Top 10 Most Disturbing Things to Grow on a Human Body

Top 10 Weirdest Things to Grow on a Human Body

Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the Top 10 weirdest things to grow on a human body.

For this list, we'll be focusing on highly unusual cases, so we won't be discussing something common like, say, eyelash mites ... although that IS very creepy to think about!

Have you heard of anything else growing on a body? Be sure to let us know in the comments below!

#10: Guava Sprout

Back in 2011, Next Animation Studio’s News Direct reported on a highly unusual case. A 36-year-old Taiwanese man had gone to the dentist after experiencing a severe toothache. When the dentist removed his wisdom tooth, he discovered a small guava sprout growing in the tooth. It’s believed that the man was eating guava when a seed lodged in his tooth and proceeded to grow over the following ten days. The dentist pulled in his co-workers to say “Take a look at this!” and the man reportedly fled in embarrassment.

#9: A Dandelion

Who doesn’t love flowers? Well, maybe not this poor kid … In 2013, the parents of a 16 month-old girl noticed that she was scratching her ear a lot. Believing it to be an ear infection, they took her to a specialist at Beijing’s Capital Institute of Pediatrics. They also reported witnessing a seed fall into the girl’s ear about four months prior, but they didn’t think too much about it. Well, they should have. Doctors discovered a dandelion three-quarters of an inch long filling the wall of the child’s ear canal. There was concern that the dandelion could cause internal bleeding, but a team of doctors managed to remove the plant without doing any damage.

#8: Potato Roots

Here’s one that shows the importance of sex ed. According to Medellin’s Colombia Reports, in 2014 medical staff discovered a potato growing inside a 22-year old woman. The woman said that her mother had recommended that she insert the potato inside herself as a means of contraception. Unsurprisingly, she soon suffered severe abdominal pain. The potato had reportedly germinated and began growing roots. Nurse Carolina Rojas claims to have seen roots emerging from the woman and thought it was a prank. It wasn’t. Since the news report resembles popular urban legends that have circulated online, we’re not 100% about this one. But if true it’s definitely disturbing.

#7: Eyeball Hair

Those who feel squeamish when it comes to eyeballs, turn back now! This case involves a 19-year-old Iranian man who had a benign tumor removed from his eyeball. The creepy thing? The tumor was growing hair. It’s called a limbal dermoid, and while exceedingly rare, these tumors are not unheard of. The usually harmless tumors consist of tissue found in other parts of the body, like cartilage, sweat glands, and yes, hair follicles. As the tumor grows (as it did in the Iranian man), it proceeds to sprout small hairs. Hence, eyeball hair! Imagine plucking that … oh God.

#6: Pea Plant

A 75-year-old retired teacher from Massachusetts named Ron Sveden continuously experienced bouts of severe coughing, and his wife eventually grew so concerned that she called 911. Upon taking x-rays, doctors discovered a collapsed lung and a small mass they believed to be cancer. However, cancer tests repeatedly showed up negative. It was then that doctors discovered that Sveden had a small pea plant, roughly a half inch in length, growing inside of his lung. It’s believed that Sveden had accidentally inhaled a pea into his lungs while eating, and the warm, moist conditions allowed it to sprout. The plant was safely removed and Sveden made a full recovery.

#5: A Toothy Tumor

This is just an amazing story on all counts. It involves archaeology, Ancient Roman ruins, and a tumor sprouting teeth! In 2013, archaeologists working in the Catalonia region of Spain uncovered a 1,600 year old skeleton of a Roman woman buried in a necropolis. They also discovered a growth called an ovarian teratoma in her pelvis. These benign tumors are made from germ cells and have been known to grow hair, bone, and teeth. In this case, archaeologists found four human teeth embedded within the woman’s tumor. While teratomas are typically harmless, researchers believe that it may have killed the woman owing to displaced organs, infection, or pregnancy complications.

#4: Botfly Larva

I can see clearly now the … worm is gone? Get ready for (hopefully) the most horrifying thing you’ll hear all day. In June of 2015, a Peruvian ophthalmologist named Carolina Marchena pulled a botfly larva from a 17-year-old boy’s eyeball. It’s believed that a mosquito with fly eggs stuck to its legs had bitten the boy in his sleep. He experienced swelling around his eye, and the terrifying discovery was made after an MRI scan. The doctor lured the larva out with basil leaves, and when the little guy poked its head out for a nibble, she grabbed it with tweezers and pulled it out. Amazingly, the boy made a full recovery with no permanent damage to his eye.

#3: Male Pregnancy

You know it’s bad when a doctor claims to be “horrified”. That’s exactly how Dr. Ajay Mehta of Mumbai’s Tata Memorial Hospital described this bizarre case. An Indian man named Sanju Bhagat experienced massive swelling in his stomach, and during surgery, Dr. Mehta discovered a deformed, undeveloped twin. It’s called fetus in fetu, and there are less than 90 cases in medical history. It happens when one fetus envelops its twin in the womb. The enveloped twin survives as a parasite, leeching its sibling’s blood supply through an umbilical cord-like conduit. This also happened in China, when doctors removed a parasitic twin from a two-year-old boy’s stomach.

#2: A Horn

At 87 years old, the last thing you want to deal with is a massive horn protruding from your forehead. Unfortunately, that’s exactly what happened to China’s Liang Xiuzhen. In her early 80s, Xiuzhen noticed what appeared to be a mole growing on her forehead. It reportedly itched and caused her some discomfort. And then it grew into the shape of a horn measuring five inches long, leading her village to dub Xiuzhen “Unicorn Woman.” The growth is a cutaneous horn, a type of horn-shaped skin tumor made of keratin, the primary structural material of things like horns, hooves, and fingernails.

#1: Tumor with a Brain

And you thought a tumor with teeth was disturbing. We return to teratomas for this entry concerning a 16-year-old Japanese girl. Doctors were performing a traditional appendectomy when they discovered a tumor on her ovaries. When they removed the tumor, technically called a mature cystic teratoma, they discovered that it was composed of bone, hair, and brain tissue. In fact, it even reportedly had what appeared to be a tiny brainstem and cerebellum. As noted by Angelique Riepsamen of the University of New South Wales, when it comes to ovarian teratomas, “Structures resembling the adult brain are rare.” We would certainly hope so!