl](http://www.abc.net.au/science/k2/homework/s95609.htm) > [@](#): > > During sexual excitement in the human female, the breasts can swell in size by 30%, while the nipples can swell up in size by 6 millimetres. So, do nipples have the erectile tissue you find in the penis and the clitoris? The answer is “no”. The anatomy books say, “underneath the nipple and areola, there are bundles of smooth muscle fibres in the connective tissue, and also along the length of the milk ducts. These muscle fibres make the nipple become erect, in response to various stimuli”. > **References** > > \*Gray’s Anatomy, by Roger Warwick & Peter L. Williams, Longman, 1973 (35th edition), ISBN 0 443 01011 0, pp 1346 - 1348 > > The Body Book by David Bodanis, 1984, Little, Brown & Company, ISBN 0-316-10072-2, pp 88-105. Copyright© 1994, Scientific American Medicine,Inc. CR-ROM.\* ---
**Author:** ![mischievous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c2a13f/32.png) [@mischievous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mischievous)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2001, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cold-nipples/89746/8 "2001-10-28T05:29:46Z")
Here’s a WAG, but it makes sense… It’s well established that cold makes the involuntary muscles under the skin contract, raising the tiny hairs on your skin. You know this - it’s called gooseflesh (at least in the U.S.). It doesn’t seem like a leap to guess that the involuntary muscles under the skin of the nipples also contracts, making them crinkle up and poke out a bit. mischievous ---
**Author:** ![Padeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@Padeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Padeye)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2001, 8:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cold-nipples/89746/9 "2001-10-28T08:50:44Z")
[QUOTE] \*Originally posted by Fear Itself \* \*\*According to [Dr. Karl](http://www.abc.net.au/science/k2/homework/s95609.htm) > [@](#): > > Yada, yada, yada… incredibly clinical description of erect nipples deleted for brevity\*\* You almost managed to suck all the joy out of one of natures greatest miracles. Padeye Who prefers to suck _on_ natures greatest miracles. (with liberal doses of tweaking, nibbling and biting as called for) ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2001, 9:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cold-nipples/89746/10 "2001-10-28T09:11:34Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Padeye \* > You almost managed to suck all the joy out of one of natures greatest miracles. > > Padeye > Who prefers to suck _on_ natures greatest miracles. (with liberal doses of tweaking, nibbling and biting as called for) \*\* How is understanding something sucking the joy out of it? I’ve never been able to understand that. ---
**Author:** ![Padeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@Padeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Padeye)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2001, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cold-nipples/89746/11 "2001-10-28T15:47:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Derleth \* > \*\*How is understanding something sucking the joy out of it? I’ve never been able to understand that. \*\* In it doesn’t. Lighten up a little. I was just trying to make a comment on the cold, clinical description. The left brain digests that description fine but it leaves nothing for the right brain. ---
**Author:** ![whatmove](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecc23a/32.png) [@whatmove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whatmove)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2001, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cold-nipples/89746/12 "2001-10-28T15:51:51Z")
It sure left my brain in the right place. ---
**Author:** ![CnoteChris](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/278dde/32.png) [@CnoteChris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CnoteChris)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2001, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cold-nipples/89746/13 "2001-10-28T17:16:40Z")
Well I think **mischievous** has got it, if only because I’ve seen the same thing happen to me. That is, being a guy and all, about the only thing I can compare nipple hardness to is my… ummm… sack. My sack is normally loose and just kinda ‘there’. Add some chilly air, or some cold water to the equation, at that sucker tenses right up. It tenses so much that it’s almost rough to the touch. Now obviously this isn’t the same thing with women, but I think the concept is agout right- it is taking blood away from the area to keep it warmer or whyever it takes it away, and what you’re left with is the region without as much blood as before. No blood=hard as a rock. Lotsa blood= loose and normal like. ---
**Author:** ![Padeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@Padeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Padeye)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2001, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cold-nipples/89746/14 "2001-10-28T18:42:16Z")
Chris, there is a big difference there because your nutsack has a specific function in keeping your 'nads just slightly cooler than body core temp so sperm production works correctly. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2001, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cold-nipples/89746/15 "2001-10-28T19:09:51Z")
Our staff member Melis has written a report about [cold nipples](http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mwitchti.html). Enjoy! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2001, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cold-nipples/89746/16 "2001-10-29T05:02:20Z")
You’ve all got it wrong. The reason your nipples get hard when it’s cold is so they’ll get noticed by a member of the opposite sex who’ll then invite you back into the ski lodge for a cup of hot chocolate.