# 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:** 3
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2010, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-body-parts-grow-back-not-nipples-right/536721/41 "2010-04-22T14:43:42Z")
Autolycus: > [@](#): > > So, we could splice shark DNA with humans and grow 3+ sets of teeth? OK that’s getting off-topic. [![](https://mediumlarge.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/jaws-quint.jpg) ](https://mediumlarge.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/jaws-quint.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2010, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-body-parts-grow-back-not-nipples-right/536721/42 "2010-04-22T21:05:07Z")
> [@horsetech](#): > > 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. To some degree, but full thickness damage will only see a thin, insensitive re-epithelization, that may or may not reach all the margins ---
**Author:** ![KarlGrenze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2010, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-body-parts-grow-back-not-nipples-right/536721/43 "2010-04-22T21:41:36Z")
The last part of wound healing (remodeling) is a competition between/combination of re-epithelialization and wound contraction (with fibrosis and scarring). Smaller cuts leave minimal to no scarring, and less scarring, more reepithelialization are goals of surgical incisions. The island grafts that horsetech mentions I’ve only seen referenced again and again in equine veterinary medicine. Horses are notorious for having “tight skin”, proud flesh (excessive granulation tissue), and more functional damage if fibrosis is prevalent. Part of the reasons of the skin islets is to promote re-epithelialization, especially of haired skin. Even with that, my equine teachers stressed that at most, 30-40% of the grafted skin islands made it, while the other ones didn’t take. ---
**Author:** ![horsetech](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dec6dc/32.png) [@horsetech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/horsetech)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2010, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-body-parts-grow-back-not-nipples-right/536721/44 "2010-04-23T01:37:46Z")
Thanks for the additional information. It is always good to hear from the real experts on this sort of thing. I know this site is trying to shill some wound-care product, but I have seen this sort of recovery (such as in a friend’s gelding who did a number on his lateral antebrachium and now has just a very thin line of scar tissue), so I think it’s fair to say that there can be a considerable amount of healing covering and almost eliminating a defect with normal-looking and normal-feeling skin. WARNING: GRAPHIC PHOTOS - DO NOT OPEN WHILE EATING - BLOOD AND GORE [I told you not to click if you were squeamish.](http://www.woundade.com/case-studies/case-study-C.html) ---
**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2010, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-body-parts-grow-back-not-nipples-right/536721/45 "2010-04-26T15:11:47Z")
> [@lizardling](#): > > 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. Were you running? ---
**Author:** ![goodie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@goodie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/goodie)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2010, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-body-parts-grow-back-not-nipples-right/536721/46 "2010-04-26T16:48:19Z")
Interesting thread…I would like to know if the way that the tissue was lost makes a difference, for instance, does burned tissue heal faster or scar less/more than say something that was cut off? I’m not talking about something that was effectively cauterized, I mean burned completely off. And we know that very young children will heal better than older children and adults, but what about later in life, will a 70 year old person grow back more of that liver/kidney than a 90 year old? I would have guessed that nipples regenerate better than any other skin, after all, for most mammals, they were designed to be chewed on by babies/toddlers for many of (I don’t endorse this!) a female’s reproductive years, they would have to be durable and able to heal and stay elastic with a minimum of tough scar tissue that might hinder milk flow. Also, I’m forced to ask…what else can you do with that salamander mustache? ---
**Author:** ![TheoS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e99b99/32.png) [@TheoS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheoS)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2010, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-body-parts-grow-back-not-nipples-right/536721/47 "2010-04-26T18:17:09Z")
“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 like it… I could think of all kinds of cool uses for a pair of little arms with hands hanging off my upper lip. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGrenze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2010, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-body-parts-grow-back-not-nipples-right/536721/48 "2010-04-26T19:41:52Z")
> [@goodie](#): > > Interesting thread…I would like to know if the way that the tissue was lost makes a difference, for instance, does burned tissue heal faster or scar less/more than say something that was cut off? I’m not talking about something that was effectively cauterized, I mean burned completely off. The body will try the same basic mechanism to repair itself no matter what. But it will be much harder with a burn than with a section that was just cut. A chunk of skin taken off would still heal faster than a burn. Both would leave scars, though. Burns are nasty… They’re not “healthy tissue taken away and surrounded by healthy tissue”, but they’re “dead tissues surrounded by live tissue”. Dead tissue does not support life. > [@](#): > > I would have guessed that nipples regenerate better than any other skin, after all, for most mammals, they were designed to be chewed on by babies/toddlers for many of (I don’t endorse this!) a female’s reproductive years, they would have to be durable and able to heal and stay elastic with a minimum of tough scar tissue that might hinder milk flow. Huh… nope. I mean, really… Babies are not constantly drawing blood (and neither are partners, I hope, otherwise, OUCH!), or causing skin lesions that go past the dermis. Granted, some of those areas, at least in animals, have “tougher” skin than other places. They do, at least in other species, have awesome glandular regenerative capacity. But at least in humans, it’s not as if they’re constantly being mutilated. ---
**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 26, 2010, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-body-parts-grow-back-not-nipples-right/536721/49 "2010-04-26T20:32:00Z")
> [@goodie](#): > > Also, I’m forced to ask…what else can you do with that salamander mustache? Eat baby corn like it’s corn on the cob Pick spinach out of your front teeth Novel impersonation of Lord Kitchener Out-Dali Dali ---
**Author:** ![horsetech](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dec6dc/32.png) [@horsetech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/horsetech)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2010, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-body-parts-grow-back-not-nipples-right/536721/50 "2010-04-26T21:11:05Z")
It seems fitting that Mangetout would post on a thread about regenerating body parts. Imagine a pig where you could cut off a slab and make it in to bacon, and the pig would grow back. What if you could put salt on the pig and get it to grow bacon directly? As for tiny moustache hands, it would allow those of Italian ancestry like my family to effectively talk and drive (type, etc.) at the same time. I have a friend who is otherwise a very careful driver who ends up using his forearms to hold the steering wheel sometimes so that he can use his hands when expounding on a point to his passenger. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-body-parts-grow-back-not-nipples-right/536721/51 "2010-04-27T00:43:11Z")
Regenerative Japanese nipples of fury!! ---
**Author:** ![bahimes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e36b37/32.png) [@bahimes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bahimes)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 10:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-body-parts-grow-back-not-nipples-right/536721/52 "2010-04-27T10:09:59Z")
[quote=“horsetech, post:50, topic:536721”] It seems fitting that Mangetout would post on a thread about regenerating body parts. Imagine a pig where you could cut off a slab and make it in to bacon, and the pig would grow back. What if you could put salt on the pig and get it to grow bacon directly?QUOTE] Schmoo? I really tried hard to bold \*\*horsetech \*\*in the quote, but it just wouldn’t take. ---
**Author:** ![Cheshire\_Human](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Cheshire\_Human](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheshire_Human)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2010, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-body-parts-grow-back-not-nipples-right/536721/53 "2010-04-28T05:19:07Z")
> [@Krokodil](#): > > 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. Returning late to this thread, but no bone. Just about to it, though. Was much more than skin. There was no skin left, and a good pint or more of blood all over the floor. The thumb is still shorter by just the length I cut off, than the other one. ---
**Author:** ![horsetech](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dec6dc/32.png) [@horsetech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/horsetech)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2010, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-body-parts-grow-back-not-nipples-right/536721/54 "2010-04-28T06:16:54Z")
> [@bahimes](#): > > Schmoo? > I really tried hard to bold \*\*horsetech \*\*in the quote, but it just wouldn’t take. How could I forget about shmoos? :smack: It looks like you are missing a bracket and slash in your close quote tag, which might be why it didn’t display properly. ---
**Author:** ![alindallas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f17d59/32.png) [@alindallas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alindallas)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-body-parts-grow-back-not-nipples-right/536721/55 "2010-04-30T11:38:03Z")
Is it time to bring up the pig with the wooden leg? ---
**Author:** ![FlippyFly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e95f7d/32.png) [@FlippyFly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlippyFly)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2010, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-body-parts-grow-back-not-nipples-right/536721/56 "2010-05-01T01:42:04Z")
> [@Autolycus](#): > > So, we could splice shark DNA with humans and grow 3+ sets of teeth? OK that’s getting off-topic. My great grandmother actually did get a [partial] 3rd set of teeth. When she was about 80 her teeth started to get loose and fall out. Strangely enough a few new ones grew in behind the ones that fell out. They pulled them to make room for dentures thinking it was a fluke but ended up pulling 5 brand new teeth altogether. ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2010, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-body-parts-grow-back-not-nipples-right/536721/57 "2010-05-01T07:06:46Z")
> [@FlippyFly](#): > > My great grandmother actually did get a [partial] 3rd set of teeth. When she was about 80 her teeth started to get loose and fall out. Strangely enough a few new ones grew in behind the ones that fell out. They pulled them to make room for dentures thinking it was a fluke but ended up pulling 5 brand new teeth altogether. Just out of curiosity, what did she die of? I’m guessing not cancer? ---
**Author:** ![vinylmatt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/aca169/32.png) [@vinylmatt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vinylmatt)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2010, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-body-parts-grow-back-not-nipples-right/536721/58 "2010-05-02T06:29:03Z")
> [@BigNik](#): > > 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. I bet the pack had a chuckle about this poser, but you were right about TMI, your description made me sick and I have NO piercings 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![BigNik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/73ab20/32.png) [@BigNik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigNik)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2010, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-body-parts-grow-back-not-nipples-right/536721/59 "2010-05-02T06:39:09Z")
He lost basically all the nipple, but not the areola. I bet our tighty $20 that the nipple wouldn’t grow back. I lost. ---
**Author:** ![vinylmatt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/aca169/32.png) [@vinylmatt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vinylmatt)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2010, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-body-parts-grow-back-not-nipples-right/536721/60 "2010-05-02T07:22:16Z")
> [@BigNik](#): > > He lost basically all the nipple, but not the areola. I bet our tighty $20 that the nipple wouldn’t grow back. I lost. I hope the prop bought the nipple man a drink out of the 20 🙂 OT but did he put up a decent display of bravado on the field (for the opposition) at the time? Did he need to be subbed? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-body-parts-grow-back-not-nipples-right/536721.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-body-parts-grow-back-not-nipples-right/536721.md?page=4)