Looking for breast facts? Breasts are quintessential embodiment of female sexuality. It is needless to say, men happen to gravitate towards them.
If we go by the study conducted by University of Nebraska-Lincoln, a man will spend more time ogling breasts than any other part of a woman’s body. That’s kind of hardwired in men and yes, they are pleasing to look at.
But how much do men know about them? In fact, the same question applies to women as well! Just how much do they know about their own breasts (especially teens)?
In this article on breast facts, we are going to explore them and learn not only some serious facts but also some fun facts about breasts. So, without further ado, let us begin…
Breast Facts: 1-10
1. One glance at the breasts can tell you when she will be having her periods. Before her menstruation sets in, a woman will experience a spike in two hormones – prolactin and progesterone. This leads to increased water retention and her milk glands and breast tissue grows, causing an increase in her breast size.
2. In some women, before the onset of menstrual cycle, breasts can grow as much as a cup size bigger.
3. Before periods when breasts undergo slight enlargement, going for breast stimulation (nipples to be more precise) can lead to pain and hence, reduce a woman’s sexual arousal.
4. There is something called nipple-gasm or breast orgasm. What’s that? You smart fellow! You already know it, don’t you? In case you don’t, you can successfully cause orgasm for a woman simply by stimulating her nipples in the right way.
5. Nipple-gasm includes intricate play with a woman’s nipple in which her partner needs to cup her breasts with his/her palm and gently squeeze the nipples using his/her thumb and index finger to lift up the nipple slightly. Keeping her blindfolded and licking her nipples in that position with a piece of ice cube in mouth (of the partner) can lead to orgasms for the woman.
6. Here is something crazy! If you were expecting the two squishy blobs on a woman’s chest to be of equal size, you may be in for a surprise. Many women have one bigger and one smaller breast.
7. The uneven size of the two happens because they are completely independent of each other and they respond differently to estrogen during puberty.
8. In 65% of the women with differently sized breasts will have the left one bigger and dominating than the right one.
9. This unevenness in size is something to worry about if one of the breasts suddenly grow in size with increased tenderness and lumps. This may indicate many underlying problems like cysts, infections, and even a deadly cancer.
10. In case you notice a bump on her (or your) breast, make sure that a professional breast examination is underway. Most of the times, those scary bumps or lumps are benign non-cancerous stuff caused by hormonal changes but that doesn’t rule out the possibility of a more dangerous breast cancer.
Breast Facts: 11-20
11. In case you think that breasts are fleshy mounds on her chest, you are wrong. Underneath is a very complex network of tubes and fat cells that we call the mammary gland, which is responsible for producing milk for the baby.
12. When a woman becomes pregnant, the sac-like structures called the milk ducts fill up with a thing called colostrum. This thing fills up the milk ducts before the child is born.
13. After the child is born, colostrum is replaced by milk which moves to the nipples through small channels known as lobules. The nipple is the site from where the milk exists.
14. If your partner has inverted nipples, don’t worry. That’s perfectly normal. This happens because of an adhesion present right at the base of the nipple binding the skin to the tissue below.
15. A woman can have both nipples inverted or can have one normal nipple and one inverted nipple.
16. Inverted nipples don’t really cause any issue except for breastfeeding where a child may fail to latch on to the nipples. There are remedies for that as well. There is something called nipple shield that can help the nipples to protrude again!
17. In very rare cases, a nipple becoming inverted can be a sign for breast cancer in which a cancerous tumor pulled on the tissue causing the nipple to get inverted. If you are feeling some lump, it is better to see a doctor.
18. There is no such thing called normal breast shape. There are many different ways a pair of breasts can be normal. That’s because, they happen to come in different shapes and sizes. This is true even for the nipples and the darker area around the nipples (the darker area is called areola).
19. Areolae can be pitch black to light black to brown or even pink or slightly orangish. All colors are normal.
20. Did you know that during pregnancy, areolae or areolas become darker? That happens to ensure that the child that will be born can quickly identify the location of the nipples and latch on for breastfeeding!
Breast Facts: 21-30
21. If you are a girl (or woman) and you are reading this, here is the thing – don’t smoke. Smoking and elastin are not compatible. Smoking makes the skin lose its elasticity and hence, leads to drooping of breasts.
22. If you think breastfeeding your child will make the breasts droop, you are wrong! Breastfeeding can only change the size of the breast and it has little to no impact on the elasticity of the skin.
23. However, you do need to understand that motherhood can lead to saggy breasts. Breasts of pregnant women will become bigger and heavier, forcing the skin and the ligaments supporting the breasts to stretch. Breasts then shrink later but may not go back to their original shape because the support systems (skin and ligaments) may not snap back to their previous shape.
24. Don’t blame men as the only people who ogle at breasts. Even women do! The University of Nebraska-Lincoln conducted as study in which both men and women were fitted with technology for eye tracking and were shown women with various body shapes that are ideally considered attractive in different cultural settings. Turns out that both men and women ogled at breasts more than the faces of those women with hourglass shape having a small waist and large breasts.
25. Many people tend to think that breast cancer is something hereditary. That is not true! Breast cancer can be caused by many things like radiation exposure, alcohol consumption, more estrogen exposure, etc.
26. Even men can get breast cancer but breast cancer makes up less than 1% of all cancers in men!
27. Men do have vestigial nipples and some milk ducts that don’t develop when men enter puberty. These milk ducts in men are also susceptible to cancer.
28. There was something called wet-nursing in which a woman struggling to nurse her baby used to hire other lactating women to nurse their babies. Hiring wet nurses or lactating women was a common practice in western Europe even during the 18th century. It is uncommon now.
29. 17th century midwives were able to read breasts like books. For example, a midwife named Jane Sharp wrote English women she was hired by: “The Nipples are red after Copulation, red as a Strawberry, and that is their Natural colour: But Nurses Nipples, when they give Suck, are blue, and they grow black when they are old.”
30. The breast size of women is determined by 7 genetic markers known as SNPs.
Breast Facts: 31-40
31. Studies have proven, according to Psychology Today, that men who are financially secure prefer smaller breasts while men who are less financially secure prefer larger breasts.
32. The same studies also say that men prefer large breasts when they are hungry and when they want children.
33. Having some degree of nipple hair is quite normal for women. There can be anywhere between 2 to 15 dark and straight strands of hair. The rule of thumb here is that if the hair on your head is dark and so is your skin, you will have more hair on your nipples.
34. Depending on where the areolas sit on the breasts, the nipples can point up or down or left or right. Some women may have nipples pointing in opposite direction.
35. Excellent cleavage is not determined by the breast size alone. The other two contributing factors are the shape of the breasts and their location on the torso.
36. Women can see a change in the shape of their breasts if they always sleep facedown. This will, however, not happen immediately. This takes several years.
37. There are oil glands right between the breasts and right above them. They form a T-zone. If your breasts are bigger, there will be more sweat collection. This will create a perfect condition for the bacteria to grow and thereby cause blemishes because of pimples and blackheads.
39. Breasts have thinner skin compared to the rest of the body. This is the reason why breasts can feel drier than the rest of the body skin. So, keeping them moisturized is a good idea. Oh, we forgot! Use some firming cream or oil as well to stimulate elastin and collagen growth.
40. There are four types of nipples – normal, flat, puffy, and inverted.
Breast Facts: 41-50
41. Humans are the only species in the world of primates who have permanent rounded and full breasts. All other primates will develop rounded and full breasts only when they need to breastfeed or nurse.
42. The glands present in the areolas of a nursing mother give off a scent of the amniotic fluid that only her baby can smell and is naturally attracted to.
43. Areolas turn a little darker in color during sexual arousal.
44. The ideal breasts during the Renaissance were those which were set high on the chest, were small, and perfectly round!
45. The breasts of a young girl will start developing between 2 to 4 years after the start of her menstrual cycle.
46. The study of breasts is called senology. The term is derived from the word seno which means bosom in both Spanish and Italian.
47. The weight of the breast of an average woman is slightly over a pound.
48. There are receptors in the mammary glands of both animals and humans that are responsible for collecting hormones present in the mothers’ body. These hormones can detect the fetus gender and change the milk composition accordingly.
49. There is a condition called polythelia in which a person will have at least 3 nipples. This is common in both males (1 out of 18) and females (1 out of 50). The extra nipple is often mistaken as a mole.
50. El Shaddai was the name of the God associated with fertility in early Judaism. El Shaddai literally translates into either ‘God who suckles’ or ‘God with breasts.’
Breast Facts: 51-60
51. During Renaissance, it was believed by people that the breast milk of a woman is nothing other than vaginal blood that was transformed into milk as it moved to the breasts from the womb.
52. According to myths and folklore, the legendary Amazon warrior women used to cut off their right breast so that they could easily draw bows.
53. California, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington are the US states with highest percentage of women who breastfeed their babies. West Virginia, Louisiana, and Mississippi are the states with lowest percentage.
54. The record for having the world’s largest natural breasts is held by Annie Hawkins-Turner. Each of her breast weighs a whopping 25.4 kilograms or 56 pounds. Her cup size is 102ZZZ.
55. There is something called gigantomastia in which a person’s (man or woman) breast and fat tissue keeps growing throughout his or her lifetime.
56. Breast cancer is the second-deadliest cancer in women!
57. Massachusetts is the American state with highest number of breast cancer cases. Arkansas is the state with lowest number of breast cancer cases.
58. One out of eight women will eventually get diagnosed with breast cancer.
59. There are different types of breast cancers. There are several drugs for treatment as well. The problem is that certain drugs that work with one type cancer will not work for other types of breast cancer.
60. For women, the most famous plastic surgery is the one of breast augmentation using saline or silicone.
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