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Areola: anatomy, location and function

The areola is the circle of pigmented skin around the nipple. Its glands keep the nipple supple and protected during breastfeeding, and its pigment may help an infant find the nipple.

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Structures

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Highlighted in the model: Areola. Click any part to read about it, or switch off “Highlight topic” to see the whole body. Use Male / Female to switch bodies. 3D data: BodyParts3D, © The Database Center for Life Science; knee ligaments, menisci, tonsils, palate and parotid glands from the Human Reference Atlas Visible Human Male model and female parts from its Visible Human Female model (HuBMAP / NIH); lung lobes built from the BodyParts3D chest; all CC BY 4.0; meshes simplified and recoloured. The female body shares the male skeleton, muscles and organs except its pelvis, reproductive organs, breasts, bladder, urethra and skin.

Areola at a glance

What it is
The areola is the circle of pigmented skin around the nipple.
Location
It surrounds the base of the nipple at the most prominent part of the breast.
Function
Its glands keep the nipple supple and protected during breastfeeding, and its pigment may help an infant find the nipple.
Body system
Reproductive · paired (left and right) · female body
FMA ID
FMA223679 (Foundational Model of Anatomy)

Key facts

  • It darkens and enlarges in pregnancy.
  • It contains smooth muscle, sweat glands and the areolar (Montgomery) glands.

Clinical relevance

Changes in the areola, such as eczema that does not heal, should be checked for Paget disease.

Structures next to the areola

The nearest named structures in the 3D model, measured from the centre of each part:

References

  1. Foundational Model of Anatomy: Areola (FMA223679). EMBL-EBI Ontology Lookup Service.
  2. OpenStax. Anatomy and Physiology 2e, §27.2 Anatomy and Physiology of the Ovarian Reproductive System (The Breasts). Rice University, 2022.
  3. Mitsuhashi N. et al. (2009). BodyParts3D: 3D structure database for anatomical concepts. Nucleic Acids Research 37, D782–D785. Data © The Database Center for Life Science, CC BY 4.0.
  4. Browne K., Schlehlein H. 3D Reference Organ Set for United, Female (Visible Human Female). Human Reference Atlas 3D Reference Object Library, HuBMAP / NIH. Data from the NLM Visible Human Project. CC BY 4.0.

Related anatomy

Explore the whole body in the interactive 3D human anatomy model, or browse the A–Z list of human structures.