The Internet Can't Handle Viral Photo Of What A Woman's Milk Ducts Look Like

Here’s a quick anatomy lesson for everyone about how boobs work

A photo on Twitter is making the viral rounds this week and the internet seems kinda shook about it. What’s the photo, you ask? It’s a picture of boobs. Or, rather, a picture of what boobs look like anatomically, and how they work. And honestly, it’s cool as hell.

Twitter user @lemonadead shared the image, mentioning that she’s likely never seen a photo of the female muscular system. “This is NOT what I imagined milk ducts to look like,” she tweeted. And, according to the reactions that followed, neither did anyone else.

Well hello there, very intricately designed milk-transporting flowers! Who knew people with breasts had this awesomeness happening underneath our layers of skin and fat?

The milk ducts, also called lactiferous ducts, are the tubes that carry your breast milk from where it is made in the glandular tissue of your breast out to your nipple. So these beautiful flower petals are responsible for transporting milk, not storing it. There are approximately 15 to 30 milk ducts located in your breast. The ducts end at the nipple, where there are small openings that allow milk to flow out of our beautifully floral bodies and into our babies’ mouths. I breastfed for a year and I never imagined that’s what was going on in my engorged melons — it’s much prettier on the inside, I can tell you that.

The internet is having a field day over the photo too, with many people sharing just how freaked out they are by the inner-workings of boobs.

https://twitter.com/jetpack/status/1120309924863541249

Other people shared their fascination by it.

https://twitter.com/jetpack/status/1120459782513745926

This is also just a good reminder to brush up on our own anatomy every now and then, especially for moms. Some of the most common problems mothers have with breastfeeding involve issues with our milk ducts. When breast milk gets clogged inside the ducts or blocks the opening of a duct, it can be painful and interfere with breastfeeding. Images like this one, not found in any doctor’s offices that I’ve been to personally, help put things into perspective regarding what’s happening inside our bodies.

While it’s probably a jarring picture for many, it’s beyond time to normalize all things boob-related. If we’re not unbothered by pictures of them on the outside, why should we clutch our pearls over what they look like on the inside? Those babies work hard! They deserve recognition in all forms, damn it.