Researchers have found a 22-year-old woman with a full grown nipple on her foot. I don’t know if a foot nipple is considered not safe for work, but I’m getting a strange tingling sensation thinking about the possibilities.
While it seems straight from the pages of National Enquirer, the case was recently published in the scientific journal Dermatology Online. Many men and women have third and four vestigial nipples, running along the milk lines that go from the genitals to the breasts. This case is completely unique, however, according to the research paper:
A 22-year-old woman sought medical care for a lesion in the plantar region of her left foot, a well-formed nipple surrounded by areola and hair.
Microscopic examination of the dermis showed hair follicles, eccrine glands, and sebaceous glands.
Fat tissue was noted at the base of the lesion. Clinical and histopathologic findings were consistent with the diagnosis of supernumerary breast tissue, also known as pseudomamma. To our knowledge, this is the first report of supernumerary breast tissue on the foot.
Witch’s nipples
Third and fourth nipples are called supernumerary nipples, vestigial nipples, or, in folklore, witch’s nipples. Some people believed that witches used them to feed demons. In other cultures they were considered a sign of virility among men and fertility among women.
The fact is that many people have them, including King Henry VIII of England’s wife Anne Boleyn, the actor Mark Walhberg and myself. Yes, I have one on my left side. It’s tiny and hard to spot, but they are clearly there. You may have them too: you may find them a few inches below your real nipples, on the edge of the ribcage. [Dermatology Journal via The Sun, additional material via BBC]