Human beings have a lot in common, from the need for meaningful relationships to the innate drive for creativity. Even our biology is similar. Or is it? Sure, our hair and eye color might differ, just like our height and build. But sometimes the differences go far deeper—and unnoticed for a very long time.

Redditor u/amistakewasmadehere turned to their fellow internet users with an intriguing question. They asked everyone about the things about their body that they thought were completely normal but turned out to be quite the opposite. We’ve collected the most interesting tales to share with you, Pandas. Scroll down to have a read.

• Read More: 50 Things People Thought Were ‘Normal’ About Their Bodies Until They Realized They Weren’t

#1

I have bad ankles. I once asked my mom if bad ankles run in our family. She told me that nothing runs in our family. I asked her “because of the bad ankles?”

Image credits: dubler2020

#2

I thought everyone had the same hearing I did. Then the pandemic hit and suddenly my hearing got worse. Turns out I needed hearing aids and the reason my hearing “got worse” was because I could no longer read people’s lips due to the masks.

Image credits: artsycraftsy626

#3

That your brain never stopping is not normal. It’s actually a sign of hyperactivity.

The first time I took meds and I only thought of one thing at a time? Overwhelming.

Image credits: Lozzanger

#4

Since I was kid I was aware of the running commentary in my head. My mind is consistently thinking about one thing and then bouncing off to something else, “talking” over something that happened last week or running through an interaction I expect to have tomorrow. I will zone out mid-conversation and have even been in meetings where I miss chunks of things because my mind has gone off on what I need to do when I get home.

I asked some friends and family if they experience the same and they gave me a side eye. Apparently an inner voice narrating your day is not normal. I can’t imagine what it is like to have a quiet mind when people say they can just sit there and have nothing going on inside.

Image credits: Good_Posture

#5

The way that my eyes see car headlights at night. I thought everyone saw it that way, but apparently it’s not normal, and is due to astigmatism. Check [this](https://ift.tt/RN0sFXl) out to see what I mean.

Image credits: shadow2087

#6

Feeling the compulsion to sneeze when seeing the sun.

Image credits: thejude555

#7

I thought I was bad at running because my throat would seize up and get painful whenever I ran for more than a minute. I mentioned this to my doctor when I was 30. Turns out I have asthma.

Image credits: PachinkoBiloba

#8

For a long time I figured that everyone felt horrible after every meal, and that I was just a huge baby for complaining about how badly my stomach hurt all the time.

Turns out, I was just a severely lactose-intolerant child born into a very credulous family at the height of the 90’s “kids must have a giant glass of cow milk with EVERY SINGLE MEAL or they’ll die of rickets or end up in a gang” craze. To this day my mom forgets (or “forgets”, I’m not sure) about this every time I go back home to visit, and will make some dairy-heavy meal/dessert and then act like I’m choosing not to eat it just to hurt her feelings. Like, no, sorry, I already spent a dozen years medically underweight due to being violently ill after every meal, I don’t feel any urge to return to that state of affairs now.

Image credits: putafinenoseonit

#9

That I had 8 wisdom teeth grow into the extra space in the back of my jaw (two for each side, top and bottom) that all grew in just fine after 20… Only to find out on my last trip to the dentist that I have 8 more growing in sideways…

The normal amount of wisdom teeth is 4. Not 16.

Image credits: Rathewitch

#10

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](https://ift.tt/uZGHTXe)

Image credits: texasyogini

#11

I get itchy as soon as I get overheated. Like an all over body itch. There’s no rash that pops up, I just get very very itchy.

Image credits: fuckfuck9001

#12

I guess regular people don’t practice facial expressions for specific emotions in the mirror? How they didn’t diagnose my autism until I was 36 is a mystery.

Image credits: daintyknave

#13

I have perfect pitch. Somehow, a discussion about it never happened so I went through 2.5 years of band learning notes and tuning the way I thought everyone else did.

To make a long story short, I found out when my dad was trying to play a tune by ear, kept missing a note, and I finally yelled at him that he should be playing X note, which led to my parents freaking out & quizzing me, and me freaking out because I thought they were playing dumb. It took months and coming across a National Geographic article before it fully sank in that I had an entirely different relationship with sound than anyone in my social circle.

Image credits: rahyveshachr

#14

I’ve got ‘alternating exo’ the eye doctor called it. I can choose which eye I can see out of and can switch as I please, which ever eye is not “picked” “turns off” and I don’t see out of it since I chose the other eye. Since i’ve been able to do it all my life both of my eyes can operate alone so if I lose one it won’t be as bad adjusting. Pretty nice actually but the ‘exo’ makes me hate selfies cuz whichever eye isn’t picked drifts outward which is noticeable to me at least 🙁 That’s not the only one I can think of to lol edit; Yes I know there’s surgeries to fix the drift but my eye doc said that it might cause more problems and it’s minimal enough that I can live comfortably. I don’t have any issues with bumping into things I couldn’t see or dealing with small things

Image credits: Nez_bit

#15

Pain in your stomach and esophagus when you’re hungry. Apparently that’s acid reflux, not hunger.

Image credits: tmills87

#16

In my late 30s, I was diagnosed with a minor Arnold Chiari Malformation. It is a genetic condition from birth which causes increased pressure on the brain stem which can lead to a lot of weird things. My wife was reading up on the condition and asked if I had any problems sneezing. I thought this was an odd question because I have a lot of allergies, so I said no. She asked what it felt like when I sneezed. I said, you know…your vision goes white and you get dizzy, worried about falling down, sometimes an instant headache…but it passes in a second or two. Her eyes got wide like saucers and her mouth dropped a little. I remember saying, “Now that I say that out loud, I’m guessing that is not normal?” Her reply was “Not normal at all!”

Image credits: TroubledWaterBridge

#17

Thought I had great vision – until I tried glasses and found that everything was so much sharper and more vivid! Apparently my left eye has a vision defect but my right eye learned to compensate so I never realized!

Image credits: LLAA00

#18

I once took part in a study as a paid participant. The doctors used ultrasound probes to examine the blood vessels on my face. They commented on how strange my face’s blood vessels were, they struggled and puzzled a little while examining my face. Then they handed me more cash and asked whether I would be willing to donate my body after I died to a medical study. (They were polite and respectful throughout the whole process, just seemed excited?)
Edit: They didn’t tell me what’s wrong, so idk either. And my face looks perfectly normal, at least from the outside.

Image credits: breakdancing-edgily

#19

I was blowing up balloons with someone once and silently judging them for not being able to do it in a single breath. Turns out I’m the freak who just has mental lung capacity for some reason.

Image credits: StrangledByTheAux

#20

I thought feeling your heart beating was normal, even in a sedentary state. Turns out, I had a heart murmur (patent ductus arteriosis) and didn’t find out until I was 30. All those years of multiple doctors listening to my heart and finally a doctor detected it. After I had the procedure to close it, I told my dad I feel great, I don’t feel my heart beating in my chest. He was shocked I lived like that for so long. I thought it meant I was alive and well. ETA: I didn’t mean to freak y’all out. To clarify, I could feel my heart pounding lying down or just sitting and could hear it too. Think of how you can feel and hear it while working out or when you’re anxious. Mine was like that 24/7 (at a normal heart rate) and I thought it was normal. Many can see and feel it if you focus. I more mean it was always noticeable even when I wasn’t focusing on it

Image credits: Responsible-Glove-68

#21

My jaw pops whenever I open my mouth. I thought it was normal for your jaw to just “unhinge” because how else could you open your mouth wide? Turns out, nope.

Image credits: PikaBooSquirrel

#22

I have a big head. I’ve never once found a hat that fit. Not even a toque.

Image credits: Grant_Ham999

#23

I knew I always had a stuffy nose, but didn’t think much about it. Got onto medicine that finally helped, and my nose cleared up a bit and I could smell a little better in high school. Didn’t realize how bad it had affected my sense of smell until college, though. I had a chemistry lab where we had to determine the scent of some liquids (it’s been too long for me to remember what they were); I couldn’t smell anything until I breathed through my mouth. I was suddenly able to figure out each one. That’s still how I “smell” things.

Edit: so I wrote this and then went to bed, and it exploded while I was asleep. So here are answers to 2 of the most popular things.

My doctors are aware I am like this, and my septum has been checked. It’s not off enough to cause the problem. I just have a long list of incredibly annoying allergies that cause the issue. For example, I’m allergic to just about every green plant.

Always check with your doctor about what will specifically help you, but I have to take an OTC allergy pill year round, but if I take the same one for too long, it stops working. I rotate every three months through Zyrtec, Allegra, and Claritin. I also take Dymista nasal spray. Singulair is technically for my asthma, but it seems to help open my nasal passages too. And it isn’t perfect, but I can breathe through my nose most of the day now.

Image credits: agirl1313

#24

I thought I had one big ball when I was a kid. I read they are normally different sizes in puberty class. At 12 got my first sports physical. Hernia.

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Image credits: inlike069

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