Things that happen to you, sometimes frighteningly, that are benign or very common.
29 oddities.
A pleasant tingling that starts on the scalp and moves down the neck and spine, set off by whispering, tapping, soft sounds, or gentle personal attention. Not everyone gets it. A large online community is built around it.
Small visible twitches in the eyelid, calf, thumb, or arm that come and go with no weakness. About 70% of healthy people get them. They are not a sign of nerve disease.
A short, intense spinning feeling set off by turning over in bed or tipping your head back. Tiny crystals in the inner ear have drifted into the wrong place. It is the most common cause of vertigo and it is very treatable.
A short, sharp headache in the forehead a few seconds after cold food or drink touches the roof of the mouth. It passes in under a minute.
A brief feeling like a small electric shock inside the head, often set off by moving the eyes. It is most common when stopping or lowering an antidepressant. It is unpleasant but not dangerous.
A sudden, brief thought of jumping when you stand somewhere high, or of swerving while driving, with no wish to do it. About half of people get it. It is the brain's safety system being misread, not a hidden wish.
A strong feeling that you have lived the present moment before, even though you know you have not. Almost everyone gets it. It peaks between the ages of 15 and 25.
The world suddenly seems flat, distant, or like a film (derealization), or you feel like you are watching yourself from outside (depersonalization). Most people have a brief episode at some point, usually under stress.
A loud bang, crash, or explosion heard inside the head while falling asleep or waking up. Nothing actually happens, there is no pain, and it is harmless.
Small grey threads, dots, or cobwebs that drift across your vision and dart away when you look at them. They are shadows of tiny clumps inside the eye. They are common and usually harmless.
Tiny pale yellow or white bumps, 1 to 3 mm across, on the edge of the lips or inside the cheeks. They are ordinary oil glands in a place without hair. Most adults have them.
Goosebumps and a wave of chills down the back at a powerful moment in music, a film, or a speech. About half of people get it regularly. It comes from the brain's reward system reacting to an expectation being met or broken.
Vivid images, sounds, or touches that appear while you are falling asleep or waking up. A face, a voice saying your name, a hand on your shoulder. They are dream fragments arriving early or late, and they are normal.
A sudden jolt of the arms, legs, or whole body just as you fall asleep, often with a feeling of falling. Most people get them, and they are harmless.
Some people have never burped in their lives. Gas cannot pass a ring of muscle at the top of the food pipe, so it stays trapped. This causes gurgling, bloating, and painful pressure. Since 2019 it has a name and a treatment.
A shimmering zigzag or C-shaped patch of light that grows across your vision over 5 to 60 minutes and then fades. It can come before a migraine headache or, in some people, with no headache at all.
A brief involuntary shudder during or just after urinating. Most men and many women get it. It is widely known and almost completely unstudied.
You feel your phone buzz in your pocket, check it, and nothing happened. Most phone users get this. It is a normal learning effect in the brain, not a fault.
The flashes, rings, and patterns of light you see when you rub or press your closed eyes, or after a knock on the head. The retina fires from pressure instead of light.
The prickling, buzzing feeling in a limb after you sit on it or lean on it. It happens when pressure comes off a nerve and the nerve fibres restart at different speeds.
A sudden, sharp, stabbing pain near the heart that lasts seconds to a few minutes and gets worse when you breathe in. It is the most common cause of chest pain in children and teenagers, and it is harmless.
Fingertips and toes wrinkle after 5 to 15 minutes in water. This is not the skin soaking up water. It is the nervous system shrinking the fingertip on purpose, and the wrinkles may improve grip when wet.
A single brief shudder that runs down the spine or through the whole body when you are not cold. It is very common, and nobody has studied it formally.
Stroke a rubber hand and a person's hidden real hand at the same time, and within a minute or two the brain adopts the rubber hand as its own. It shows that your sense of your body is built moment by moment from sight and touch.
You stand up fast, your vision goes grey or sparkly, and your head feels light for a few seconds. Blood has briefly pooled in your legs. It passes on its own.
You wake up, or start to fall asleep, and cannot move or speak for a few seconds to minutes. Sometimes a threatening presence seems to be in the room. It is the normal paralysis of dreaming sleep running a little late.
A ringing, hissing, buzzing, or roaring sound with no source outside your head. Between 15% and 20% of people have it. It is mostly the hearing system filling in for damaged or tired inner-ear cells.
Small white or yellow lumps that form in the folds of the tonsils and sometimes come out when you cough. They smell bad and feel like something is stuck in the throat. They are harmless.
Tiny flickering dots across the whole field of vision, like static on an old TV, present with eyes open or closed. About 2–3% of people have it. The eyes are fine. The visual part of the brain is over-active.