“I Was 22 Years Old When I Learned It Was An Extra Nipple:” People Are Revealing The “Unusual Body Things” They Didn’t Know Weren’t “Normal” Until Someone Else Broke The News

As someone who has — on more than one occasion — left a medical professional thoroughly stumped over something that I thought was totally cool, casual, and not a big deal…I can personally attest that this happens way more than you’d probably think, TBH. Bodies are weird, y’all! It can be really difficult to place something your body has always done as being “wrong” when it’s all you know!

I asked BuzzFeed readers to share experiences like this that they’ve had, because we absolutely need to normalize talking about our bodies. We are each other’s greatest resource, after all! So, here are 34 stories of how people learned the “unusual” thing(s) their bodies do were not, in fact, normal (and what they ended up getting diagnosed with):

1.“I was complaining to my husband about how annoying it is when food gets stuck in your throat and you need to drink something quickly to get it down. He informed me that that’s not normal. Turns out I have dysphagia.”

—besthouse853

2.“When I’m laying in bed at night and it’s really quiet (just the fan on), I hear faint music playing (which isn’t really there). Sometimes, it sounds like jazz; other times, it’s old-timey swing or big band. When I realized it was just me, I thought I had a brain tumor or some kind of mental illness, but after undergoing several medical tests including a brain scan, it turns out that it’s a rare form of tinnitus.”

—pastelmagician962

3.“I’m allergic to water. Since I was little, bathing, swimming, showering, etc., all caused me to break out into hives. I thought it was a normal thing for the longest time and that it was just something everyone had to live with, but apparently not. Turns out I have aquagenic urticaria.”

—Anonymous

4.“I have Auditory synesthesia. Basically, I can feel certain sounds in different parts of my body. For example, thunder feels like being kicked in the spine, and rustling paper or bags feels like someone running their fingers all over my back and chest. I love music because some songs feel like I’m being tickled or getting a massage. I was 33 when I discovered it wasn’t common to experience music and noises like this.”

—megandonovan

5.“I wake up from anesthesia all the time. Every time. The first time I was under anesthesia, I was like 8 and getting stitches in my head. The doctor took a step back and was like, ‘Oh gosh, you’re awake!’ I felt him sewing my head back together and snip the stitches. It didn’t hurt, but it was itchy as crud. I also had jaw surgery when I was 13, and I woke up alone in a chair and dragged myself down the hallway until a nurse found me and helped me back to my room to sleep off the remainder of the anesthesia.”

—cornynugget234

6.“I have experienced two very unusual brain-related conditions. First, when I was a child, I experienced something VERY STRANGE, and only within the last 10-15 years or so did I find it has a name for it: Alice In Wonderland Syndrome. Basically, I was experiencing things around me, and myself, growing and shrinking in size. It was more than visual — it was like I knew the sizes were changing. Sometimes it was accompanied by sounds. I didn’t tell anyone about it until I was an adult, because I had no idea how to explain it.”

“Then, starting at some point in early adulthood, I started experiencing something called Exploding Head Syndrome. (Why do both of these have the coolest-sounding names, btw?) When this happened, I would hear something like a loud explosion, which would wake me up. Upon asking others about it, there was no noise. Other times it manifests as hearing someone yelling my name, which wakes me up, too. But again, nobody is yelling anything, it’s just my head.”

—hwh

7.“When I get turned on, I sneeze. It’s some kind of weird reflex. I also sneeze when I go out into the sun, which is more common.”

—Anonymous

8.“Since I was a kid, I would sleep, walk, drink, and eat. The sleep-drinking was the most problematic, because I’ve woken up drinking acetone, windex, and contact solution before. My brother did these, too, and my dad was notorious for eating a sleeve of Oreos while asleep. So, I thought it was normal. Over the last year, it’s gotten WILD. One time, I made full-blown oven nachos with chopped vegetables. I fed them to my mom at 3 a.m. while dead asleep. I only woke up when I started talking about a school bus, and she realized what was happening.”

“The sleepwalking is worse when I’m stressed. Last week, I woke up in the morning to find I had fried pierogis. I put four sauces in containers and put them in the sink, and then I packed my lunch. It was cat food. Also, last week, I woke up to my back door WIDE OPEN, and a receipt for an Uber ride to the city (124$) that apparently I ordered and didn’t take.

Because the tasks are getting more complex and generally fucking dangerous, my doctor made me get elderly alarms like the ones they have in hospitals.”

—acappiello1684

9.“I asked my mom as a kid why everyone loves eating apples when they always make your throat itch uncontrollably. Turns out that itching is NOT NORMAL. It’s an uncommon symptom of pollen allergies called oral allergy syndrome. It won’t kill me, but it explains why raw fruits and veggies are agonizing for me to eat!”

—Anonymous

10.“I started to get mouth ulcers and sores at about 14. When I started university, I’d get them so bad I couldn’t eat or talk. Eventually, I went to the doctor and learned I was severely anemic with ferritin levels below 5. Turns out, my periods had been so bad and heavy that they made me really anemic. I thought everyone’s period was like that. I’m managing it OK now, but please talk to your friends, family, and doctors about your periods so you know what’s not normal!”

—poeticsword455

11.“I have synesthesia! I found out when I was teaching a creative writing class and was trying to explain how the word ’empty’ and the word ‘hollow’ have different textures. My students were very confused, and so were my fellow instructors. To me, words have colors and textures. Smells have colors. I don’t see them like I do the things that are physically around me; I just understand them in a way that’s kind of like daydreaming. I also feel sounds when I taste things. I don’t know how else to describe it.”

—skeletonsaintjames

12.“I was talking to someone about how annoying it is when my hyponychium (the skin that attaches your nail to your finger at the free edge) grows all the way up past my fingertip, and I have to get in there and separate it so I can trim my nails. I thought this happened to everyone. It doesn’t. It is, in fact, a symptom of connective tissue disease, as confirmed by my rheumatologist.”

—toucansans

13.“I have eyes that are bifocal, as in one is nearsighted and one farsighted. I learned about it in my 30s during an eye exam. It wasn’t until just last year when I finally needed glasses, that I learned it is very unusual. It’s pretty cool to see the shadow of my glasses, because one lens has a significantly darker shadow.

—Teri, 60

14.“I have Aphantasia. I just learned about this recently. It is when your brain doesn’t form or use mental images as part of your thinking or imagination. Think about a red apple — can you actually visualize the apple? If not, you might have aphantasia. I have also seen it described as lacking a ‘mind’s eye.’ Anyway, after hearing about it, I realized I have it. I had no idea. The fact that I can’t visualize images wasn’t something I had ever consciously thought about, but my mind is blown that when other people think about something they can vividly see it in their mind!”

—Anonymous

15.“I can’t hear anything while underwater, which I learned is apparently not normal. My friends were talking about how water transmits sound, and I asked how they could tell, because when I’m underwater, it sounds like I’m inside a jet engine — a loud, deafening roaring all around me. Turns out my eardrum was damaged/punctured when I was younger, and I never knew.”

—lacjiba

16.“I thought everyone dislocated their joints on a regular basis until I did physical therapy and my provider told me that it was NOT normal. Apparently, I have loose joints. For as long as I can remember, I could always dislocate my big toes, thumbs, hips, and ribs. It hurts like hell, but I’d just pop them back in and move on with my day. I started asking friends and family if that happened to them too, and they looked at me like I was insane.”

—sarahp472e09325

17.“For as long as I can remember, every time I pee, my eyes tear up. I don’t mean just a little watery-eyed moment, I mean full-blown tears streaming down my face, sometimes even a runny nose. The longer I hold it, the worse it gets. I always assumed this happened to everyone. Growing up without the internet, there wasn’t exactly a way to fact-check my experience, and honestly, it never even crossed my mind to ask my family about it. It was just…normal. Then, one fateful day in high school, I hadn’t adjusted to my new schedule yet, so I went for two full class periods without a bathroom break. By the time I finally made it to the restroom, the floodgates (both kinds) opened. When I walked back into class, my friends looked alarmed.”

“’Are you okay? Why were you crying?’ one of them asked. Confused, I just shrugged. ‘Oh, I wasn’t crying. I just really had to pee.’ Apparently, this wasn’t a universal experience. No one in my friend group had any idea what I was talking about. In fact, they didn’t even believe me!

Fast forward to today, and thanks to the internet, I now know this rare phenomenon is called Gustatory Lacrimation. It’s a quirky little glitch in the nervous system where the body gets its wires crossed, making my tear ducts go into overdrive when I relieve myself. If that’s not a completely useless superpower, I don’t know what is.”

—Anonymous

18.“I didn’t know I had flat feet until I was 16 or 17 years old. Neither of my parents have flat feet, and no one ever noticed, not even doctors. A teacher pointed it out, and I had no idea what she was talking about. Yes, they are super duper flat. My footprints are all on one blob, lol.”

—born_with_no_bones

19.“I didn’t know getting dizzy and collapsing all the time wasn’t normal! I thought everyone was dizzy when they stood up or were standing for any length of time. It wasn’t until I was newly married and my husband caught me collapsing in the kitchen (a normal occurrence for me) that I learned everyone doesn’t experience this! Turns out I have a severe case of POTS. Now, I have a new diet and service dog, and I am doing much better.”

—Anonymous

20.“I have visual snow. It looks like the salt and pepper TV static in my vision constantly. Because it’s all I’ve ever known, I didn’t realize it wasn’t normal until I came across a Tumblr post about it. Like, y’all aren’t seeing constantly moving dots at every second?”

—monikap6

21.“When I laugh too hard, I start crying. I don’t just get tears in my eyes from laughing, but it’s like a switch flips and it turns to actually sobbing. So, my body is crying, but my mind is laughing at the absurdity of the situation. It’s not embarrassing at all! Just kidding. It’s awful.”

—Rachel, 49

22.I have a skin condition called cold urticaria, where — with exposure to cold — I break out in hives on my face and body everywhere. I also have the same thing from sweat and water (getting out of the pool or shower I have hives). In PE at school, my friends would always comment that my face was bright red (from hives), or when I got to school, I would sit in my chair and itch. I was in first grade, and when I asked my friends where their hives were, they were confused. I just slowly realized that this was not normal, and now I keep itch cream with me wherever I go because of my casually just breaking out in hives anywhere.”

—Anonymous

23.“I have Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome which makes my joints very flexible. When I was younger (up until about the age of 12), I could put my leg behind my head without needing to stretch or anything beforehand. I didn’t feel any pain or discomfort while doing it, and I would sometimes sit like that while doing homework or watching TV, just because I could. It wasn’t until I got to gymnastics class that I realized not everyone could do that. I would probably tear or break something if I tried to do it now, but I can still extend my elbows and knees past 180 degrees. It’s not terribly useful, but it’s a neat party trick!”

—awkwardtooth58

24.“Apparently, I have something called Gorlin sign. I can touch my nose with my tongue. My tongue is apparently really long and I can do all these tricks with it. I thought it was normal to have a tongue at my length, but then when I would show people as a kid, they were always like, ‘Woah, your tongue is so long!’ and everyone showed me how short theirs were. I still get comments on my long tongue to this day.”

—miss_snowleopard

25.“I saw a dietitian because everything I ate or drank made me feel bloated and heavy. I managed to ask the million-dollar question of ‘Is it normal to throw up undigested food 12-24 hours later?’ Got looked at like I had three heads, followed by a ‘…No…’ And that’s how I discovered my digestive disorder, gastroparesis.”

—simplysarahish

26.“Most of my internal organs are not in the typical places they’re supposed to be. My appendix was on the left, my heart slightly to the right, and my gallbladder in the center. My uterus is almost fully split in two, as well. I found out when I had exploratory surgery for abdominal pain at 19. Turns out it was appendicitis, but no one guessed because it wasn’t where they expected it to be!”

—Anonymous

27.“I have always had great vision and never needed glasses, but whenever I went to the eye doctor, and they asked if option 1 or 2 looked better, I always asked them if I should relax or focus my eyes. They would look at me a little funny and tell me to do whatever I would normally do. I would always get frustrated because I was never sure if I was doing the exam correctly, but any attempts at clarifying the situation went nowhere. Fast forward a couple of decades, and I was listening to a podcast where the host was interviewing an optometrist about vertical heterophoria.”

“It was fascinating to hear that all these weird, random things I never thought twice about could be related and could be impacting my life negatively. I took an online quiz on that optometrist’s website, and she personally called me back a couple of days later. The weird dry feeling I get in large public spaces? Drifting into someone that I’m walking next to? Yep, didn’t realize people don’t normally do that. Aching eyeballs? Closing one eye to read? Neck pain because my head is always tilted? Every single one was a yes.

Then, the doctor asked if I had double vision. I said no, just the normal kind that happens when I rest my eyes. She paused for a beat then told me double vision isn’t normal. I reassured her that it wasn’t actual double vision, just the normal double vision that everyone has when they unfocus and relax their eyes. That’s when she diagnosed my vertical heterophoria, which is a type of binocular vision disorder where my eyes don’t align properly. I was prescribed prism glasses and was blown away when my headache, motion sickness, head tilt, neck pain, anxiety in open spaces, headaches, eye strain, and double vision went away immediately. Eye teaming issues are not screened for in standard vision exams, so binocular vision disorders are commonly missed. If I had not happened across that podcast, I doubt I would have ever realized there was an issue.”

—Jess, 44

28.“I thought all periods were just really bad. I thought it was normal to vomit and pass out purely from pain. Turns out it wasn’t, I have extreme hormone levels. I found out it wasn’t normal when after passing out for the third time in school. My school nurse told me he didn’t get periods, but even he knew this wasn’t normal. I’m currently on a treatment plan that involves birth control, and life is so much better. I had no idea how much of my life was needlessly painful, including times when I wasn’t even menstruating.”

—Anonymous

29.“I learned that I have Musical Ear Syndrome by reading the comments from one of these BuzzFeed articles. When it’s quiet but there is white noise, like a fan running, I’ll hear very faint music or talk as if a radio were on in another room of the house.”

—Jessica, 44

30.“I have a ‘pocket’ in my throat! I can partially swallow food I’m not done chewing and then regurgitate it back into my mouth whenever I want. While I have something stashed in my throat pocket, my mouth is completely empty, and I can breathe and talk just fine. I can only stash solids (liquids are a no-go), and if I wait too long to put the food back in my mouth, I’ll reflexively swallow it the rest of the way. It may seem a bit gross, but it’s actually really convenient — being able to do this has saved me from choking and/or embarrassing myself with a spit-take on so many occasions!”

—Lindsey, 30

31.“Only my right arm has seizures. Yup. As a kid, I could at first extend my arm, and just kind of let it shake, and my wrist would go back and forth and clench. It was a cool party trick. When I was older, I was having a physical, and my doctor asked if I had any questions. I thought since I was getting older and body changes were occurring (like leaking when laughing type thing), I should show him my arm thing. Of course, it stopped on its own, and my doctor sent me for a bunch of tests. I found out I have a form of neuropathy.”

—Anonymous

32.“I can’t smell ammonia. I didn’t realize it had a smell at all until I got married and started living with my husband. We were talking about the products we needed to buy to clean our first place. He said he preferred bleach-based products because he hated the smell less than ammonia-based products. I was confused, to say the least! We immediately went to buy some ammonia for a little scientific test. Sure enough, no smell! I can ~feel~ the burn in my nostrils (always waft, folks!) but absolutely no smell.”

—Anonymous

33.“When I got pregnant and had my first doctor’s visit, they examined me from top to bottom. The doctor asked me to lift my gown to see my breasts. She then exclaimed, ‘Oh, look at that. You have a third nipple!’ Then, she reached down and wiggled it with her finger while saying, ‘Boodoodoodoodoo!’ I was so shocked that I didn’t think to be offended. I always thought I had a weird-shaped mole. I was 22 years old when I learned it was an extra nipple.”

—Anonymous

34.And lastly, “Often after using mouthwash, the inside of my mouth peels. I’m in my 40s and never thought a thing about it. One day, I was talking to my dentist, and she offhandedly mentioned how some people have an allergic reaction that will make their mouth slough skin. I was shocked to learn that everyone’s mouth doesn’t shed skin after using mouthwash. Oral mucosal peeling, who knew!”

—Anonymous

Have you had an experience like these? If so, tell us about it (and how you found out it wasn’t, in fact, “normal”) in the comments below or via this anonymous form.

Note: Submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity.