Doctor Reacts to Shocking TikTok Anatomy

In this video, Mikhail Varshavski, DO — who goes by “Doctor Mike” on social media — reacts to some of the most shocking anatomy videos posted to the popular social media platform TikTok.

Following is a partial transcript (note that errors are possible):

Varshavski: Human bodies are all beautifully different, and we’re going to prove it by watching some TikToks. Peewoop!

Female 1: What’s a really weird thing that your body does, that you’re not sure anybody else’s body does?

Female 2: I was just wondering, if anybody else can make their tongue disappear?

Varshavski: Yeah. Look, now you see it. Now you don’t. Whoa! Did it like fold back into her throat? She must have an extended soft palate or something that she is able to just like put her tongue all the way back in her mouth.

[Man flexing arm muscles]

Oh no. It’s not doctors’ signatures. That’s potentially varicose veins. That’s actually a problem. Veins, the way that they work in comparison to arteries, is they are thin walled and they have little valves in them that prevent backflow. Sometimes when veins swell from an overabundance of blood, or perhaps from gravity, pooling, what have you, they could sometimes get damaged and they don’t return back to their normal shape, so they look like that.

[Finger bends backward at knuckle]

That’s so cool. I want to be able to do that. I can’t do it. Whenever people have unique control of their bodies, I get so jealous because I cannot do anything remotely special, except touch my nose with my tongue. I can’t anymore. I used to be able to.

[Woman dancing]

Interesting, lipedema is frequently confused with lymphedema. Lymphedema is swelling from the lymphatic system. Lipedema is basically an increase amount or accumulation of fat tissue in a specific area, and it’s not like that you could lose that fat tissue.

Female 3: I have two uvulas. It’s actually just excess skin at the back of my throat, and it’s quite uncomfortable and has been for the last 12 years.

Varshavski: I see it. It’s almost like a skin tag, but in the back of the throat. It could easily pass for a second uvula.

Female 4: Did you know that spine circles, can not only lubricate your spine, but they can strengthen muscle and tendon coordination?

Varshavski: An accurate TikTok. Absolutely, do spine circles. Like I do cat-cow, but this is like cat-cow on steroids. Do this. This is amazing. If you’re otherwise healthy and have no other medical injuries, kind of got to be careful on this.

Female 5: I have three nostrils. I told you.

Varshavski: See, I wonder if this individual has just a septum there, like an extra septum — meaning a separation — and then it continues and merges into one nasal passage way. Or are there truly three nasal passageways? Because I have never seen that before. I wonder what an ENT would say about this.

Can I do this? I’m ready.

[Man moving eyes around]

Oh wait. What? No, that’s not real. I can’t imagine that to be real. There is a medical condition where you have multiple pupils, but not like a full iris and all.

Female 6: I was born with a condition called ectrodactyly….

Varshavski: Oh, it’s almost like a … they call this sometimes a cleft hand, almost like a cleft palate.

Female 6: I don’t have my middle fingers, which means, yes, I cannot flip someone off. Thank you.

Varshavski: Oh, she’s doing the Friends’ joke.

Female 6: This finger for some reason just, and then this one too.

Varshavski: Well, that makes sense. She has an extra joint there, so she has extra mobility there, so that’s interesting.

Female 6: That’s it. I love my hands, and I think they are really cool.

Varshavski: Love your differences.

[Worm in eye]

Ooh, worm. When I was on “The Doctors Show,” we talked about this, how you can get loiasis, which is a type of parasitic worm that can enter your eye. There are treatments for this. I can’t believe they got it on camera this clearly though. It’s nice.

Male 1: Let’s test my spice limit again.

Varshavski: Oh, I have zero spice limit, so I already know I’m going to lose.

Male 1: Takis.

Varshavski: I don’t know what a Takis is. What’s a Takis? Holland, cayenne pepper. Ooh.

Male 1: Serrano.

Varshavski: Remember the spiciness from peppers comes from capsaicin. It’s the compound that actually triggers that burning sensation in your mouth. No actual damage is happening, but it’s tricking your body into thinking it. There is damage happening, so your body is creating all of these reactions, like the sensation, the sweating, the swelling. I could never do this. This is like extra, and then going one step past extra.

No. No. Ah, don’t do it. You know what, all I’m thinking about is like, it’s burning on its way in but it’s also going to burn on its way out.

Male 2: Fun fact. Did you know that removing caffeine from your diet can help you lose …

Varshavski: Please be accurate. Please be accurate.

Male 2: … over 60% of your will to live.

Varshavski: Not accurate, but funny. Quickly removing caffeine from your diet can cause withdrawal headaches.

[Filling out reasons to become a doctor]

To make a … to make a difference. Nope. She got me. Footdocdana always coming in clutch.

[Man twisting underarm hair]

He braids his armpit hair? I can do that.

Varshavski: Ow!

Male 3: That was pretty weird.

Varshavski: No, it’s not. I can pull out my armpit hair too, but it’s not going to feel good.

[Boy throwing basketball]

Male 4: Think fast.

Varshavski: Oh. Not fast enough.

Female 7: Listen. That child is going to be a pro athlete.

Varshavski: He just gets hit in the face. That’s me as a kid all the time. I had the same little hoop just in my like tiny one bedroom apartment in Brooklyn, where I used to dunk all the time. Because it had a springy, like a rim, I would dunk it and it would shoot right back into my face.

Male 5: I invented this peeing aid. When we need to pee, we activate this, which will help us to hold it. We don’t need to use our hands at all. It also helps us to shake a little. Very easy to use.

Varshavski: Oh man. That’s going to hurt. I don’t want it. I don’t want it.

Mike Varshavski, DO, is a board-certified family physician and social media influencer with more than 8.7 million subscribers.