# What body parts grow back? Not nipples, right? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 20, 2010, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-body-parts-grow-back-not-nipples-right/536721 "2010-04-20T06:43:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2010, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-body-parts-grow-back-not-nipples-right/536721/21 "2010-04-20T22:38:11Z")
> [@NinetyWt](#): > > My sister works for a biology research group which is studying [limb regeneration](http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/07/regeneration/) in salamanders. They hope to one day apply the technology to humans. Isn’t she familiar with the work of [Dr Kurt Connors](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lizard_(comics))? ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2010, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-body-parts-grow-back-not-nipples-right/536721/22 "2010-04-20T22:40:39Z")
I’d like to nominate this thread for the “Needs ‘(Need Answer Fast)’” award for 2010. ---
**Author:** ![lizardling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f4b2a3/32.png) [@lizardling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lizardling)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2010, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-body-parts-grow-back-not-nipples-right/536721/23 "2010-04-21T00:05:36Z")
> [@Cheshire\_Human](#): > > But not in your teen years. I just checked. The end of my left thumb, which I hacked off w/ a saw @ 16 or 17 (accidentally), is still shorter than the right one, by the same amount I cut off. It’d have to be WAY younger than that, then. I was a tiny kid in… probably kindergarten… when I took a chunk of the pad of my thumb off with scissors. I still have a near-perfect round scar nearly 30 years later. ---
**Author:** ![Arkcon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Arkcon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arkcon)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2010, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-body-parts-grow-back-not-nipples-right/536721/24 "2010-04-21T02:27:43Z")
The WAG I’d heard, was that in the span of most of a human lifetime, you can grow back half of your pinky tip. I seem to recall reading that in high school biology, so I don’t have a great source. I wasn’t going to mention it, but a few people have already mentioned chucks of their thumbs not growing back, so there, research the pinky, not the thumb, if you want to know were to look. I think I’d heard about half a pinky tip grown back in grammar school too, come to think about it. The teacher pointed out, it’s so small, you could conceivably, regrow the bone tip, then you have the “scaffolding” mentioned above. And with a smaller volume, the existing blood vessels would have an easier time of building more tissue, and filling in the tip. Maybe. ---
**Author:** ![si\_blakely](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@si\_blakely](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/si_blakely)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2010, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-body-parts-grow-back-not-nipples-right/536721/25 "2010-04-21T06:37:17Z")
Some recent research points to the scarring response as a limiting factor in regrowth/regeneration of CNS nerve tissue - glial scar tissue forms rapidly, blocking regrowth and limiting regeneration. Drugs that block/dissolve the glial scar have been shown to assist functional improvements in rats. I suspect that further developments in this area will eventually allow the reduction of scarring following surgery/trauma, at the expense of healing time. Si ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2010, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-body-parts-grow-back-not-nipples-right/536721/26 "2010-04-21T06:39:50Z")
Thank you everyone for your responses so far. As borderline silly as the OP was, I was legitimately curious. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGrenze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2010, 9:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-body-parts-grow-back-not-nipples-right/536721/27 "2010-04-21T09:19:02Z")
> [@Arkcon](#): > > I think I’d heard about half a pinky tip grown back in grammar school too, come to think about it. The teacher pointed out, it’s so small, you could conceivably, regrow the bone tip, then you have the “scaffolding” mentioned above. And with a smaller volume, the existing blood vessels would have an easier time of building more tissue, and filling in the tip. Maybe. Each tissue has its own “scaffolding”, just like it has its own blueprint. Although grossly we think of the bone as the “scaffolding”/support of an extremity, microscopically it needs a different support and microenvironment from the surrounding area in order to develop properly. Whatever grows out of a sliced off pinky, it won’t be a complete finger tip like it was before. ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2010, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-body-parts-grow-back-not-nipples-right/536721/28 "2010-04-21T11:42:26Z")
> [@NinetyWt](#): > > My sister works for a biology research group which is studying [limb regeneration](http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/07/regeneration/) in salamanders. They hope to one day apply the technology to humans. I don’t wanna piss on her parade, but how many people would really want to regrow a Salamander leg? ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2010, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-body-parts-grow-back-not-nipples-right/536721/29 "2010-04-21T11:51:05Z")
> [@wolfman](#): > > I don’t wanna piss on her parade, but how many people would really want to regrow a Salamander leg? Where do I sign up? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2010, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-body-parts-grow-back-not-nipples-right/536721/30 "2010-04-21T12:16:06Z")
> [@wolfman](#): > > I don’t wanna piss on her parade, but how many people would really want to regrow a Salamander leg? I’d like a pair of them growing from my top lip - so as to resemble a moustache. I’ll pay extra if I can control them to make hand gestures while I speak. ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2010, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-body-parts-grow-back-not-nipples-right/536721/31 "2010-04-21T12:28:30Z")
> [@wolfman](#): > > I don’t wanna piss on her parade, but how many people would really want to regrow a Salamander leg? Since on one has, up to this point been born with salamander legs, how could one _REgrow_ one? To the OP, skin does not grow back, if its full thickness is removed, as in third degree burns. It must have replacment skin applied as a graft, whether from another part of the body or skin cultured in the lab. The covering that grows over non grafted full thickness wounds is called granulation tissue. It has no feeling and it restricts movement. Nipples, too, would have to be grafted, however, I’ve never heard of a nipple bank. ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2010, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-body-parts-grow-back-not-nipples-right/536721/32 "2010-04-21T12:33:14Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > I’d like a pair of them growing from my top lip - so as to resemble a moustache. **I’ll pay extra if I can control them to make hand gestures while I speak**. I laughed imagining the bolded section. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2010, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-body-parts-grow-back-not-nipples-right/536721/33 "2010-04-21T12:57:09Z")
> [@picunurse](#): > > Nipples, too, would have to be grafted, however, I’ve never heard of a nipple bank. There’s no specific checkbox for it on my donor card either. (I suppose there would have to be two checkboxes, in case someone only feels comfortable donating the left or right one) ---
**Author:** ![Uzi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/91b2a8/32.png) [@Uzi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uzi)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2010, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-body-parts-grow-back-not-nipples-right/536721/34 "2010-04-21T14:05:01Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > I’ll pay extra if I can control them to make hand gestures while I speak. Imagine if it was only partially successful. As in, they made gestures based upon what you were ACTUALLY thinking when you were talking to someone, say your boss. Or, they groomed and plucked your nose hairs continuously. Or, picked your nose and flicked boogers at people. Or, they could stuff the boogers into your mouth!:eek: ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2010, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-body-parts-grow-back-not-nipples-right/536721/35 "2010-04-21T16:01:54Z")
My salamander mustache legs would never stop flipping people the bird. ---
**Author:** ![filling\_pages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b9bd4f/32.png) [@filling\_pages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filling_pages)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2010, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-body-parts-grow-back-not-nipples-right/536721/36 "2010-04-21T16:11:54Z")
> [@picunurse](#): > > Nipples, too, would have to be grafted, however, I’ve never heard of a nipple bank. If someone loses their nipples due to breast reduction or chest surgery and doesn’t want the nickname Nippleless Nippleby, the usual fix is to get nipples tattooed on. Seriously. I mean, it doesn’t provide nipple sensation, of course, but it’ll pass a quick visual check. ---
**Author:** ![BigNik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/73ab20/32.png) [@BigNik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigNik)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2010, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-body-parts-grow-back-not-nipples-right/536721/37 "2010-04-22T01:04:37Z")
Actually, they do grow back - I lost money on that one once. It may have been that there was enough surrounding tissue, but it grew back. Not to get too TMI on everyone, but the story involves a five-eighth who forgot to tape up his piercings before a game for the Petersham fourth XV, a ruck that he was caught at the bottom of and the fact that his ring was about the same size as the studs on the bottom of someone’s boot, which it had to be pried off. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2010, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-body-parts-grow-back-not-nipples-right/536721/38 "2010-04-22T04:23:11Z")
> [@picunurse](#): > > nipple bank [del]band[/del] strip club name! ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2010, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-body-parts-grow-back-not-nipples-right/536721/39 "2010-04-22T06:08:32Z")
> [@Cheshire\_Human](#): > > But not in your teen years. I just checked. The end of my left thumb, which I hacked off w/ a saw @ 16 or 17 (accidentally), is still shorter than the right one, by the same amount I cut off. Did you cut off bone, or just skin? I’ve sliced off a couple of my fingertips at various times and scraped most of the palm of one hand off in a cycling accident; they all grew back with minimal scarring. ---
**Author:** ![horsetech](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dec6dc/32.png) [@horsetech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/horsetech)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2010, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-body-parts-grow-back-not-nipples-right/536721/40 "2010-04-22T07:08:51Z")
Picunurse, does skin not migrate back over granulation tissue? In horses, it does, at least to a certain distance. I have seen gaping full-thickness wounds which were un-suturable which, after many weeks, filled in with granulation tissue to the level of the skin and later re-epithelialised to form new skin covering the wound (although it did not necessarily look exactly the same as the surrounding skin and sometimes a tough scar is left). Granulation tissue that does not get covered by skin or scar (proud flesh) is a problem, not the normal state of things. From what I have seen in vet med, even skin grafts do not necessarily cover the entire area that was wounded; little “islands” of skin are implanted on a healthy bed of granulation tissue so that skin can grow out from around these islands. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-body-parts-grow-back-not-nipples-right/536721.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-body-parts-grow-back-not-nipples-right/536721.md?page=3)