Credits: Social Media
Weirdest medical stories of 2023 will have you booking a doctors appointment ASAP
2023 is coming to an end, which means that its the perfect time to revisit some of the weirdest medical stories of the year. From furry tongues to floating knives, youll want to book a doctors appointment after reading about these very real, very strange cases.
Mans tongue grows a layer of thick, green fur
By far one of the weirdest medical stories of 2023 is the case of a man developing a thick layer of green fur on his tongue, as reported in the New England Journal of Medicine in July.
The mans condition (known as Hairy Tongue Syndrome) began to sprout around two weeks after completing a routine treatment of antibiotics for a gum infection, after which the rough bumps on his tongue began to grow and grow to extreme lengths.
These bumps are typically filed down whenever we eat or drink but, in this case, they grew to such extreme lengths that they ended up covering his tongue in a thick, dense layer of fibers. As food, bacteria, and dead cells were collected in the furry layer over time (made worse by a smoking addiction), his tongue started to develop a green coloration.
Thankfully, after six months of gently scrubbing four times a day, the mans tongue had returned to its normal appearance without any significant or persistent health issues.
Knife floats around harmlessly inside mans body
Earlier this year, a 22-year-old man in Nepal got himself into a drunken street fight in which he was stabbed in the abdomen with a large knife. A local health care worker stitched the man up and sent him on his merry way&Only for him to return the next day complaining about pain in his belly.
To the shock of the doctors treating him, it turned out that not only was the 5.9-inch (15 centimeter) blade still inside of him but that it had also floated from one side of his body to the other without causing severe injury to his internal organs.
Doctors were able to remove the blade in surgery and he was released from hospital within a week. The medical staff who performed the procedure noted that whilst items being left in patients is not as uncommon as you might hope, the fact that the knife didnt cause serious injury moving around inside of him was truly remarkable.
MRI machines and concealed firearms dont mix
Heres a helpful bit of advice that should probably be common sense by now: If you are having an MRI scan, please dont take a firearm into the procedure with you.
In June, the magnetic force of the MRI machine caused a concealed firearm to discharge a bullet right through the buttock of a 57-year-old woman as she entered the machine. She was lucky to survive, but the same cant be said for another patient who was killed in similar circumstances.
Earlier this year, while helping his mother with an MRI scan, a man in Brazil had the firing charge of his pistol set off by the machines magnetic field unfortunately, the bullet was fired into his stomach, and he later died from the injury.
Why you shouldnt hold in a big sneeze
Weve all tried to hold in a sneeze by plugging our nose and mouth, but this is exactly why you need to be careful of the pressure that a big one can cause.
In December, a British man who suffered from hay fever decided to hold in a sneeze as he was driving home only to feel intense pain instantly shooting down his neck.
After a trip to the emergency room, the man was told that he had experienced a spontaneous tracheal perforation in laymans terms, the pressure build-up had torn a large hole in his windpipe.
Speaking on the case, the doctors noted how this was the first known case of spontaneous tracheal perforation in the UK and that everyone should be advised not to stifle sneezes by pinching the nose while keeping the mouth closed.
Fetus removed from 1-year-old childs brain
In an extremely rare medical case, doctors this year removed the fetus of an unborn twin from the brain of a 1-year-old child in China.
The young patient had reportedly suffered from delayed motor skill development, an enlarged cranium, and a build-up of fluid in the brain.
When doctors examined the baby, they were astonished to find a fetus inside the patients head that contained a vertebral column, two leg bones, an upper limb, and finger-like buds.
Less than 20 cases of intracranial fetus in fetu have ever been reported; its unclear from the cas study whether the 1-year-old survived the operation.
The weirdest medical stories of 2023 are as fascinating as they are unique, and 2024 should be no different.
