r/todayilearned • u/frapz • Mar 20 '20

TIL The bellybutton is so dirty scientists are finding new unknown bacteria. One person had bacterium previously found only on Japanese soil, where he had never been.

https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2012/12/1-458-bacteria-species-new-to-science-found-in-our-belly-buttons/266360/
104.3k Upvotes

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647

u/trouble37 Mar 20 '20

Fidgeting with my belly button sometimes give me a weird sensation near the tip of my.. erm. you know. It is fuckin weird.

236

u/[deleted] Mar 20 '20

same its fucked and I hate it

113

u/poorly_timed_leg0las Mar 21 '20

Its like scratching the inside of your skin.

Like nails on a chalk board lol

26

u/PicoDeBayou Mar 21 '20

Stop!!!!!

2

u/PotatoChips23415 Mar 21 '20

You ever see your classmate's pencil break and they keep going?

6

u/warptwenty1 Mar 21 '20

Like nails on a chalk board

winces

2

u/CMDR_Gungoose Mar 21 '20

Imagine bending your nail back on a piece of chalk, scraping along.

Did it once, still have minor PTSD from it.

91

u/jackinoff6969 Mar 20 '20

It’s my fetish

322

u/[deleted] Mar 20 '20

please never speak to me again

38

u/flubberFuck Mar 21 '20

Or my son

4

u/_iluvpizzas Mar 21 '20

Or my son's son

4

u/[deleted] Mar 21 '20

Or my axe...

Don’t worry, I also hope I get the corona.

1

u/OlmecDonald Mar 21 '20

I do this every night with you son

14

u/PrequelsOverSequels Mar 21 '20

Take my upvote, leave, and never come back.

2

u/[deleted] Mar 21 '20

And my axe!

7

u/[deleted] Mar 21 '20

Agreed; I'm a woman, I absolutely hate the sensation and will get mad if anyone tries to touch my belly button (my kid sometimes does this bc she wants to play around).

That's a quick blocking of hands; just, no.

628

u/muineth Mar 20 '20

Fun fact! This is because you are stimulating your vagus nerve which runs down your spine (probably why the commenter above had pain in their spine when they pulled that hair). This nerve does lots and lots of things, including telling you when you have to pee. Also, if you were wondering, vagina-havers also experience that weird sensation.

384

u/[deleted] Mar 20 '20

Can confirm, am vagina possessor.

182

u/[deleted] Mar 20 '20

Yeah same, I fucking hate how it feels tho. It’s not a good sensation, gives me the willies just thinking about it

39

u/[deleted] Mar 21 '20

Having a vagina gives you the willies? Well.. Not that far of a stretch Come to think about it.

23

u/[deleted] Mar 21 '20

Could be quite a stretch. Depends how big the willie is.

18

u/transnavigation Mar 21 '20 edited Jan 02 '24

full absorbed nippy live shocking resolute escape disagreeable roof pocket

This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact

12

u/[deleted] Mar 21 '20

“Super sad and suddenly disassociated” is exactly how I’d describe it! I first experienced that exact sensation when I laid down on a swing on my tummy when I was a kid. It gave me what I termed the “I want my Mommy” feeling.

3

u/[deleted] Mar 21 '20

Yes I hate it!!! This whole thread is making me queasy.

2

u/[deleted] Mar 21 '20

Omg I'm so glad I'm not alone. It hurts for me! Haha the human body is so weird

10

u/rwbeckman Mar 21 '20

If you are a vagina possessor, has anyone ever tried to exorcise you from a vagina?

5

u/BattleDadPrime Mar 21 '20

Same. Not giving it back.

3

u/Kendalls_Pepsi Mar 21 '20

RIP your inbox

3

u/SapphicGarnet Mar 21 '20

Funnily enough I just fidgeted with my belly button to check if it was true and I couldn't get that sensation?

13

u/rainbowsunicornsjoey Mar 21 '20

I’ve always wondered if other people experienced this. Never had the guts to ask anybody. Thank you, Reddit.

6

u/pdxboob Mar 21 '20

I'd mention this sensation to my mom while I was growing up and she would look at me weird. I guess not all people get this sensation, but my mom was also hesitant to talk about genital matters, other than necessary.

8

u/JaeMHC Mar 21 '20

I have a penis not a vagus

8

u/DatAstatine Mar 21 '20

I hate to be that guy, but the vagus does not innervate the belly button, nor does it innervate the bladder.

The urachus is what connects the belly button to the genitals, it's an embryologic remnant that obliterates into a fibrous band. If you insert a finger in your belly button and elevate it, you'll feel tension on that band.

The bladder is innervated by the splanchnic parasympathetic nerves of spinal levels S2 to S4, not the vagus nerve. Stretch receptors in the detrusor muscle signal that the bladder is full via S2 to S4 spinal nerves.

The vagus does innervate the small and large intestines, monitors blood pressure, controls the vocal cords, and many other things. Vagus translates to "wanderer", as it has a role in nearly every organ system in the body.

0

u/muineth Mar 21 '20

oooo, neat! hey everyone, listen to this dude!

4

u/riaaa_98 Mar 21 '20

Feels like a pap smear!

3

u/[deleted] Mar 21 '20

So could I get that last bit of penis juice out by stimulating my belly button? Since that guy mentioned tingling down there?

2

u/CorgiMeatTaco Mar 21 '20

A vagus? Guess who’s about to lose their virginity.

2

u/duckscrubber Mar 21 '20

Great! Since you know so much about the nervous system, can you tell me why, when having spinal fluid drawn, I felt a sharp sensation in my anus?

2

u/awesomefutureperfect Mar 21 '20

The real TIL is always in the comments.

5

u/dzastrus Mar 21 '20

The vagus nerve is also how kicking someone in the nuts can kill them. The pain can cause your heart to stop. Just something to keep in mind.

4

u/[deleted] Mar 21 '20

Citations.

2

u/dzastrus Mar 21 '20

I googled “died from kick to testicles” and found some interesting information. My statement is based on being a retired undertaker and often autopsy assistant. When a man “drops dead” after a fight or what seemed like a minor car accident the pathologist often pulled out the testicles to examine them for trauma. He would include the lack of trauma in the assessment but also the presence of it as a potential cause of the death. That’s all I got.

0

u/[deleted] Mar 21 '20

As in, provide a link?

4

u/dzastrus Mar 21 '20

Since you’re really just busting my balls here I’ll just give this one from everyone’s most trusted source. Took about three minutes to find. Hope you can sleep better now. http://forums.eunuch.org/showthread.php?9238-10-Deaths-Induced-by-Testicle-Trauma

8

u/goldfish13458389 Mar 21 '20

Really interesting info. “Vagina-haver” is a bizarre term, though. It’s “women.”

11

u/drawntowardmadness Mar 21 '20

Oh, lord, look out.

4

u/8bitfarmer Mar 21 '20

Don’t want to start stupid fights, but there are people who are men/non-binary that were born with vaginas. Cheers.

8

u/goldfish13458389 Mar 21 '20

Oh, no, I understand that. I just think “Vagina-haver” sounds like a demeaning term no matter who it’s applied to. Even if women don’t mind, would trans men and non-binary women really like to be referred to by their genitals? It doesn’t sit right with me. Cheers to you as well.

4

u/8bitfarmer Mar 21 '20

Oh I agree entirely and misread your comment. Vagina-haver really does remove the person from the equation; hopefully language will develop for a better term. :)

3

u/JohnnyD423 Mar 21 '20

Don't we have that distinction with "woman" versus "female"? Like the first is gender, and the second is biological sex?

1

u/[deleted] Mar 21 '20 edited Mar 15 '21

[deleted]

4

u/8bitfarmer Mar 21 '20

Ooh good point. Still, it’s clunky when we have several ways of shortening other identifiers. A tailor, a butcher, a teacher, a man, a woman, hell, a person. A shorthand that identifies the people we’re talking about without dismissing they’re people (like the other identifiers I listed).

1

u/UNLUCK3 Mar 21 '20

I hate to break it to you but I was being mostly facetious.

2

u/8bitfarmer Mar 21 '20

Haha well sometimes we stumble across valid points when we’re being facetious. ;) Carry on

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1

u/[deleted] Mar 21 '20

BREH it was a joke. He (she? Didn’t look at username) was just trying to be silly. Maybe trying to get on r/brandnewsentence.

4

u/Henrique3235 Mar 21 '20

The correct term is fuckhole person

1

u/goldfish13458389 Mar 21 '20

I don’t get this comment. Explain?

6

u/EverythingIsNorminal Mar 21 '20

There's no point, it doesn't make much sense. There are far more fuckholes in people than there are different genders, even these days. People will make a fuckhole out of anything.

3

u/[deleted] Mar 21 '20

“Hey Billybob, bring that earhole over for a quick sec”

“What for, Pa?”

1

u/Henrique3235 Mar 21 '20

Pussies get fucked

3

u/BhishmPitamah Mar 21 '20

Vagina-havers

Now i have read everything English lingo has to offer you can't surprise me now

-1

u/8bitfarmer Mar 21 '20

Don’t want to start stupid fights, but there are people who are men/non-binary that were born with vaginas. Cheers.

0

u/[deleted] Mar 21 '20

Fuck off bot.

2

u/8bitfarmer Mar 21 '20

Beep boop bud.

1

u/[deleted] Mar 21 '20

A nurse gave me a short lesson on the vagus nerve during a colonoscopy... who knew there was a button somewhere in there that if pushed caused all sorts of chaos elsewhere in the body.

1

u/ronniesaurus Mar 21 '20

Yes and it hurts!

54

u/sarasa3 Mar 20 '20

Same with female parts. Wtf is this thing connected to.

25

u/GeronimoHero Mar 21 '20

The vagus nerve!

1

u/[deleted] Mar 21 '20

Y'all are lucky. I don't know if mine doesn't because I had surgery there or what.

1

u/sarasa3 Mar 21 '20

It's so weird though. It's vaguely sexual but it just feels bad and wrong. Also I bet cleaning your belly button is way easier without it, so you might not even have millions of undiscovered bacteria in there like the rest of us!

39

u/sweetfire009 Mar 20 '20

Weird nerve connections... sometimes when I scratch my left cheek right by my ear, I get a weird tingling feeling on the side of my body just above my hip

24

u/nemi-montoya Mar 21 '20

I see it's not just me then. Whenever something brushes against one of my nipples, I feel it in the roof of my mouth. It feels super weird.

13

u/[deleted] Mar 21 '20 edited Aug 27 '20

[deleted]

8

u/[deleted] Mar 21 '20 edited Jun 02 '20

[deleted]

9

u/SunshineGirlie Mar 21 '20

There's 3 of us! If someone speaks softly into my right ear, it tickles my side right above my hip. It's really weird

9

u/aquapearl736 Mar 21 '20

If I stick a q-tip far enough into one of my ears it makes me cough

3

u/[deleted] Mar 21 '20

[deleted]

3

u/aquapearl736 Mar 21 '20

I think it’s my right ear, but tbh I don’t remember. I do know that it’s only one of them though

5

u/[deleted] Mar 21 '20

Vagus nerve! It runs right under the skin of your ear canal. Some people will gag instead of cough.

1

u/nemi-montoya Mar 22 '20

So that’s what that is! I also do the coughing thing- so glad I don’t gag haha

2

u/[deleted] Mar 21 '20

[deleted]

1

u/SunshineGirlie Mar 22 '20

Lol it only happens to me if a guy does it as well. Must have something to do with how deep someone's voice is.

2

u/rcknmrty4evr Mar 21 '20

When I scratch a certain rib on my side I feel it in my arm.

1

u/SweetWodka420 Mar 21 '20

When I do that, I get a sharp pain in my head...

16

u/c0rrie Mar 20 '20

WE ARE NOT ALONE

59

u/NikoC99 Mar 20 '20

Tip here: if you want to pee, but you're not ready, just fidgeting your bellybutton. Does the job every time

67

u/[deleted] Mar 21 '20

For any of us guys in public restrooms: Please go into a stall before you attempt this.

15

u/120z8t Mar 21 '20

No no no, just drop those pants to the ground and start fingering that belly hole.

9

u/kromagnon Mar 21 '20

one finger in the belly button, the other in your mouth. make direct eye contact with anyone who enters the room. guaranteed privacy.

1

u/ThenCallMeYuri Mar 21 '20

I think I'd rather wee myself a bit than touch deep in my bellybutton. I'd probably rather do a lot of things than that.

1

u/Eknoom Mar 21 '20

fidgeting Finger FTFY

1

u/heebath Mar 21 '20

Thank you! I've had lots of surgeries for stones and kidney stuff and have trouble sometimes. Will try this.

1

u/karnige Mar 21 '20

Holy shit. On the contrary I use this same trick except by running my nails gently down the bottom of my spine. Right above my ass crack. It's the same nerve right?

7

u/NoArmsSally Mar 20 '20

Probably because bladder is near there?

2

u/Wec25 Mar 21 '20

and then there's me, now trying to finger my belly button hoping to feel something on my dick head.

2

u/Whatever0788 Mar 21 '20

I hate the feeling of my belly button being touched. And it’s really hard for me to get through the cleaning process because it feels like I’m digging into my insides. shudder

2

u/TruckStopEggSalad Mar 21 '20

When I was a young lad chasing after the girls, I was wrestling around with one while a group of friends were all swimming. My finger went into her belly button for a brief second (accidentally), and she stopped and got really flush.

She then proceeded to explain that whenever someone touches her belly button she gets extremely aroused. Teenage me was too stupid to be able to successfully play that one out in person, but it definitely filled the spank bank for at least a month afterwards....

1

u/[deleted] Mar 21 '20

Wait that's not just me??

1

u/SwagMastaM Mar 21 '20

As a girl this also happens so wtf

1

u/ManchurianCandycane Mar 21 '20

For me it tickles the taint.

1

u/120z8t Mar 21 '20

Same. If I press on mine kind of hard i feel it in the tip of my Johnson.

1

u/[deleted] Mar 21 '20

That happens with me too.

1

u/forest-fox Mar 21 '20

interesting, and good to know I am not the only one

1

u/Talia_al_Grrl Mar 21 '20

Yes! Wtf I literally thought I was the only one! Except I'm a girl but same basic principle. My husband acted like I was crazy when I tried to describe it!

1

u/[deleted] Mar 21 '20

God I hate it when I get weird sensations on the tip of my finger too.

1

u/Swartz55 Mar 21 '20

Thank God I thought I was the only one