Bones Variation
Accessory ossicles
Small extra bones, most often in the foot, that form when a growth centre never fuses with its main bone. They are usually harmless but can be mistaken for fractures on an X-ray.
About 2 in 5 feet
Not an emergency
Showing 21 oddities.
This tag marks entries that feel alarming in the moment but are harmless. Exploding head syndrome, brain zaps, and sleep paralysis can all feel frightening the first time they happen.
The tag exists for the reader who just experienced one of these and wants to know, right now, whether to worry. That reader is usually not looking for detail. They want the plain answer first.
This list will tell you that the sensation is common, benign, and well described elsewhere. It will not diagnose your specific situation, and it will not replace a doctor if something about your case does not match the description here. Read the entry itself for what would be worth mentioning at a check-up.
Spiritual 5Icky 5Not an emergency 21Get it checked 15Try it 67Learnable 18Party trick 19Vestigial 7Genetic 37Sleep 6Illusion 22Childhood 8Debunked myth 11Community 14Famous people 14Record 7
Results narrow the list below as you type.
Brain Perception
Alice in Wonderland syndrome
Objects, body parts, or the whole room suddenly look far too big, far too small, or far away. It mostly happens to children, often during a fever or infection, and it passes on its own. In adults it is usually linked to migraine.
6–7% of teenagers (size distortion)
Muscle Involuntary
Benign fasciculations
Small visible twitches in the eyelid, calf, thumb, or arm that come and go with no weakness. One survey found them in about 70% of healthy clinicians. They are very rarely a sign of nerve disease.
About 70% of clinicians in one survey
Brain Involuntary
Brain zaps
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 usually not a problem.
15–50% of people stopping an antidepressant get withdrawal symptoms
Brain Involuntary
Call of the void
A sudden, brief thought of jumping when you stand somewhere high, with no wish to do it. About half of people get it. It is probably the brain's safety system being misread, not a hidden wish.
43–60% of people
Bones Variation
Cervical rib
An extra rib above the normal top rib, growing from the lowest bone in the neck. About 1 in 100 people have one, and most never know.
About 1% of people
Brain Perception
Charles Bonnet syndrome
People who lose a lot of their sight often start to see things that are not there: patterns, faces, small people in costume, whole landscapes. They know the images are not real. It is caused by sight loss, not by mental illness.
10–40% of older people with serious sight loss
Brain Involuntary
Derealization and depersonalization
The world suddenly seems flat, distant, or like a film (derealization), or you feel like you are watching yourself from outside (depersonalization). Many people have a brief episode at some point, usually under stress.
26–74% of people, at least once
Muscle Variation
Diastasis recti
A widening of the gap between the two halves of the six-pack muscle, seen in nearly every first pregnancy and in some men. A bulge down the midline when you sit up is the usual sign.
Almost all first pregnancies; about 1 in 3 women a year after birth
Brain Involuntary
Exploding head syndrome
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.
2–37% of people, lifetime
Skin Involuntary
Fordyce spots
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.
70–80% of adults
Mouth Variation
Geographic tongue
Smooth red patches with pale borders that form a map on the tongue and move around over days and weeks. About 2 to 3% of people have it, and it is harmless.
2–3% of people
Brain Involuntary
Hypnagogic hallucinations
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 may be dream fragments arriving early or late, and they are usually normal.
About 25–37% of people
Brain Involuntary
Hypnic jerks
A sudden jolt of the arms, legs, or whole body just as you fall asleep, sometimes with a feeling of falling. Most people get them, and they are harmless.
About 70% of people
Nerves Involuntary
Precordial catch syndrome
A sudden, sharp, stabbing pain near the heart that lasts seconds to a few minutes and gets worse when you breathe in. Doctors count it among the most common causes of chest pain in children and teenagers, and it is harmless.
80–90% of chest pain in young people, once injury is ruled out
Muscle Involuntary
Proctalgia fugax
A sudden, cramping pain deep in the rectum that lasts seconds to minutes and then goes away completely. It has no known cause, and it is harmless.
About 7% of adults. Studies range from 4% to 18%.
Heart Involuntary
Seeing stars when standing up
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.
Almost everyone, at some time
Brain Involuntary
Sleep paralysis
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.
8–30% of people
Skin Variation
Supernumerary nipples
An extra nipple, usually small and flat, on a line running from the armpit to the groin. Between 1 in 500 and 1 in 18 people have one, and it is often mistaken for a mole.
0.2–5.6% of people
Mouth Involuntary
Tonsil stones
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 usually harmless.
Up to 10% of people; up to 46% on CT scans Icky
Bones Variation
Torus palatinus
A hard bony lump along the midline of the roof of the mouth that grows slowly and is completely harmless. Many people find it by chance and worry that it is a tumour.
About 20% of people