# What causes a third nipple? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 20, 2003, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-a-third-nipple/208533 "2003-10-20T16:30:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![xvxdarkknightxvx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/34f0e0/32.png) [@xvxdarkknightxvx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xvxdarkknightxvx)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2003, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-a-third-nipple/208533/21 "2003-10-22T03:40:04Z")
So my mole is really just a mole that _looks_ like a nipple? ---
**Author:** ![slipster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@slipster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slipster)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2003, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-a-third-nipple/208533/22 "2003-10-23T05:02:19Z")
Years ago I worked in an office where there were a number of burned-out army vets who were legends in their own minds. It was really amazing how all of them were the original model for Rambo. Anyway, one day they got on the subject of all the wild and exotic women they knew. It was getting pretty dreary listening to them continually trying to top one another, and I was able to shut them up by telling them about the time I dated a woman with three nipples. And yes, an extra nipple can lactate. Personally, I don’t find that particularly grotesque. It strikes me as way nicer, say, than a lumbar rib. Some years ago I was having trouble turning my head, and for a brief time my doctor thought that possibly I had been born with a supernumerary rib in my neck. Yecch. ---
**Author:** ![kniz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@kniz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kniz)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2003, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-a-third-nipple/208533/23 "2003-10-23T20:58:55Z")
> [@](#): > > _[\*National Library of Medicine](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=88307242) > Supernumerary nipples are common anomalies, and their significance is usually limited to cosmetic concerns._\* My first biology lesson in college came from my first roommate. He decided that since we were roommates it would be a good idea to reveal his anomaly. He pulled off his shirt to reveal a complete set of nipples, at least 4 on each side. As they descended they became less pronounced but the pattern was unquestionable.\*\*\*\*\* It wasn’t until my sophomore year that I took Embryology and found out it was not that unusual. > [@](#): > > _originally posted by mrbuddylee_ > **And along those same lines, why don’t you hear about kids born with extra internal organs, only external? I guess it does happen, it’s just not as easy to see so to speak.** **Right.** One very common anomaly is to have more than two kidneys, which would be very nice if you ever became a donor for a loved one. 😉 \*\*\*\*\*Even the lowest on both sides was more than a freckle. ---
**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:** [October 23, 2003, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-a-third-nipple/208533/24 "2003-10-23T21:50:23Z")
I have one; only on the left side though; smaller (about 7mm dia) than the main pair, lower down and nearer the middle of my chest, but definitely a nipple. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Rieux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Dr.Rieux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Rieux)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2003, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-a-third-nipple/208533/25 "2003-10-23T22:05:38Z")
Shouldn’t **The Man with the Golden Gun** have posted in here by now? ---
**Author:** ![Upstgeu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Upstgeu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Upstgeu)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2017, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-a-third-nipple/208533/26 "2017-04-25T21:10:13Z")
On my upper/inner thigh, within the “milk line”.http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o147/upstgeu/third\_zpsvroxfisp.jpg"]http://[http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o147/upstgeu/third\_zpsvroxfisp.jpg](http://s119.photobucket.com/user/upstgeu/media/third_zpsvroxfisp.jpg.html) ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2017, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-a-third-nipple/208533/27 "2017-04-25T21:38:33Z")
> [@mrbuddylee](#): > > Wow, 1 per 40??? Wow, I wonder if people I know are just in denial about it or they just don’t tell people because of the weird social aspect. > > Still, anyone know what causes them and why they’re so common? I’m not doctor, but I did talk to one once. I just thought I had a birthmark, right at the spot where my pectoral muscle turns into ribs. It wasn’t big, no big deal. Then, when I was 17 or so (probably my last visit to a pediatric doctor), the doctor told me that it was a bit of nipple tissue that drifted down my chest a bit during my fetal development. So, apparently that’s what causes them, and most people don’t know they have them because they just think they’re regular birthmarks, if they notice them at all. (And yes, I know this is a zombie. I’m answering this for posterity.) ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2017, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-a-third-nipple/208533/28 "2017-04-25T21:49:22Z")
Nipplefoot. Yes, [it is too a thing](https://www.google.com/search?q=nipple+foot&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8). ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2017, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-a-third-nipple/208533/29 "2017-04-25T23:08:02Z")
I love surprising my patients by pointing out their extra nipples to them. As noted above, it happens in about one out of 40 patients, so I get the opportunity about once every week or three, depending on how many routine physicals I’m doing. Most folks are unaware that’s what they are; they just considered them birthmarks. But perhaps 10% of them already do know they’re sporting a supernumerary papilla. I tell them it may be a marker a for super power. But I refuse to tell them which power it might be. Instead I encourage them to discover their power for themselves. And to only use it for good. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2017, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-a-third-nipple/208533/30 "2017-04-25T23:11:49Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Nipplefoot. Yes, [it is too a thing](https://www.google.com/search?q=nipple+foot&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8). Sounds like a new supergroup. You loved Chickenfoot? Get ready for Nipplefoot. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2017, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-a-third-nipple/208533/31 "2017-04-26T00:22:39Z")
> [@mrbuddylee](#): > > So, do you think it’s more common that something like a 3rd testicle or 3rd ovary? Without any expertise, it seems to me that it would be more common. After all, we are fairly closEly related genetically to other mammals, many of whom (cows, pigs, dogs, cats, etc.) whose normal anatomy has multiple pairs of nipples. So tit would take less changes/errors during fetal development to result in multiple nipples. But I don’t know of any mammal that normally has more than 2 testicles. Presumably that is a more significant deviation from the norm, and thus less likely to occur. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2017, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-a-third-nipple/208533/32 "2017-04-26T00:29:30Z")
> [@Dr.Rieux](#): > > Shouldn’t **The Man with the Golden Gun** have posted in here by now? If she’s Lily Allen, I volunteer. ---
**Author:** ![SantaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/da6949/32.png) [@SantaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SantaMan)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2017, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-a-third-nipple/208533/33 "2017-04-26T01:17:16Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > Sounds like a new supergroup. > > You loved Chickenfoot? Get ready for Nipplefoot. Nipplefoot is OK, but I just CAN’T STAND Nippleback 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2017, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-a-third-nipple/208533/34 "2017-04-26T02:42:02Z")
Do supernumerary nipples in women usually develop into breasts? ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2017, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-a-third-nipple/208533/35 "2017-04-26T03:22:18Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > Instead I encourage them to discover their power for themselves. And to only use it for good. But if they did that, they probably would not end up under your care. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2017, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-a-third-nipple/208533/36 "2017-04-26T11:12:45Z")
> [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](#): > > Do supernumerary nipples in women usually develop into breasts? Two words for you to Google: polymastia and polythelia. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2017, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-a-third-nipple/208533/37 "2017-04-26T12:30:35Z")
> [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > So tit would take less changes/errors during fetal development to result in multiple nipples. Wow, whadda typo. ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2017, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-a-third-nipple/208533/38 "2017-04-26T16:19:53Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > Two words for you to Google: polymastia and polythelia. Just to be sure, before I look them up, are those two words SFW to Google? ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2017, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-a-third-nipple/208533/39 "2017-04-26T19:36:47Z")
Also Krusty the Clown, ISTR. Welcome **upstgeu** to SD. Ordinarily I think reviving a zombie with a “me too” is frowned upon, but luckily the mods were looking the other way. Their loss. ---
**Author:** ![anomalous1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e56c9b/32.png) [@anomalous1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anomalous1)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2017, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-a-third-nipple/208533/40 "2017-04-27T23:47:02Z")
> [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > So tit would take less changes/errors during fetal development to result in multiple nipples. Freudian nip. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-a-third-nipple/208533.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-a-third-nipple/208533.md?page=3)