20 People Who Only Learned The Uncommon Things Their Bodies Do Are, In Fact, Uncommon Because Someone Else Was Very, Very Confused
As someone whose body has on more than one occasion done something that made a doctor look deeply and thoroughly confused, I can confidently say it can be an isolating and jarring experience.
^^An actual DM I received from a friend a few weeks ago that I feel like more or less sums the experience up, TBH.
That being said, it's been an absolute delight to have created a little community here on BuzzFeed dot com of fellow strange body-havers through these posts. I've seen y'all in the comments finding people with your same experiences, and I love to see it! It's like a little virtual support group! In this third iteration of "What's an 'unusual thing' your body does that you didn't know was unusual until someone was deeply confused," I am here to share 20 more stories from BuzzFeed readers just like you. To kick it off, I'll go first:
1."Since I was a kid, I've heard this weird, TV static-y-sounding, rain stick-y noise coming from the back of my neck randomly. It almost feels like something is draining. I assumed that, kind of like when your stomach growls, it was just a weird body sound nobody really talked about. Well, fast-forward to this year and during a doctor's appointment, I mentioned it offhandedly. My doctor looked absolutely horrified — she'd never heard of that in her life. I told my partner, my friends, my parents...and not a soul had any idea what the hell I was talking about."
"After some googling and reading comments of fellow weird-head-noise-sufferers, it's believed to be the sound of your spinal fluid, though there's admittedly not a whole lot out there on it. People tend to hear it most when they're hungry and, after some personal testing, I can confirm that holds up."
2."I have synesthesia! Mine is called 'ordinal linguistic personification.' To me, most things that come in lists (numbers, colors, months) have personalities and genders. I can explain, for instance, that six is a very motivated, self-starting young man, whereas four is a slightly-masculine woman who is very pragmatic and rational."
3."I have an internal alarm clock. I can wake myself up by saying the time to myself before I go to sleep, and I wake up at that time. Works every time! I've even tried alarm clocks as a safety measure, but I just wake up before the clock goes off and turn it off."
4."I have auditory hallucinations, but they're music, not voices. It sounds like a radio playing in another room. I don't pick the music, nor do I even particularly like what I hear most of the time. It can go on for days and keep me awake at night. I didn't realize this wasn't normal for everyone until I was 42."
5."My eyes won’t go numb from local eye anesthesia. The optometrist kept putting in more and trying the test again, and finally, they had to use a tool they normally only use on babies. I laughed and said something like, 'Well I’m sure others have to do this, too, right?' And she looked kind of confused and replied, 'No. You’re the first person I’ve ever had to do this for.' LOL, damn."
6."I'll have a sneezing fit when I eat sometimes. It doesn't matter what I eat. I'll eat a meal, and then about 5-ish minutes later, have a sneezing fit. My coworker noticed because it would also be after lunch, and she brought it up. Turns out it's a legit thing, and its the body's physical response to eating."
Sneezing after eating is called a Snatiation Reflex, and tends to happen when a person's stomach is full and becomes stretched. Some people only sneeze a little, and some sneeze a lot, like the person above. The term is a combo of the words "sneeze" and "satiation."
7."Didn’t learn or really focus on until my 20s that mint (toothpaste, etc.) was NOT in fact supposed to upset your stomach if you even so much as smelled it. I remember being a young kid dreading brushing my teeth because it would probably make my tummy hurt...among other reactions. I just thought mint 'cleansed you out' so to speak, because it freshens breath. I also thought it was supposed to burn that bad because everyone talks about mouthwash stinging a bit, so I thought all mint-flavored things were supposed to do that to some extent. Whoops! LOL, now I know."
8."For 27 years, I thought it was 100% normal to have constant, super-vivid dreams. Whether a short cat nap or a full night's sleep, I thought everyone had them. I even thought it was normal I could remember dreams I had when I was, like, 3 years old. I also thought it was normal to get super tired and need a nap after an argument or something stressful. Nope to all of that. 😆 A sleep study later, and I found out I'm the third generation to have effing narcolepsy."
9."I’m allergic to dried stone fruits. I was maybe 12 or so and eating some dried apricots when I noticed my mouth/throat felt weird. I said to my family, 'These are good, but does anyone else’s mouth feel like they’ve swallowed little bits of glass when they’re eating them?' They looked at me like I sprouted a second head, and my mom said, 'Stop eating those and take a Benadryl. You’re having a mild allergic reaction.'"
10."I have cataplexy — I lose the ability to grip/hold things, chew, sometimes even stand when laughing. Basically, my muscles shit the bed whenever I start laughing too hard. Me, my sister, and my dad have it. My sister has even dropped her children because of it (don’t worry, it's more of a gradual release than a full blown drop, and no one was hurt). I grew up thinking it was entirely normal, and my mind was blown when I found out it was not. I asked the next 10 people I saw — my friends, coworkers, drug dealer — if they got weak while they were laughing, and they looked at me like I had three heads."
11."My tongue itches when I sneeze. I asked my husband if he gets annoyed when that happens, and he was like, '....What???' I've asked so many friends, and no else has this problem."
12."I didn’t realize not everyone had referred itch until my 30s. My boss had no idea what I was talking about when I told him I can scratch somewhere and feel a strange itch or sensation somewhere across my body. About 1 in 5 people have it."
13."I can taste words. For example, if someone says three, an image of a cupcake immediately comes to mind, and I sometimes will start salivating. The same word has always had the same food association. It’s called Lexical–gustatory synesthesia."
14."My husband had surgery on a hernia and discovered that his large intestine was eight feet long. The average adult intestine is five feet long, so the doctor was shocked. He had to get three feet removed because of the hernia, so now it’s normal length."
15."I have synesthesia. It does suck sometimes. I see colors just by looking at people. Some have no color at all, and others are like...so bright I get a migraine. It's cool but also very distracting."
16."I've got bone growth on the inside of my gums, under my tongue, and just below my lower teeth on either side that almost touch each other. My tongue sits on top of them. Always thought as a kid/young adult everyone had it, until I was out with coworkers and was eating a club sandwich and said, 'Don't you hate it when you eat a toasted sandwich and it rips the layer of skin off your gums under your tongue?' And they were like, 'WTF are you talking about?' I lifted my tongue to show them, and they were instantly freaked!!! Turns out the lumps were totally not normal. Apparently, most people don't grow extra bone inside their jaws. Later in life, a dentist freaked out about it, too, and tested me for cancer, but it's just extra bone. I'm an oddball I guess! 🤷"
17."That I had eight wisdom teeth grow into the extra space in the back of my jaw (two for each side, top and bottom). They all grew in just fine after 20. On my last trip to the dentist, I found out that I have eight more growing in sideways. The normal amount of wisdom teeth is 4, not 16."
18."I was born with extra muscles in my arms. It's thought to be a next step in evolution...except they don't serve any purpose and caused extreme nerve damage in my arms. My doctor jokes that I'm an X-Man and my superpower is chronic pain. He isn't wrong. I'm in a medical journal somewhere."
19."When I was little, anytime I ate ANYTHING made with eggs, it made my tongue itchy. At birthday parties, I would only eat the icing, which resulted in weird parents scolding me to eat the cake and then my tongue getting itchy. How I wish my parents listened more…."
20.And finally, "My whole body is weird. I have every recessive trait they teach about in science class: attached earlobes, dimples, red hair. My teachers always used me as an example. I also have no appendix. I was born without one — about 0.001% of people are. I have really wide feet at the toes, but tiny short little toes that are almost nonexistent, which is a genetic thing. I am also super flexible because of Ehlers-Danlos. Thanks, Grandpa. When I was a kid, I could lay on my tummy and touch my feet to the floor in front of my head. I can also squirt liquid out of my tear ducts if I hold my breath and plug my ears. Found this out on a fair ride once…soda out of your tear ducts is painful, 0/10 do not recommend."
Does your body do any unusual things like these? If so, tell us about them in the comments below! You can read more stories like this here and here.
Note: Submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity.
