WebMD Home

Email a Friend

Print Article

Weird Body Quirks: From Brain Freeze to Hiccupping

The ice cream headache strikes!

Is your sweating out of control?

Vertigo is the sensation that your environment is moving when it’s not.

That pins and needles feeling is uncomfortable, but not dangerous.

Don’t drink water upside down to cure hiccups -- just hold your breath.

When your tonsils bring home unwanted guests: white lumps in the tonsil pocket.

That ear popping sensation is a normal part of airplane travel.

Stretch the muscle to help relieve the pain from a charley horse.

Keep your fingers (and cotton swabs!) out of your ear canals.

Your tongue may look scary, but it’s nothing serious.

Most eye twitches resolve on their own without treatment.

Embarrassed by larger male breasts? Treatments are very effective.

Dark eye circles can make you look older and more tired than you really are.

Mexican painter Frida Kahlo (July 6, 1907 – July 13, 1954).

Greenish nail discoloration caused by a type of bacteria called pseudomonas.

Comedian W.C. Fields’ red, bulbous nose, characteristic of advanced rosacea.

Canker sores are completely different from cold sores.

WebMD Slideshows

View our slideshows to learn more about your health.

Slimming Slideshow: 24 Ways to Lose Weight Without Dieting

Skinny Tricks

Lose weight without dieting.

Skin Problems

See pictures of psoriasis, eczema, and more.

Commonly Abused Drugs

Prescription and OTC drugs prone to abuse.

How Pets Improve Your Health

27 ways pets are good for you.

Starting Solids

What to feed baby in year 1.

Slideshows A-Z

Browse WebMD's slideshow library.

The Brain Freeze

Oh no, not again! Another frozen treat, another brain freeze. “Ice cream headaches” happen when something cold touches nerves in the roof of the mouth, triggering blood vessels in the front of your head to constrict -- producing pain. Try this quick pain relief trick: Press your tongue to the roof of your mouth to warm it up.

Excessive Sweating (Hyperhidrosis)

Sure it’s a mood killer, but this problem is very common and happens to completely healthy people. While it can occur in the face, sweating is usually worst in the palms, soles, and armpits. Treatment may include aluminum chloride antiperspirants, prescription antiperspirants, iontophoresis, Botox injections, oral medications, or even surgery.

Vertigo

Whoa! If it feels like the room’s moving when it’s not, it could be vertigo. Sometimes caused by inner ear inflammation or decreased blood flow to the brain, vertigo can last minutes, even hours. To distinguish vertigo from dizziness, there must be a feeling of motion; other symptoms may include nausea or vomiting, sweating, and unusual eye movements. Treating vertigo depends on the cause.

Arm or Leg Goes to Sleep

Ever get that “pins and needles” feeling in your arm or leg? This temporary and harmless tingling is caused by lack of movement, or constant pressure on that body part -- leaving those cells unable to transmit messages to your brain. The cure is super simple: change positions. Chronic pins and needles indicates a more serious underlying condition that should be evaluated.

Hiccups

Hiccups are an uncontrollable contraction of the diaphragm (the breathing muscle under the lungs). Eating fast, overdoing alcohol, or swallowing air can all cause the hiccups. They usually go away on their own, but you can try remedies like holding your breath, quickly drinking water, and breathing in a bag to help hasten hiccups away.

Tonsil Stones

Although those bad smelling lumps can be uncomfortable, tonsil stones (also called tonsilloliths) are harmless. Hanging out in the tonsil pockets, they form when bacteria and mucous get trapped, leaving a hard piece of matter and a bad taste in your throat. You can remove small stones with a swab, but if they’re not bothering you, no treatment is necessary.

Ear Popping

We’ve all yawned on a plane trip to “pop” our ears. What we’re doing is equalizing the pressure between the inside and the outside of our eardrum as the altitude changes. That "pop" means a tube connecting your middle ear to the back of your throat has opened, letting air flow through. To help, you can also close your mouth, hold your nose, and blow gently; or try chewing gum.

Charley Horse

These startling spasms and tightening in leg muscles can last a few seconds, even several minutes. While the cramps have no exact cause, dehydration, muscle overuse, and a lack of certain nutrients -- like potassium and calcium -- can be culprits. Walk around to relieve the pain, or shake your leg and stretch the muscle. If cramps persist, see your doctor.

Ear Wax Buildup

Earwax helps fight infection, keeps ears clean, and our bodies naturally get rid of excess earwax by shedding skin. Problems like impaction start when we try to clean our ears with a swab or another object. Impaction symptoms include pain, itching, ringing of the ears, or hearing loss. Your doctor can remove excess ear wax with irrigation.

Black Hairy Tongue

No, this isn’t something from a Creature Feature. Black hairy tongue occurs when the little bumps on your tongue grow long (instead of shedding), and bacteria grow on them. Poor oral hygiene, some mouthwashes, and antibiotics can be behind this. To help, brush your teeth and tongue twice a day, rinse your mouth with one part hydrogen peroxide to five parts water, and use a tongue scraper.

Eye Twitching

Eyelid spasms are unpredictable, bothersome…and harmless. Eye twitching can be caused by stress, fatigue, eyestrain, and dry eyes, though more serious twitching may be caused by neurological disorders, like Tourette’s syndrome. Eyelid spasms usually go away on their own, but if they persist, Botox injections are often recommended.

Overdevelopment of Male Breasts

Very common in men, gynecomastia is caused by the body making too much estrogen. Often seen in boys going through puberty, it usually disappears on its own after several months. It’s also common in men later in life, often caused by certain medications, liver or thyroid problems, or cancer. A physician’s evaluation can get at the root cause, but by itself, the condition is usually benign.

Dark Circles Under the Eyes

Got raccoon eyes? People blame age or fatigue for these dark circles and they’re right. Lack of sleep makes your skin pale, emphasizing the dark circles, while age means thinner skin around the eyes, making it easier to see any discoloration. Asthma and allergies can also cause dark circles, and heredity plays a role as well.

Excessive Hair Growth

Few women enjoy excess hair on their body, but while hirsutism can be embarrassing, it’s generally harmless -- and may just be genetic. Another common cause is polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), a condition characterized by excess male hormones. In rare cases, hirsutism is caused by hormone-secreting tumors. Treatment depends on the cause, and can include bleaching, electrolysis, hormone therapies, and laser hair removal.

Discolored Nails

What’s behind the color changes in your nails? About half of discolorations are caused by infection. Greenish nails may come from the pseudomonas bacteria, while red or black nails can result from a trauma to the nail. Yellow nail syndrome is a rare condition associated with lymphedema and lung diseases. Unsure what’s causing your discoloration? Time to get those nails checked!

Red Nose From Rosacea

Rosacea causes redness and bumps all over the face, but when the nose becomes red with bumps, rosacea is advanced, possibly from lack of treatment. This is more common in men than women, and genetics do play a role. Treatments at this stage can include laser resurfacing to remove layers of the skin, and dermabrasion to smooth the nose’s rough bumps.

Canker Sores

Canker sores are small ulcers inside the mouth. Unlike cold sores -- which are outside the mouth and very contagious -- canker sores are not caused by a virus. Certain foods or nutritional deficiencies may trigger a canker sore, as can emotional stress and a mouth injury. When needed, treatments include topical medication and mouthwash solutions.