The human body is absolutely incredible. And even when you think you know everything there is to know about biology and anatomy, there’s always something that is bound to surprise you. Though, not all surprises are pleasant, and some are downright bizarre.

In a fascinating thread on AskReddit, some surgeons opened up about the weirdest facts they know about the human body. It’s the kind of stuff they usually don’t share with anyone. We’ve collected their most intriguing and educational insights to share with you.

Warning: some of these facts can be a bit disturbing and make you queasy. Make sure you’re not eating or drinking anything as you scroll down.

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#1

There aren’t many occasions I get to share this.

A colostomy is when the intestines are hooked to an open port on the skin, bypassing some portion of the lower digestive tract. There’s a lot of reasons this might need to be done, and for shorter or longer durations.

Some people have colostomy bags for years, and this is where things can get very interesting. You see, your r****m produces mucus to help smooth your movements along. Even if there’s no passengers on the train, your body keeps greasing those tracks (I don’t know anything about trains).

And since there’s nothing to move the mucus, it just kinda hangs out. Sometimes for years. Sometimes for decades.

And in that time, it becomes something like a human pearl. By roughly the same mechanisms that pearls are formed in oysters. They can be very uncomfortable for patients depending on their size and location, its not a super uncommon problem and its fixable.

I’ve seen two that were roughly the size of baseballs. Those two flew completely under the radar until we tried to hook the plumbing back up, no pain or discomfort.

One of them I saw cut open, it looked like a jawbreaker with layer upon layer of what in the [darn]. They’re dense, hefty, with a little give near the skin.

So yeah, humans can make pearls.

© Photo: Ajax1419

#2

It’s not exactly unknown fact , but …
The brain can shift during surgery.
Even when the skull is fixed in place, the brain is soft and mobile—almost like firm tofu.

The brain has no pain receptors. Although it processes pain signals from other parts of the body, the brain itself cannot feel pain.

That’s why during certain brain surgeries (like awake craniotomies), patients can be fully conscious without feeling pain—even while their skulls are open and brain tissue is being stimulated or removed.

I have most profound conversations with people while I am picking their brains. Literally. I also get a lot of “last confessions ” during these surgeries, and it’s definitely awkward a bit when I have to meet their spouses or other family members 😂

But probably my most interesting experience was when I heard full on Vivaldi Winter during surgery played by the patient. It turns out he was a professional violinist from Austria. It was brilliant.

Funny experience was when an elderly lady who literally was undergoing life saving surgery shaded me for my life choices – because operating room is no place for a proper lady and I should have babies. She was brilliant – she was so keen on her opinion even while I was the one operating on her 😂😂

The brain pulsates in sync with your heartbeat.
It’s a rhythmic, constant movement – it’s actually BEAUTIFUL.
Real brain tissue is softer, more fragile, and surprisingly watery. It can be torn or injured just by suction or light pressure.

But what I admire and am astonished the most is that
every person’s brain is wired differently. Actual locations of speech, movement, or memory can vary person to person. That’s why we do brain mapping during surgeries. It’s pretty cool , like exploring unknown… And shows how unique humans are.

© Photo: pianoavengers

#3

I am a scrub nurse and I can smell when the surgeon has cut into the uterus because the blood smells different. It smells like period blood. I mentioned it once and all my male colleagues (including the surgeon) can’t tell but all the women in the room were like yep, i can always tell when we are in the uterus.

© Photo: Ok_Swim7639

Being a surgeon is a prestigious, well-respected, and lucrative career that helps countless people in need. However, it definitely isn’t a path meant for everybody. Doing this kind of work requires years of dedicated education, nerves of steel, steady hands, and enough resilience to weather a poor work/life balance.

The Royal College of Surgeons of England explains that if you want to be a surgeon, here are some of the qualities and skills you ought to have:

1. Specialist knowledge for accurate diagnosis;
2. Good communication and active listening skills;
3. The ability to earn other people’s trust;
4. Manual dexterity;
5. A bright and eager mind;
6. Lots of experience with both preoperative and postoperative care.

#4

I’m not a surgeon (medical scientist), but one interesting thing is that the Skene’s and Bartholin’s glands (female lubrication glands) are both named after men, so modern anatomical education is encouraging people to call them paraurethral and vestibular glands instead.

© Photo: User

#5

During organ transplantation, when a donor liver or kidney is totally hooked up, it starts filtering immediately. The more waste that needs to be cleared, the faster the urine or bile comes out.

© Photo: Vaultmd

#6

Not a surgeon or a dr, but when studying medicine in undergrad, I shadowed many doctors across numerous sectors of the medical field to determine which area I wanted to go into. (Spoiler alert – ended up not-going to medical school after all).

One of my rotations was with a wound care doctor, mostly related to bed sores that develop when a person lays in bed for too long. One particular patient had a sore directly on his a*s check, and it was so pronounced and developed that you could see his pelvic bone in the middle of the sore.

For some morbid reason, I asked if I could touch his a*s bone lol. Both the patient and the doctor agreed to it, and come to find out – he no longer had feeling in the area and could not feel me touching his bone. When wounds on the body deteriorate to that level, it also damages the nerve endings (meaning you could literally have a gaping wound/hole in your body and not even feel it). Gives me heebie jeebies.

© Photo: User

What’s more, as a surgeon, you should also:

1. Be able to adapt to changes in healthcare and medical developments;
2. Have commitment and enthusiasm to learn new skills and techniques;
3. Develop leadership skills so that they not only manage their team well, but also train future surgeons;
4. Inspire confidence in other people;
5. Be emotionally resilient and be able to support your team in tough situations.

Meanwhile, a recent survey of 1,620 healthcare professionals found that, out of the 4,760 qualities and 4,374 shortcomings, the top 3 qualities of truly great surgeons are: dexterity (54% of all respondents noted this), meticulousness (18%), and empathy (also 18%).

#7

Not a surgeon but a nurse. If you transplant a heart in a baby or little kid it will grow with them.

© Photo: Late-Flower7600

#8

Peeling a cyst out of an ovary with your hand is super satisfying. Better than peeling the protective clear plastic off of your new TV screen. But we don’t take out cysts through a big incision hardly ever anymore, it’s all laparoscopic for the most part now, so I don’t get to do it much.

© Photo: justpracticing

#9

Obligatory, not a surgeon, but I spent 6 years as a scrub nurse on the OT, and I have a 15+ year career as a senior RN. I have seen and worked in most specialised areas.

I am constantly amazed by how tough the human body actually it. The body can take way more abuse and neglect than you think it can. Things that you’d be absolutely certain would k**l a person can be recovered from.

But don’t [darn] with the delicate balance of electrolytes. You can rip off every limb, break every bone, rip out or shoot holes through most organs (so long as you stop the bleeding in time), there are even guidelines on how to, over several hours, do CPR on a person who has not had a heart beat for the best part of an hour due to extreme hypothermia, I’ve even seen an abdominal aorta accidentally cut clean in half and the person lived. But take a bit too much potassium, and you’re a goner.

© Photo: Puzzleheaded_Taro283

Which of these surgeon stories and anatomy facts intrigued you the most, Pandas? Do we have any surgeons or medical professionals in the audience today? Do you have any similar stories of your own?

Is anyone here considering a career in medicine? If so, what’s driving you? Let us know what you think in the comments at the bottom of this post.

#10

Surgeon here

Patients with hope, humor, or gratitude tend to heal more steadily.

Those with negative emotions often show slower recovery and more complications.

© Photo: User

#11

Dentist here. I still find great satisfaction when the last periodontal ligament fiber breaks while pulling a tooth. Holding the tooth in your forceps and looking into a clean boney socket 😌

Imagine taking out an ingrown hair, or finally popping that pimple. But so much better.

© Photo: Pure_Veterinarian374

#12

Thin patients almost always do better surgically as less intra abdominal fat makes the surgery more precise and nothing beats precision when it comes to surgery. The few times I’ve operated on marathon runners… it was absolute bliss

Edit 1: since loads of people have asked this… high muscle mass but lower body fat is still far easier for intra abdominal surgery compared to high body fat content. If you are a body builder we may have to go through more muscle to access your peritoneal/abdominal cavity but after that the surgery will still be easier and allow for more precise dissection.

Ideal muscle mass level… think Brad Pitt in fight club and less the rock. But I’d pick both over a very obese patient any day of the week. Hope this helps.

© Photo: fullnelson23

#13

During knee replacement they completely dislocate your knee, put the knee cap to the side, and start measuring and cutting. During tibia replacement part assists help push the tibia forward so you can apply components accurately.

During hip replacement the entire hip is dislocated, and if it’s old posterior approach, your femoral head is sticking out of the wound at like 45 degrees, roughly.

When you get a joint replacement revision, all bets are off. Freaking forget it. There is so much pulling, hammering, drilling. If it’s a hip you can lose so much blood you need a transfusion.

During abdominal surgery if you are reconnecting a patient’s colon, the surgeon will stick a special instrument up your b**t to staple the r****m to the intestine. Yes staple.

© Photo: pancakefishy

#14

Brain doesn’t hurt. During awake craniotomies once the bone is off and the outermost protective layer (duramater) of the brain is open, there’s no pain.

Also, healthy brain has the consistency of fatty jello that was taken out of the fridge an hour too early and hasn’t fully set yet.

© Photo: BrainOrCoronaries

#15

When you palpate the liver with your hand it feels . . . really nice. Smooth, slippery, and a perfect consistency.

© Photo: Shogun_Dream

#16

When operating on a living person, spinal nerves look (and act) just like spaghetti. Have to use a smaller suction and be careful or else you’ll slurp them up and it gets annoying to try to not continuously capture them in your suction.

© Photo: Epidural

#17

Surgical tech here. My main specialty is Neuro surgery and the amount of bones I have to crunch up is quite a bit. Nothing like holding a chunk of your spine(Facet) and using a ronguer to crush it up. Surgeon takes bone out and we crunch it up and mix it up with some biologics and put it back into your disc space(TLIFs mainly) Think of it like screws and rods in your back. Its like almost like bone glue. Also we have a bone mill that looks like a food processor and it grinds up your bones pretty small.

© Photo: horizuka

#18

Skin is surprisingly tough. Using a new scalpel blade, you need a fair amount of force to make an incision. Before my first opening, my med school attending warned me about not using enough force: “No hesitation marks!”.

© Photo: ElowynElif

#19

The surgeon (Urologist) told me pre-surgery that testicles are basically engineered for easy removal, so that’s a thing…..

© Photo: User

#20

Im not a surgeon but I used to work as a surgical tech so I have seen some stuff. The plaque removed from a carotid artery felt like a pencil eraser.

Intestines are super slippery

Cautery on fat smells like sort of like funky corn chips

I’ve seen different sizes and colors of gallstones, some like black pebbles about the size of a quarter….like handfuls of those in one patient.

Handing off the pannus in a panniculectomy was one of my most favorite things to do, so freaking satisfying and it felt like passing off Simba from the Lion King.

I scrubbed at least 75 cesarean sections and not once did intestines come out, im not sure if people on here are confusing the uterus or placenta for intestines? Trust me OBGYNs have zero business handling your intestines.

© Photo: User

#21

Ovaries can develop what is known as Dermoid cysts, which can grow hair, teeth, and bone inside.

#22

Some people have sparkly earwax.

Was an ear nurse. Suctioned ~12,000 ears. At first I thought it was actual glitter that people had in there but eventually realised it’s natural.

#23

Obligatory: I am not a surgeon, I was a lifeguard at Waterpark and later moved to guard at a lake.

I had to get into the water to perform a spinal for a woman who hit her head on a metal bar on a slide. Nobody really goes into much detail on just how fragile your spine is. Everyone experiences back pain, but it can never be stressed enough that all it takes is one fall, one bump, one rough car ride, and you could become paralyzed, or live with permanent back pain. It is seriously super possible to break your spine with a simple slip. If you can walk, or if you can run, take full advantage of that fact, cause it can be taken away in a single moment.

#24

During a knee scope, orthopedic surgeons will fill the knee joint with saline to expand the working space and help with visibility. With all that water, it turns out that adipose tissue (aka, fat) looks like little fluffy white sparkly clouds, like something that you’d find a unicorn hopping around on.

© Photo: User

#25

The intestines are so long that we have to pack them in like spaghetti during surgery, and sometimes they seem almost impossible to fit back in.

#26

Nurse here.

I don’t work in the OR, but I used to do wound care.

Certain kinds of chronic wounds may be wider and/or deeper than the opening in the skin would lead you to believe.

When caring for them the wounds need to be measured by length, width, and depth. They are also assessed for being undermined (think about running your tongue between your teeth and lips) or tunneled (purse your lips and stick your tongue out). This is often done with a gloved finger.

The feeling of putting part of your hand inside a human that way, and feeling the warmth is, to me, unpleasant. I don’t know how surgeons become accustomed to it.

Exposed bone that’s being eaten away feels like rough concrete. Healthy periosteum (bones exterior and joint cartilage is smooth and slick.

© Photo: Individual_Corgi_576

#27

Surgery nurse here, ortho.
I did ortho oncology for years. Bone tumors that were always positively malignant looked scaled, like fatty fish skin.
Also, for kids, when doing a femur-tibial replacement, it seems to disrupt the growth rates and their affected foot grows at a much slower rate than the other, if not stopping entirely. They’d have 2 different sized feet moving forward.

© Photo: Fiireygirl

#28

Paramedic here. I’ve never had a more intimate experience with anyone than when someone has received a trauma they are about to die from and you know it and they know it and then they do.

I could never m****r someone but like. I get it.

© Photo: Becaus789

#29

Not a surgeon, but humans can roll their eyes (no not pitch your eyes, rotate about the iris). The muscles for this are essentially vestigial, since we evolved from prey animals with eyes on the sides of the head—meaning they needed to roll to focus when the head moves up and down. To this day, if we tilt our head up and down, our eyes “roll” slightly in response (think airplane pitch vs roll). There are very creepy videos of this with head mounted cameras on YouTube.

© Photo: InfamousBird3886

#30

At 25mmhg, your body overrides the control of your external a**l spincter (the one you use to voluntarily p**p, there is the internal component that relaxes involuntarily) and then…you p**p yourself.

It’s a protective mechanism to keep you from perforating your bowels.

I remember this fact from when I had anatomy in 2014 as an undergrad.

#31

Not a surgeon but during medical school rotations had a patient with a sacral ulcer we took to the operating room to debrief (get rid of necrotic tissue).

I remember noting the patient had a small oozing ulcer on the front of their thigh and mentioned this to the surgeon.

Proceeded to flip patient over and start the surgery. Surgeon asked me to start but I was going a bit slow so he grabs the scalpel and starts digging around with it, realizes there’s a lot of give and starts using his hand and next thing you know the hand is coming out of that thigh ulcer we’d seen at the start.

This patient had a bmi of 60 with cancer going through treatment. Apparently they were so immunosuppressed she was masking necrotizing fasciitis that had eaten through her perineum.

#32

Surgeon and sonologist.

As in other not so suspected areas, is possible to accumulate solid debris (detritus, blood clothes, etc) in the s*****m and eventually form “pearls” (a.k.a scrotal pearls or scrotolith).

#33

So when they make an incision on you they use a scalpel to get a nice clean cut through the skin to minimize scarring.

But cutting through the fat and visera with a scalpel can be a bit messy as edges will bleed.

So they use what is called a bovie-tip, which is like essentially a very hot soldering iron that will cut and cauterize at the same time.

There is a lot of smoke and the smell of freshly burned human is, not particularly pleasant but not that offensive either.

#34

Pulmonary/ icu physician/ not a surgeon but work closely with thoracic surgery especially when it comes to lung transplant. Your native lungs receive blood flow from two
Sources: your pulmonary arteries (which blood passes through en route to the lungs to receive oxygen) as well as your bronchial arteries (which come off the aorta). If you need/receive a lung transplant, current standard of care is that only the pulmonary artery circulation is reconnected and the transplanted lungs lose all bronchial artery blood flow. It is miraculous that these lungs are able to survive on this single source of blood flow!! I will say that this strategy may be evolving given the high rate of rejection in lung transplant and some small observational studies which show benefit in re-anastaomosing the bronchial artery circulation as a mean to decrease risk of chronic rejection.

#35

As a surgical tech, I’ve had to nudge students awake that we’re assisting in surgery.

#36

Not a surgeon, but have photographed numerous surgical procedures. I’m always impressed by how “construction”-like tools are used on live people. For example, replacing a hip involves a huge drill, hammering in a joint with a sledgehammer, sawing off the head of the thighbone, etc. It’s as violent and loud as you might imagine.

#37

Not a doctor, but I found this out from my surgeon after he operated on me:

Apparently you don’t really have to put organs back in place after a surgery, within reason. Like obviously don’t put intestines up by the throat or something but as long as all the organs are generally in the right area they kind of schlorp back to their correct places after a while.

I found this out because my laparoscopic surgery became very invasive after my surgeon found out that a tumor was growing around a major blood vessel. Apparently he had to kind of shove my intestines and kidney out of the way while removing the tumor.

Also, apparently during those kinds of surgeries you get bloated with air and you have to spend a week [gassiness] it all out.

#38

The human brain feels a bit like tofu when touched, and it’s so delicate that it can begin to lose shape under its own weight if not properly supported.

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