If you ever find yourself administering first aid in a chaotic emergency situation, here's hoping Hollywood movies and middle school rumors aren't the only things running through your mind.
Nobody knows exactly were common medical myths get started. But one day, it just seems that everyone shares belief in some oddly specific fact about human health and illness.
And it's a miracle that most of these totally misguided "facts" are harmless, interesting descriptions more than advised remedies.
But there are some myths that could be a real problem and endanger the health of the countless people that believe them. But thanks to Reddit, the record was recently set straight on at least a few of them.
locks_are_paranoid asked, "What medical myth do people still believe?"
Anything to Make it Stop
"Cracking your knuckles causes arthritis" -- VodkaMargarine
"A guy actually tested this! For over 60 years Donald L. Unger cracked only his left hand to prove that cracking knuckles doesn't cause arthritis." -- SourTomato123
"The person who first said this, did so likely because the sound is f***ing irritating." -- Schneetmacher
Stop Peeing People!
"People always want to pee on you when you get stung by a jellyfish."
"It doesn't help. Keep it in your pants and get me some vinegar to pour on it instead." -- ConflictDonuts
"You need heat and/or acidity, depending on the jellyfish. Urine has both, but has neither in sufficient quantities to do anything." -- Malvania
Don't Underestimate the Pinch
"Leaning your head back when you have a nosebleed. You do this if you enjoy blood running down your throat."
"What you need to do is to lean forward and pinch your nostrils shut and start breathing from your mouth. Give it 5-10 minutes and the bleeding usually stops then."
A Very Important PSA
"All strokes/heart attacks start with the same symptoms for all people. Especially when symptoms are ignored because they don't fit what we've seen on TV/movies." -- FakingGumption
"I had a heart attack at 35. I'm a woman. I literally sat on the sofa for 10 - 15 mins working out how on earth I had pulled a muscle in my shoulder."
"As the pain spread and changed I then thought about if I was having some sort of panic attack. I have anxiety so wouldn't be unreasonable."
"It was 2 am, by the time I woke my husband to tell him I was calling the ambulance my whole arm was numb and cold and I couldn't breathe properly."
"It just didn't occur to me that I could be having a heart attack, it didn't appear like any heart attack I'd ever heard off." -- lynara82
Nobody Tell Rambo
"You can't suck the venom out of yourself from a snake bite, idk why movies show this." -- Datsunking
"Probably because they're movies and aren't required to follow the same rules we are." -- CyanOyster
Keep the Steak Away from Wounds
"Putting a steak on a black eye helps it heal. Don't do this! It could cause a bacterial infection!"
"Back in the day, ice was very expensive so they wouldn't put ice on the black eye but instead reach in the cooler and grab the steak because the steak was less expensive than the ice."
-- Dan514158351
"I'm Not Toast, Grandma!"
"My gramma heavily believes that smearing butter on burns will help it out."
"If you are curious, no, its not helpful, you are just making your already sensitive tissue more tasty to the bacterias that will probably try to infect your burn."
"I am 5 pictures of infected burns away from making her see how bad of an idea it is."
-- Mikratos_
Inside vs. Outside
"Being thin is the same as being in shape" -- Ahyeeoobee
"My stepdad was as thin as a bean pole and from all outside appearances seemed healthy. In fact, his diet was sh** and he rarely exercised."
"He died two years ago at the age of 37 as the result of a heart attack. He had coronary artery disease that wasn't discovered because no one thought to look for it. Still hurts." -- debonair_dahling
Weight Loss is Not a System of Lasers and Shrink Rays
"That you can lose weight from a specific part of your body" -- TheYungestYonk
"Spot training, and how it doesn't exist, is the biggest thing I've had to educate middle aged women on when doing any sort of physical training." -- JeetKuneBro
"I wish but having done the whole weight loss thing, pretty sure genetics have something to do with where weight disappears/appears first, last, faster, slower."
"It's definitely interesting to watch the changes happen over time but yeah turns out you can't just do a ton of sit ups and expect ripped abs. It'd be so nice to be able to pick and choose cause sometimes I just want to skip leg day." -- TechToTrail
A Classic
That deoxygenated blood is blue. It's actually a darker red than oxygenated blood." -- NeutralityTsar
"Actually had this argument with my sister in law who is an actual nurse in a hospital! I'll never go to that hospital." -- deeboe
"Easy way to check this - Get your blood drawn. The inside of the tubes are vacuum, the blood coming from the veins is a dark red." -- acoupleabcs
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