Did you know that only 1-2% of the world has naturally red hair? How about that less than 1% of the world’s population has heterochromia, or two different colored eyes? Did you know that the odds of having identical twins is about 3 in 1,000?
Although there are over 8 billion people on the planet, there are still certain traits we can have that make us unique. So in honor of all of those quirks that make us special, Reddit users have recently been sharing what rare statistics they’re a part of. Enjoy reading through these reminders that we’re all individuals with varied experiences, and be sure to upvote the statistics you can’t believe people are actually part of!
This post may include affiliate links.
I was raised in the foster system until I was 18. I am alive, never been to jail, in a very successful career, own a house, and I am a great mother, and in a very happy marriage.
I'm 32 years out from my liver transplant and one of the rare few to have been successfully weaned off immunosuppressants.
On a sour note, I have multiple sclerosis. On a sweet note, I'm one of the rare cases where daily treatments have seemed to almost make my brain lesions disapear in my scans now. They went from very large to barely there, and some have even completely gone away. I'll still always have the condition and will still always need to live life on the low and slow/chill so as not to bring on a relapse, but so far I count myself blessed given how things can be with this disease.
My blood is both O- and CMV- meaning I can donate universally to both adults and babies.
Me too! Only 2% of the population are in this category - it means our blood usually goes to the premature baby ward.
I'm a survivor of human trafficking. Roughly .5% of the population is currently trafficked.
I'm so sorry for the unspeakable pain and trauma this individual had to endure. I truly hope that they have found peace.
I am a Black woman (product of two Black parents) and I have both green eyes and blonde hair. Those dormant massa genes show up all over me!
It took me a second to realize what "massa genes" meant... I'm sorry your ancestor went through that while also being enslaved. People suck often times when they think they have power over others.
Only 1% of couples experience recurrent miscarriages (3 or more). We are in that 1%!
On a positive note, we had a baby last year.
My hair started going grey at 13. By the time I was 23 it was completely white.
This actually sounds quite cool, if it was making you feel bad. You look like a grandmaster from an anime, and you can just go 'The lecturer is over there. I'm the student', when people approach you.
I was in foster care and graduated law school. Foster children are statistically less represented then any race group or disability group in college, let alone law school.
I spent most of my childhood in foster care from 6 to 18 years old. My foster home was in the ghetto in Milwaukee (52306 area code). I earned a BA Degree and MDIV Degree...
I’m a gay man born with no sense of style or fashion. It’s very sad.
I'm a gay man, and I simply don't "do" fashion. Also, I'm totally into cars/autosports and aviation. Femininity? Not a chance! I break all the stereotypes about gays.
I've never bought anything from Amazon.
I made my first purchase on amazon when they were only selling books... god I'm so old o_O
I have 20/10 vision. Almost 50% better than 20/20 and in the top .05% of people. I actually have incredibly accurate night vision as well.
I was slimed on Nickelodeon when I was a kid. I have never met another person in real life who can say this.
I have prosopagnosia (faceblindness), a mild form. I think this is actually more common than people think, but some people don't know they have it. I didn't figure it out until I was like, 35. You just go through your life thinking you're a dumdum who's not paying attention, or not realizing that other people can recognize faces well.
I was also the first woman in the world to do my specific job.
I have the same and also struggle with names. I tend to memorise details (facial hair, accents or hairstyles) to get anywhere. Luckily, people are supportive.
I can bench 405lbs naturally with no support or spotter or same but 315 for 10.
Please don't downvote, I know it feels braggy but I'm so proud of this.
Edit to add, I weigh 200lbs.
I have a family member who was a 9/11 first responder. He is listed among the fallen, having developed an inoperable brain tumor secondary to exposure to the toxic materials.
Myself and my dad both have/had 3 sets of teeth. Baby teeth and then two sets of adult teeth.
I have Aphantasia, the inability to picture things in my mind.
This is much more common than we realize. Evidently, 3% of all people in the world have this.
Me too. I only learnt that people can really see things in their mind last year. Also some people really can stop thinking - I always failed that part of meditation.
I can't stop thinking either, it's exhausting sometimes.
Load More Replies...
This feels similar to the poor people who don't hear a voice narrating their thoughts
Wait, some people have a voice narrating their thoughts? I have aphantasia, but the narration thing?
Load More Replies...
I fall in a strange area, I can't visualise while I'm awake but when I sleep I dream and I know I'm "seeing" everything. I actually discovered I had this 2 years ago from a Bored Panda post. Back then they estimated 8% of the population had this. Since then more people are learning about it and realising they have it. I have no enjoyment from books anymore, I had no idea people could see in their heads what they are reading.
I don't "see in my head" what I'm reading, but I still enjoy books.
Load More Replies...
I may have this, or a mild version. I cannot picture things I have never seen. Hubby wants to move the couch to the other wall? I have no idea what it will look like, if it will fit, or what the heck we are going do with the stuff that is already there! Oh, put it where the couch was? Okay. I'll just have to wait to see what it looks like.
Interestingly, I’ve definitely got aphantasia but also very good spatial reasoning. So even though I can’t “see” what a couch will look like against a particular walk, I can usually tell at a glance if it’ll accurately fit there. I think like a lot of mental things it’s a bit of a spectrum ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Load More Replies...
i know someone who has this and i cant imagine it! I can taste, feel , smell, see, and hear in my mind so i really cant imagine this
Same. All I have to do is think about a taste, touch, scent, sight, or sound and my brain causes me to re-experience the sensation. The only drawback I've ever noticed is that I daydream a lot. It helps a lot with creative endeavors.
Load More Replies...
I know someone who has this. Frustrating to explain fantasy and cartoons, they cannot read books about things that are not real-life situations. But they are hyper-curious about how simple things work, like a sewing machine, or the way wheels rotate to move forward.
Don't feel too bad about this. Some people think in images. But that's not always fun either. For those not having your problem: try to imagine Donald Trump in a speedo....🤮
Thanks. That was the motivator I needed to skip lunch. Yuck!
Load More Replies...
My oldest has this. Got it from his dad as I can both see and hear things in my mind, but cannot understand a thing when someone is trying to explain some to me, I always have to ask them to hand me the page they're reading from or write it down.
I just found out a good friend of ours has this. He is so sad he can't picture his own deceased mom in his mind.
me too - only found out about 2 years ago (I am 68 lol) it would explain why I had trouble with writing stories in English - why I am rubbish at knowing where I am (I just dont recognise places easily) Unlike some folks with it, I can picture photographs (I take a lot of photos) and that is the only way I can picture people - if I have a photo of them
I have this partiality! I didnt reallice if someone said 'picture this' you could acctualy see things in your mind
ME TOO!!! I just discovered it a couple years ago. I always thought that the phrase "Picture it in your mind" was just that - a phrase. It never occurred to me that people can close their eyes and actually SEE something. I feel like I've missed out on a whole part of imagination.
I believe I do as well. It isn't supposed to be all black when I try to think of anything visual? And does it have to do with having terrible vision? I dunno.
I had no idea this was rare. I have it and I also have the narration thing. I didn't know until I read this post that other people couldn't do the same. So weird!
my husband has this, he can if he really tries, but its super difficult and he normally just sees nothing. Which is crazy to me, I only see things, there is almost no narration.
I don’t know what the word for it is but I can’t imagine having aphantasia!
Once my mom had to ask me Bc apparently it’s kinda common in people with adhd
I'm an artist. If I can't picture something in my mind first, I can't make it.
Same, my dreams sometimes have quick flashes of very faint images but that's about it.
Oh, this is different for me. Almost no images while awake, but incredibly vivid (often lucid) images while sleeping. Though sometimes I wonder if they're really images. Like I definitely perceive them that way, but when I try to describe them, something is distinctly lost in translation.
Load More Replies...
My first husband has this. I had never met someone that could read a book and not see it in their head.
I don't see it as an image when I read, but there is an experience of something. It's hard to describe, but it's almost like if you put a black velvet sheet over the figures. I know they're there and can appreciate them, I just can't "see" them.
Load More Replies...
I don't know how common this is, but I am a mix of visual, audible, and sometimes text based thoughts. Mostly the first two. They're not vivid though. My visual imagination is pretty weak. I mostly have conversations with myself. For visual imagination I mostly need to prompt it, like for problem solving purposes. When I am not really actively thinking about something I am often more conceptual focused? I am quick to use audibly or mentally spoken words.
How is this tested for? Asking as i think my friend might have it. I can picture her having it XD
I was told to think about a red apple or could I visualise what a close relative (mum or dad) looks like without being near them. Could I actually see it in my head. I can't. I fall in a strange area, I can't see things in my head while I'm awake but I do dream and they are visual.
Load More Replies...
Not me but my dad. He got the same cancer twice after a full bone marrow transplant and the doctor told him that was impossible. There’s definitely a case study about him as patient K.
I’m ambidextrous. And have heterochromia. One green eye, one brown eye
I basically have no circadian rhythm. It’s called irregular sleep-wake phase and is mostly present in people who are blind or have brain damage. I have the sleep habits of a newborn baby - my life is a series of naps, and I sleep when I sleep and I’m awake when I’m awake and it has no connection to day or night. It also means I’m always tired. I’m also bipolar so the amount of sleep I manage to get in a day is inconsistent.
EDIT: I just remembered another one. I have duck feet that are caused by femoral retroversion (the angle of my femur and hip bones is off, which means my legs are rotated further out than normal), which is a pretty rare cause for duck feet. It also causes very bad flexibility issues in my ankles and hips.
That's a terrible condition to have along with bipolar disorder. Irregular sleep is known for triggering manic episodes. (I learned this the hard way.)
Allergic to fermented alcohol (wine, beer, cider).
My Dad is allergic to alcohol, found out when he was in the hospital with meningitis. This was back in the '50s, and because his fever was so high, the doctor recommended an alcohol rubdown to try to reduce his temperature. Dad quickly started puffing up and having difficulty breathing, so they immediately washed it off, but the doctor told him if he hadn't already been in a hospital, he might not have made it to one. ( This was long before EpiPens were a thing. )
I have retrograde cricopharyngeus dysfunction.
Meaning, I am physically unable to burp.
When I was 15, I got the measles - my county hadn't seen it in over 30 years. And yes, I had my MMR vax.
I can shoot water out of the corner of my left eye.
My sister can blow bubbles out of both her eyes (obviously while submerged in water, not like she's she's blowing bubbles while just casually walking down the street.)
I had shingles while pregnant, which is very rare. Lucky for me, pregnancy turns down the intensity, I was able to avoid painkillers altogether, but still had open wounds on my back.
Shingles hurt. I'm 55 and have lost count of how many times I've had shingles. My go-to technique to manage them is to cover the blisters if possible, with those adhesive dressings that stay on for a week - stops clothing etc from rubbing & hurting.
I have a Bifid Uvula, aka the little flap in the back of my mouth is split so it looks like there are two of them.
I have Anisocoria. That means i have very differently sized pupils.
Not really a statistic, but I use my mouse backwards. Like facing the wrong way sorta thing. My mother taught me when I was young and I didn't realize it was wrong until like, middle school.
My daughter and I have the same birthday.
My sister and her daughter and granddaughter... all born on December 31. 20 & 40 years apart. No c-sections.
I'm an identical twin and me and my twinsister gave birth on the same day.
I have 4 to 5 forms of synesthesia and one of them only occurs in 1-4 % of the population
Ooh, that sounds cool! Could you elaborate for me? Can you, like, see sounds, or associate certain things with certain colours?
Load More Replies... I have cross-dominance, which is a 1% prevalence. Very commonly mistaken for ambidexterity, it is where you have different hand dominance for different tasks. I used to be ambidextrous in my writing but my primary school forced me to use one or the other because I was confusing the teachers. I now use a pen left handed but a mouse right handed. I use a fork right handed but chopsticks left handed. To go to the fun point, I use a longbow left handed and a sword right handed, so if I have to switch to sword I have to drop the bow because it's in my right hand =.=
I'm not sure what the difference is between the two is. I'm left-handed and right-footed. My left hand is for fine motor skills like writing, drawing, knitting, etc. My right hand/arm is for things requiring strength. And there are some things I can do with either hand, like ironing or stirring.
Load More Replies...
Lucky you! As a singer, I wish I could have it
Load More Replies... I was wondering if someone would mention synesthesia. My childhood friend and I would talk about what colors numbers and letters had. I don't actually see the colors, I just know what they are. Also, numbers have relationships with each other, and rudimentary personalities.. 1 and 2 are the children, 4 is the mom, 5 is the dad, 6 is a friend, and so on. Number 9 is a bossy pain in the butt. It can get annoying when the antics of the numbers and letters conflict with the real world. Google for a test to see where you are on the synesthesia spectrum.
I have a couple of things. The double row of eyelashes which isn’t that rare but saves me from mascara. And I metabolise medication supremely fast. Local anaesthetic is noticeably fast. As in my dentist has to readminister 3 or 4 times for one filling, my dermatologist 3 times for a mole removal. Most of my family (maternal) are the same. But it doesn’t work with weight. I wish!
One side of my body is dramatically smaller than the other. My right leg is about 2 inches shorter, my right arm is closer to 3 inches shorter, right down to my hands and feet. Weirdest thing is that no one noticed until I was nearly 40, (aside from the hands, and feet which I noticed) even though I have always had a strange walking gate and burned thru shoes like crazy.
Google Poland’s Syndrome. My little sister has it.
Load More Replies...
I have Cold Urticaria, along with Chronic hives which make it worse. I don’t exactly have dermatographia, if I get scratched or hit then I get hives lol
I have Ankylosing Spondylitis, an autoimmune disease less than 1% of the population has. It's a chronic progressive systemic inflammatory disease. Basically it causes extreme arthritis and tendonitis in the spine and large joints with many other peripheral symptoms that just ruin your life. The only treatment makes it get worse slower.
Oh my gosh ! I just made a comment up above on the guy with the irregular sleep wake cycles that I have anklosing spondylitis with scoliosis, degenerative disc disease and spinal stenosis. There is no such thing as a comfortable bed or chair. Now that my right hip has severe pain from bursitis…. All I have left to get around in the outside world is my electric wheelchair. Sorry you and I are in the same boat.
Load More Replies...
I have a vertebral border shift so I have 6 lumbar vertebrae (lower back vertebrae) rather than 5. When working as an archaeologist relocating a cemetery, I excavated a skeleton with exactly the same condition! Most people with this doesn’t have issues, but it does cause me some lower back problems if I’m not consistent with physio exercises.
I was born with a serious brain malformation (rare), had 5/5 things against me (some scale they use to consider the severity) (more rare), has the highest dose of radiation treatment ever (at the time) (rarer), and agree 23 years of treatment, it's gone! (Extremely rare).
I can control my goosebumps. It's still not clear how rare this is.
I have allodinia so my femurs are gradually twisting until it gets to a point when I can barely walk. I also can echolocate. I have yellow cones.
i have distichiasis, which means i have two rows of eyelashes. its caused from my heart condition, but i love that my eyelashes look super cute all the time.
I have a "tortuous colon." It's longer than normal and doesn't fit neatly inside of me, so it twists and turns. It's a literal sh*tshow in there.
My granddad was Born in 1924, my dad in 1954, I was in 1984 and my son in 2014. Exactly 30 years apart. In addition my son and my dad was Born on the same month and day as well.
My Dad graduated high school in 1964, I did in 1984 and my youngest brother did in 1994. My birthday is on 09-18, my Mom's is 09-19.
Load More Replies...
Less than 1% of Americans have served in the military and of those, only about 10% have seen combat.
I have red hair and blue eyes meaning I’m part of less than 1% in the whole world!
My hair is reddish? The highlights in my hair are red and I have blue eyes!
Load More Replies...
Another oddity I have is pseudocholinesterase deficiency. It means I don't metabolize certain drugs used in anaesthesia--Succinylcholine and anything ending in "aine" as in Benzocaine, Cocaine, etc. Unfortunately we discovered this the hard way. I had been administered Succinycholine as a supposedly short-acting paralytic inorder to be intubated. But at the end of the surgery I was still paralyzed. I was extubated only to find that I was unable to breathe on my own, nor could I speak or gesture in any way. So I was totally aware that I was suffocating but unable to indicate it. Fortunately I was hooked up to machines that measure my vitals so I was quickly re-intubated. I was immediately whisked off to the ICU for observation and recovery. After I was discharged from the hospital, my anaesthesiologist called to apologize. He told me that in his 25 yrs practicing he'd never encountered it before, and that he'd probably not see it for the next 25 yrs.
Since I was a child, I've had neural seizures where I'm suddenly overcome with the perception and sensation of opposites simultaneously. It's very difficult to explain but I'll try. The most frequent episode is the simultaneous sensations of "far-ness" and "close-ness". There's no "object" in this sensation; ie I'm not perceiving a thing seen far away and up close. I'm experiencing the absolute essence of these opposites. Sometimes my seizures involve texture, as in "soft-ness" and "hard-ness", or "small-ness" and "large-ness". When these occur, they only last about 20-30 seconds. It feels like my brain is swimming in chemicals, and my tongue gets sort of warm and buzzy...Like I said, it's really hard to explain.
I remember when I was a kid and had a fever, I would experience something that sounds like that.
Load More Replies... When I was young and stupid and mad at the world in my 20s, I was exposed to a highly communicable disease many times. By all means I should have gotten it. After I smartened up and went to get tested, I assumed it would be positive and I was ready for it. The test was negative and has been ever since. I asked my doctor how that could be possible and he said there is a very small percentage of people who are immune to it and I am one of them. I won't test that theory though. I just know it's next to impossible for me to have not gotten it based on how many times I was exposed over the course of a few years.
The discrepancy between the vision in my left and right eye is so big that only the right eye (the better one) sends information to the brain. My left eye does help to broaden my field of vision a bit, but thats basically all it does. My ophthalmologist loves to call my left eye "decoration", because that's basically all its good for
Not really rare, but most people don't seem to know it's a thing- I have reverse Seasonal Affective Disorder (so I get depressed in the summer vs the winter). My grandmother also has it. And while my husband and children don't have SAD, they also much prefer the winter months. My husband and I hate the beach (it's boring as well as hot), and I spend the 10:00am-7:00pm summer inside with the A/C running (which makes it hard to get all my gardening done). The heat of the day can make me physically ill very quickly...dizzy, seeing spots, nauseated...That being said, I could spend all day outside in the winter and have had a nap lying in the snow on a nice day before. Of course, fall and spring are always nice too, when the weather is what it's "supposed" to be at that time of year.
I gave myself whiplash as a teenager from having a nightmare. I waited until I was vomiting & pooping blood to go to the ER, found out I had botulism & should have died. I had 2 periods a month for 20-odd years & no doctor could figure out why. Those are the biggest weird ones.
My blood type is A- and also Dd negative, which I'm told is quite rare. When I needed blood after surgery, they had to scramble some to find it. Also, the blood bank used to call me on occasion.
I have a simian crease in both hands. One is very pronounce, and one barely is. (I have one line straight across the palm, instead of one going up and one going down.) I have a form of spina bifida occulta. (The last vertebrae of my spine is fused to my pelvic bone, and it's at a slight angle, so I've had minor back pain/issues my whole life.) I was the last reported case of Smallpox in New Jersey. (I got it from the vaccine--I'm very pro-vaccine, though.) I'm dyslexic. (Dyslexia is a learning disability that comes in many forms and severities--for me it's mostly trouble spelling and poor memory, but I'm very successful and most people are surprised when they find out.)
OH! And before I started losing my hair and going grey, I was a redhead!
Load More Replies...
I have a unique genetic disorder. A balanced translocation. I have seen a statistic about people with unique genetic disorders. If I remember correctly, one in 400 people.
I survived a grade 5 brain aneurysm that caused an ischemic stroke when I was 44 years old. It was a hard recovery but I made it! But now I'm back in a wheelchair (forever this time) because I have MS and COVID accelerated the progression. Oh, and I found out in January that I've been living with untreated bipolar disorder since I was a teenager. My whole life is weird story.
I read a case study from Europe a few years ago about a patient who has a total immunity to opiates. Zero physiological response to many time the lethal dose. Not only did it not stop their pain, but they had no change in pulse or blood pressure in addition to other factors. The study concluded that approximately .2% of the world population has this trait. Most commonly, those of Nordic descent.
I'm one of the 0.1% of people who have had a severe reaction to the COVID booster. My first booster gave me a 105.5F fever. I probably should have gone to the hospital instead of taking tylenol and going back to bed. Second booster was only 103.5F. Third was 103+ but with four hours of vomiting and dry heaving. Can't wait to get my next one this fall. Statistics say this puts me in the sub 0.1% club.
I seem to be incapable of getting injured through exercise. I never do warming-ups or stretches, it feels best to just go full whack from zero. I can also just stop whatever exercise I do and just go home. Sore muscles are alien to me. I used to be a World level dancer in my 20s and had no injuries, despite training 20+ hours a week for 3 years. Now I am 47 and even though I have lost some strength and flexibility, and no longer compete, I can still dance as much as the young dancers.
I don't think what I have is all that lucky, but it is incredibly rare, I have a trigeminal schwannoma. They are benign brain tumors. Trigeminal schwannomas are rare accounting for 0.07–0.3% of all intracranial tumors and 0.8%–5% of intracranial schwannomas.
Due to not getting chicken pox as a child and not being immune, I am on the older end of the vaccinated population and will be a Guinea pig when it comes to whether vaccinated people are susceptible to shingles. My son has a birth defect in the growth plates in his legs that multiple specialists have never seen before.
I have anhidrosis. It's a disease were you don't sweat or just sweat in certain places. I have a rare form of anhidrosis were I don't have sweat glands
It seems like hot weather could be dangerous for you.
Load More Replies...
I have a natural immunity to smallpox and poison Ivy, ignored by mosquitoes, and the only time I’ve been ill in my entire life was when my roommate gave me covid-19.
I cannot wink with my right eye. It is physically impossible for me to do that.
i trained myself to wink in both eyes
Load More Replies...
I'm an identical twin and me and my twinsister gave birth on the same day.
I have 4 to 5 forms of synesthesia and one of them only occurs in 1-4 % of the population
Ooh, that sounds cool! Could you elaborate for me? Can you, like, see sounds, or associate certain things with certain colours?
Load More Replies... I have cross-dominance, which is a 1% prevalence. Very commonly mistaken for ambidexterity, it is where you have different hand dominance for different tasks. I used to be ambidextrous in my writing but my primary school forced me to use one or the other because I was confusing the teachers. I now use a pen left handed but a mouse right handed. I use a fork right handed but chopsticks left handed. To go to the fun point, I use a longbow left handed and a sword right handed, so if I have to switch to sword I have to drop the bow because it's in my right hand =.=
I'm not sure what the difference is between the two is. I'm left-handed and right-footed. My left hand is for fine motor skills like writing, drawing, knitting, etc. My right hand/arm is for things requiring strength. And there are some things I can do with either hand, like ironing or stirring.
Load More Replies... Lucky you! As a singer, I wish I could have it
Load More Replies... I was wondering if someone would mention synesthesia. My childhood friend and I would talk about what colors numbers and letters had. I don't actually see the colors, I just know what they are. Also, numbers have relationships with each other, and rudimentary personalities.. 1 and 2 are the children, 4 is the mom, 5 is the dad, 6 is a friend, and so on. Number 9 is a bossy pain in the butt. It can get annoying when the antics of the numbers and letters conflict with the real world. Google for a test to see where you are on the synesthesia spectrum.
I have a couple of things. The double row of eyelashes which isn’t that rare but saves me from mascara. And I metabolise medication supremely fast. Local anaesthetic is noticeably fast. As in my dentist has to readminister 3 or 4 times for one filling, my dermatologist 3 times for a mole removal. Most of my family (maternal) are the same. But it doesn’t work with weight. I wish!
One side of my body is dramatically smaller than the other. My right leg is about 2 inches shorter, my right arm is closer to 3 inches shorter, right down to my hands and feet. Weirdest thing is that no one noticed until I was nearly 40, (aside from the hands, and feet which I noticed) even though I have always had a strange walking gate and burned thru shoes like crazy.
Google Poland’s Syndrome. My little sister has it.
Load More Replies... I have Cold Urticaria, along with Chronic hives which make it worse. I don’t exactly have dermatographia, if I get scratched or hit then I get hives lol
I have Ankylosing Spondylitis, an autoimmune disease less than 1% of the population has. It's a chronic progressive systemic inflammatory disease. Basically it causes extreme arthritis and tendonitis in the spine and large joints with many other peripheral symptoms that just ruin your life. The only treatment makes it get worse slower.
Oh my gosh ! I just made a comment up above on the guy with the irregular sleep wake cycles that I have anklosing spondylitis with scoliosis, degenerative disc disease and spinal stenosis. There is no such thing as a comfortable bed or chair. Now that my right hip has severe pain from bursitis…. All I have left to get around in the outside world is my electric wheelchair. Sorry you and I are in the same boat.
Load More Replies... I have a vertebral border shift so I have 6 lumbar vertebrae (lower back vertebrae) rather than 5. When working as an archaeologist relocating a cemetery, I excavated a skeleton with exactly the same condition! Most people with this doesn’t have issues, but it does cause me some lower back problems if I’m not consistent with physio exercises.
I was born with a serious brain malformation (rare), had 5/5 things against me (some scale they use to consider the severity) (more rare), has the highest dose of radiation treatment ever (at the time) (rarer), and agree 23 years of treatment, it's gone! (Extremely rare).
I can control my goosebumps. It's still not clear how rare this is.
I have allodinia so my femurs are gradually twisting until it gets to a point when I can barely walk. I also can echolocate. I have yellow cones.
i have distichiasis, which means i have two rows of eyelashes. its caused from my heart condition, but i love that my eyelashes look super cute all the time.
I have a "tortuous colon." It's longer than normal and doesn't fit neatly inside of me, so it twists and turns. It's a literal sh*tshow in there.
My granddad was Born in 1924, my dad in 1954, I was in 1984 and my son in 2014. Exactly 30 years apart. In addition my son and my dad was Born on the same month and day as well.
My Dad graduated high school in 1964, I did in 1984 and my youngest brother did in 1994. My birthday is on 09-18, my Mom's is 09-19.
Load More Replies... Less than 1% of Americans have served in the military and of those, only about 10% have seen combat.
I have red hair and blue eyes meaning I’m part of less than 1% in the whole world!
My hair is reddish? The highlights in my hair are red and I have blue eyes!
Load More Replies... Another oddity I have is pseudocholinesterase deficiency. It means I don't metabolize certain drugs used in anaesthesia--Succinylcholine and anything ending in "aine" as in Benzocaine, Cocaine, etc. Unfortunately we discovered this the hard way. I had been administered Succinycholine as a supposedly short-acting paralytic inorder to be intubated. But at the end of the surgery I was still paralyzed. I was extubated only to find that I was unable to breathe on my own, nor could I speak or gesture in any way. So I was totally aware that I was suffocating but unable to indicate it. Fortunately I was hooked up to machines that measure my vitals so I was quickly re-intubated. I was immediately whisked off to the ICU for observation and recovery. After I was discharged from the hospital, my anaesthesiologist called to apologize. He told me that in his 25 yrs practicing he'd never encountered it before, and that he'd probably not see it for the next 25 yrs.
Since I was a child, I've had neural seizures where I'm suddenly overcome with the perception and sensation of opposites simultaneously. It's very difficult to explain but I'll try. The most frequent episode is the simultaneous sensations of "far-ness" and "close-ness". There's no "object" in this sensation; ie I'm not perceiving a thing seen far away and up close. I'm experiencing the absolute essence of these opposites. Sometimes my seizures involve texture, as in "soft-ness" and "hard-ness", or "small-ness" and "large-ness". When these occur, they only last about 20-30 seconds. It feels like my brain is swimming in chemicals, and my tongue gets sort of warm and buzzy...Like I said, it's really hard to explain.
I remember when I was a kid and had a fever, I would experience something that sounds like that.
Load More Replies... When I was young and stupid and mad at the world in my 20s, I was exposed to a highly communicable disease many times. By all means I should have gotten it. After I smartened up and went to get tested, I assumed it would be positive and I was ready for it. The test was negative and has been ever since. I asked my doctor how that could be possible and he said there is a very small percentage of people who are immune to it and I am one of them. I won't test that theory though. I just know it's next to impossible for me to have not gotten it based on how many times I was exposed over the course of a few years.
The discrepancy between the vision in my left and right eye is so big that only the right eye (the better one) sends information to the brain. My left eye does help to broaden my field of vision a bit, but thats basically all it does. My ophthalmologist loves to call my left eye "decoration", because that's basically all its good for
Not really rare, but most people don't seem to know it's a thing- I have reverse Seasonal Affective Disorder (so I get depressed in the summer vs the winter). My grandmother also has it. And while my husband and children don't have SAD, they also much prefer the winter months. My husband and I hate the beach (it's boring as well as hot), and I spend the 10:00am-7:00pm summer inside with the A/C running (which makes it hard to get all my gardening done). The heat of the day can make me physically ill very quickly...dizzy, seeing spots, nauseated...That being said, I could spend all day outside in the winter and have had a nap lying in the snow on a nice day before. Of course, fall and spring are always nice too, when the weather is what it's "supposed" to be at that time of year.
I gave myself whiplash as a teenager from having a nightmare. I waited until I was vomiting & pooping blood to go to the ER, found out I had botulism & should have died. I had 2 periods a month for 20-odd years & no doctor could figure out why. Those are the biggest weird ones.
My blood type is A- and also Dd negative, which I'm told is quite rare. When I needed blood after surgery, they had to scramble some to find it. Also, the blood bank used to call me on occasion.
I have a simian crease in both hands. One is very pronounce, and one barely is. (I have one line straight across the palm, instead of one going up and one going down.) I have a form of spina bifida occulta. (The last vertebrae of my spine is fused to my pelvic bone, and it's at a slight angle, so I've had minor back pain/issues my whole life.) I was the last reported case of Smallpox in New Jersey. (I got it from the vaccine--I'm very pro-vaccine, though.) I'm dyslexic. (Dyslexia is a learning disability that comes in many forms and severities--for me it's mostly trouble spelling and poor memory, but I'm very successful and most people are surprised when they find out.)
OH! And before I started losing my hair and going grey, I was a redhead!
Load More Replies... I have a unique genetic disorder. A balanced translocation. I have seen a statistic about people with unique genetic disorders. If I remember correctly, one in 400 people.
I survived a grade 5 brain aneurysm that caused an ischemic stroke when I was 44 years old. It was a hard recovery but I made it! But now I'm back in a wheelchair (forever this time) because I have MS and COVID accelerated the progression. Oh, and I found out in January that I've been living with untreated bipolar disorder since I was a teenager. My whole life is weird story.
I read a case study from Europe a few years ago about a patient who has a total immunity to opiates. Zero physiological response to many time the lethal dose. Not only did it not stop their pain, but they had no change in pulse or blood pressure in addition to other factors. The study concluded that approximately .2% of the world population has this trait. Most commonly, those of Nordic descent.
I'm one of the 0.1% of people who have had a severe reaction to the COVID booster. My first booster gave me a 105.5F fever. I probably should have gone to the hospital instead of taking tylenol and going back to bed. Second booster was only 103.5F. Third was 103+ but with four hours of vomiting and dry heaving. Can't wait to get my next one this fall. Statistics say this puts me in the sub 0.1% club.
I seem to be incapable of getting injured through exercise. I never do warming-ups or stretches, it feels best to just go full whack from zero. I can also just stop whatever exercise I do and just go home. Sore muscles are alien to me. I used to be a World level dancer in my 20s and had no injuries, despite training 20+ hours a week for 3 years. Now I am 47 and even though I have lost some strength and flexibility, and no longer compete, I can still dance as much as the young dancers.
I don't think what I have is all that lucky, but it is incredibly rare, I have a trigeminal schwannoma. They are benign brain tumors. Trigeminal schwannomas are rare accounting for 0.07–0.3% of all intracranial tumors and 0.8%–5% of intracranial schwannomas.
Due to not getting chicken pox as a child and not being immune, I am on the older end of the vaccinated population and will be a Guinea pig when it comes to whether vaccinated people are susceptible to shingles. My son has a birth defect in the growth plates in his legs that multiple specialists have never seen before.
I have anhidrosis. It's a disease were you don't sweat or just sweat in certain places. I have a rare form of anhidrosis were I don't have sweat glands
It seems like hot weather could be dangerous for you.
Load More Replies... I have a natural immunity to smallpox and poison Ivy, ignored by mosquitoes, and the only time I’ve been ill in my entire life was when my roommate gave me covid-19.
I cannot wink with my right eye. It is physically impossible for me to do that.
i trained myself to wink in both eyes
Load More Replies... 