Healthcare Workers Are Sharing Absolutely Wild...

Recently, I decided to ask medical professionals of all backgrounds to tell me one totally wild medical fact most people have no idea about. Here are some of the wildest answers:

1.“If your coagulation process is messed up enough, you can bleed to death from just about any wound. I watched a guy bleed to death from teeth removal.”

“The patient had a long history of alcohol abuse, which caused cirrhosis to his liver. The liver is where your body makes all the materials that are used to help your blood clot (the coagulation cascade). So if your liver is busted, you can come off like a hemophiliac and bleed out.”

“So this guy had gone to his dentist with his life-long decaying teeth earlier that day and the dentist decided to remove all of his shitty teeth and set him up for dentures or implants.”

“I guess the patient failed to inform his dentist that he had a crap liver and hence a severe bleeding disorder. By the time he made it to our ICU, he was bleeding buckets out of the open gaps where his teeth had been.We couldn’t believe it. We even hooked constant suction into his mouth and the volume of blood coming from the open holes where his teeth had been was equal to the blood bags we were pushing into him. Even had a GI doctor come in and scope him to make sure he wasn’t bleeding internally (he wasn’t). I even held his mouth open while a doctor tried to suture his bleeding gums, but to no avail.I think he received something like 18+ units of blood in total (over five liters) that just poured right out of his mouth until his heart couldn’t handle it anymore and he went into a fatal rhythm and passed.So, somewhere in this town is a dentist who killed a man.”

—Anonymous, 44, Alabama

2.“You know your saliva? That gooey stuff in your mouth? Yeah, that stuff. That’s filtered blood. Your mouth is coated in sticky, filtered blood 24/7. You are welcome!”

—Anonymous, 23, Texas

3.“Pay attention to your kidney health. Your kidneys do a lot more than you think! Electrolyte balance, fluid excretion, it’s all done by the kidneys. Poor kidney health can lead to other issues (a potassium imbalance can lead to cardiac issues, for example).”

—Anonymous, 46, Ohio

4.“AFE, or amniotic fluid embolism, is a life-threatening incident during pregnancy and labor in which amniotic fluid gets into maternal circulation and causes a heart attack.”

“There is no way to diagnose it other than ruling out other causes of collapse. You can go from walking and talking to unconscious and dying in seconds. The infant is delivered by C-section to save the infant’s life, because the mom’s placenta isn’t giving nutrients and oxygen if the mom’s heart isn’t working, while providers attempt to resuscitate the mom.”

—Taylor, Indianapolis

5.“Vascular surgery PA here. One time, I had a new patient in clinic. Her pinky toe, which was completely mummified, fell off when we took off her sock to examine her.”

—Anonymous, 36, North Carolina

6.“A lot of people have a habit of giving aspirin to their children to reduce fever, but most people don’t know that giving aspirin to a child during a viral infection can give the child a condition called Reye’s syndrome.”

“This is a rare syndrome but when it happens there can be brain swelling, neurological issues, and liver damage; at its worst, it can lead to acute liver failure, coma, and death.

There is no cure; the best we can do is supportive care and try to limit some of the worst effects. So, please, if a child has a fever do not give them aspirin; fevers are just a way the body tries to fight the infection. If it’s a really severe fever, take the child to the ER.”

—Anonymous, 23, West Virginia

7.“GI nurse here. Sometimes a patient will have unrelenting diarrhea from a nasty bacteria that won’t respond to traditional treatment. In that case, a fecal transplant can be performed. Healthy poop from a donor is inserted into an infected patient’s colon using a colonoscope. Sounds gross, but it usually does the trick.”

—Anonymous, 60, Kentucky

8.“I used to work in a neuro rehab unit, and one of the weirdest things I ever saw was something called heterotopic ossification — basically, people start growing bone inside their muscles and soft tissue after a spinal injury or big surgery.”

“It’s not something you hear about unless you work in that kind of setting. At first, the joint just seems a little stiff or swollen, like maybe it’s a muscle spasm. But then you touch it, and it feels hard. Not like a tight muscle — like actual bone where bone shouldn’t be.We’d send them for X-rays, and sure enough, you’d see bone forming in places like their thigh muscle or shoulder. It can get so bad that they can’t bend their knee or sit up properly anymore. It’s painful and really limits movement.There’s no easy fix either. Sometimes we try meds early on, but if it sets in, the only option is surgery. And even then, the bone can grow back. It blew my mind the first time I saw it. The human body really does the most sometimes — like it just forgets where bones are supposed to go.”

—Anonymous, 35, Missouri

9.“Dental professional here….patients are always shocked to learn that the bacteria in periodontal disease can spread from person to person (through saliva), effectively passing along through tissue.”

—Anonymous

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10.“Most people only think smoking can lead to lung cancer; there is actually a very high correlation between smoking and bladder cancer as well.”

“Many people who smoke are shocked to hear that their bladder tumor is likely associated with their smoking.”

—Anonymous

11.“Nurse here. If a person has severely high triglyceride levels, when you draw their blood, it almost looks like butter or thick milk.”

“At that point, they’re probably going to get plasmapheresis, which basically filters triglycerides out of blood to prevent many other complications that can occur to various organs.

Also, as a transplant nurse, I’ve taken care of people who underwent more than one kidney transplant, and the old kidneys aren’t routinely removed at the time of surgery, unless they’re causing problems like infection or blood pressure changes. There are some people out there walking around with four kidneys in them!”

—Anonymous, 47, Phoenix, AZ

“I’m not a medical professional, but I am a transplant patient. I currently have three kidneys and two pancreases. They don’t remove the original organs unless they’re causing a real problem; it’s just excess plumbing that can lead to infection. Also, patients are encouraged not to think too much about the donor in order to avoid survivor’s guilt. My surgeon told me he thinks of transplants as fleshy LEGOs.”

—retrocrebbon

12.“Nurse here. There are tons of crazy facts about the human body, but one thing that sticks out to me is that rigor mortis happens fast!”

“When we did post-mortem care, sometimes people would die with their mouths open, so we’d have to quickly tuck a towel under the chin and prop the face as a way to ensure that the deceased person’s mouth would stay closed. No one wants to see their loved one gaping in a casket!”

—Anonymous, 39, Texas

13.“We now know that neurotransmitters (adrenaline, serotonin, DMT, etc.) are firing in your brain for a short time post-death, which means that there may still be consciousness for that time. We think that people who have near-death experiences (NDEs) and have out-of-body experiences or memory recall happen because of this phenomenon.”

—Anonymous, 34, Michigan

14.“Doctors use a lot of acronyms (because writing ‘ITP’ is quicker than typing out ‘immune thrombocytopaenia), but some of them have a sense of humor behind them. My favorite is unprotected sexual intercourse…UPSI (pronounced ‘oopsie’ 🤣).”

“Also, if you live in the UK and want to know why you struggle to get an appointment, it’s because your doctor’s surgery gets paid less to look after you for a year than most people spend on their mobile phone bill. They are paid a flat rate, not per attendance, so they get the same amount for a healthy 20-year-old as for a cancer patient who requires a lot of help, or for a hypochondriac who has appointments once a week because they had a headache for an hour, or thinks every cold is pneumonia.

If you want better access, complain to your MP, not your doctor (who is just as fed up of this as you are).”

—Anonymous, 34, UK

15.“Sometimes you just get dealt a shit hand. You can get lung cancer even if you’ve never smoked. You can get cirrhosis of the liver if you’ve never drunk alcohol. Have an undetected heart defect or brain aneurysm and die in your sleep at 35. Live life to the fullest, surround yourself with people who make you happy, and don’t hesitate, because you just don’t know. “

John Lamb / Getty Images, SEBASTIAN KAULITZKI/SCIENCE PHOT / Getty Images/Science Photo Library RF

—Anonymous, 48, Philadelphia

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16.“I’m a trauma/critical care surgeon. Patients who are brain dead (meaning they have no brain function, even the most basic operations) can do something called the Lazarus reflex.”

“Their muscles flex, which essentially means it looks like they’re sitting up and reaching for their breathing tube. It looks very purposeful and like they’ve come back to life. However, it’s just a reflex that comes from the spinal cord. Not the brain. It’s incredibly distressing for everyone involved!”

—Anonymous, 33, Detroit

17.“We YouTube procedures before doing them. Often.”

—Anonymous

18.“Amniotic fluid is made up of fetal urine. Urine is sterile and babies bathe in it until they are born.”

—Anonymous, 60, Taos, New Mexico

19.“When I was in medical school, the main textbook teaching on how to perform a physical exam (and taking a history) was called Bates (like the author). In my edition of Bates, in the chapter describing the physical exam of the mouth, they describe what can happen to the tongue as it ages.”

“It can develop deep fissures through the entire organ. They said the correct term for this deeply fissured tongue that happens to octogenarians is…Scrotal Tongue.”

—Anonymous

20.“You can shit out of your mouth.”

—Anonymous, 34, New York

21.“I was a cardiothoracic ICU nurse and when I first got into the cardiac surgery field I was totally stunned when I found out that we would leave our patients open chested after surgery sometimes.”

“Of course, there would be a sterile dressing over it, but it was clear and you could see the heart beating under it.

It was even wilder to try and explain this to patients’ families; their loved one could be left open-chested for days, and on rare occasions, more than a week. Sometimes the swelling and pressure on the heart after surgery was just too much, and the patients needed time before they could be closed.”

—Jackie, 35

22.“Registered nurse here. When a patient has feelings of impending doom or says, ‘I feel like something bad is about to happen,’ they are almost always right. Most commonly, it’s stroke, sepsis, heart attacks, aneurysm, or something of that ilk.”

“I treat those statements with the same urgency as chest pain and shortness of breath. 

Although similar language might be used, the impending doom feeling I’m talking about presents differently and is often unrelated to mental health issues like anxiety and panic disorders.”

—Anonymous, 38, Minneapolis, Minnesota

23.“Dental hygienist here. The most common disease amongst people is periodontal disease.”

“Gum disease’s mildest form, gingivitis, is found in 90% of the population, ranging from gingivitis (reversible damage) to periodontitis (irreversible gum and bone loss). Gum disease is a literal infection raging in your mouth. The craziest part is it’s totally preventable and that’s not that expensive to do so, just brush and floss people!”

—Anonymous, 26, Phoenix, Arizona

“Think twice before your next kiss! Periodontal disease (gum disease) can be passed by kissing your partner. Puffy red gums? Strong consistent odor from mouth? Build up on teeth? Stay clear from kissing them until they have treatment to get it under control. Gum disease is preventable by flossing each day and getting cleaning twice a year.”

—awfulshark922

24.“Before my mother had other symptoms of pancreatic cancer, her only complaint was that her bra felt too tight. I’ve heard this from others, too.”

—bubblytrash26

25.“Flossing is actually more important than brushing. Brushing removes plaque on teeth, but proper flossing stimulates your gums, causing your gums to remain intact and healthy.”

“Lack of flossing causes gums to recede, giving a space for plaque to harden (calculus) and bone resorption (bone loss), which leads to losing teeth. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve asked patients about the last time they flossed, and their answer is ‘I can’t remember.’ Floss every day and get a cleaning every six months!”

—awfulshark922

26.“You get more radiation exposure by walking outside than you do with dental X-rays. Modern X-ray machines reduce radiation by 80-90%; there is very minimal radiation now that they are all digital.”

“‘Then why do dental professionals hide behind the wall while taking them?’ is a question I’m always asked. We are exposed to 10-12 sets of X-rays every day (thousands a year) as opposed to one set twice a year like patients.”

—awfulshark922

27.“Not necessarily ‘wild’ but medical information I WANT people to know: please stop using alcohol and hydrogen peroxide on your cuts!”

“Just wash gently with soap and water, unless your doctor tells you otherwise. Alcohol and peroxide are very harsh on broken skin and can do more harm than good.”

—lgauthier89

28.“I am an ophthalmologist. Most people don’t know that syphilis can affect your eyes. One very specific manifestation of syphilis is called interstitial keratitis. I once saw this finding in a priest.”

—greencoyote953

29.“I’ve worked in radiology since 1998. You get more radiation exposure standing in front of a microwave than from any ultrasound. Ultrasound gel is just suspended water used to allow the ultrasound waves to pass through skin.”

“If you have lots of fatty layers or scar tissue, your ultrasound will be ‘limited views.’ They’re researching a liver scan that could potentially eliminate liver biopsies.”

—julessomewhere

30.And finally: “If you’re on certain chemo needs, it’s recommended that you use a separate bathroom because trace amounts of radiation get left in the urine and could affect other people.”

—fillionfan4002

…Terrifying. Feel free to vent alllll your feelings about these down in the comments below. Or, you can leave your own wild health facts — especially if you’re a healthcare professional! I love-hate to read them.

If you want to write in but prefer to stay anonymous, you can check out this anonymous form!

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