People have varying degrees of pain thresholds or tolerance for odd physical conditions they just pass off as normal.
Until they are told these random indicators are not normal.
These strangers on the internet came forward with their stories after Redditor gentlecrusher asked:
"What's something your body did that you thought was normal, until you were told otherwise?"
One Redditor mentioned feeling congested after aerobic exercise and was told in the comments they might have "Exercise-induced rhinitis."
Another Redditor mentioned having "visual snow" syndrome in which their field of view is obscured with "tiny pixel-like dots everywhere." They thought everyone experienced this.
Are any of these symptoms familar to you?
Involving Joints
These Redditors thought issues concerning their knees and elbows were annoying setbacks everyone experiences.
Until they expressed it to their friends and were met with crickets.
Kneeling Pains
"I thought everyone at school was so crazy in how easily they could kneel on the gymnasium floor. Turns out I have a knee problem called osgood-schlatter disease, which (even now) feels like i kneel on stones."
"Edit: wow, I never realised how many people were in the same boat as me. I only found out I had this growth condition when I was 16 and had an xray on my knees after dislocating one. Hopefully you all have found ways around knee pain and live comfortably with your knee bumps! Stay well, people!"
Numb Elbows
"One day I was saying how great it is that we don't have feeling in our elbows. You know because we are always placing them on uneven, rough etc areas. My friends looked at me really weird and told me they all have feeling in their elbows."
Gesundheit!
Constant itchy-eyes and runny noses? That is not way to live!
Unfortunately, these people are not familiar with a life without these annoying symptoms.
Just Breathe
"I had no idea I had terrible allergies for years. It sounds dumb, but I just thought horribly watery eyes, constantly itchy skin, and not being able to breathe were normal."
– bethbed
Darn Cats
"Thought it was normal to always have a blocked nose. Nope, cat allergy. Lived with cats my entire life and only found out when I was being tested for cystic fibrosis, after a year of constant chest infections. It was actually just my asthma being dramatic."
Some people experiences a constant sound in their ears but have often passed it off as a random nuisance.
But this condition has a name, and it definitely does not have a nice ring to it.
"I didn't know I had tinnitus, I thought everyone experiences it."
"The worst part is there's no cure, so now I just have to sit here listening to 'EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE' until I die. Great."
Mind Over Matter
"I get occasional burst of tinnitus and I can just turn it down by thinking about turning it down. Anyone else experience that?"
Solution Or Hoax?
"I may sound like an idiot, but I lurked on a Fark or Reddit thread about 5 years ago discussing tinnitus. Someone suggested gently thumping the back of the skull with their index fingers. Someone reported immediate relief. I remember it made the front page. Have you heard of it or tried it? Maybe it was a hoax."
S.O.S.
Sometimes the body is trying to tell us something. It is up to us to listen or ignore them.
Head Ache
"I thought everyone got searing pain in the back of their head with a sneeze, frequent headaches and tingling fingers. Turns out I have Chiari Malformation."
"I have this! I had to get a duraplasty when I was 13 to correct it. Go get your headaches checked out people."
Drink Water
"My entire body falling asleep when I stand up. Thought it was normal till I passed out a few times. Had to do blood tests go to a cardiologist to find out I'm just dehydrated all the time."
"Edit: it stopped happening after I got my diagnosis."
Our bodies are complex and we are all wired differently. It is easy to assume any discomfort we feel is nothing urgent and to hope it will eventually go away.
Maybe we tend to be dismissive because we're in denial.
Whatever the case may be, discussing our bizarre ailments with doctors might be worth knowing it can be treatable.
@themanfromvulcan/Reddit
@buffysmanycoats/Reddit
@jadelikethestone/Reddit
