I don't want to alarm anyone, but there's a lot of dangerous stuff out there in the world.
Recently, Redditor u/DeezCrazyMan asked, "What are some really dangerous things most people don't realize are dangerous?" And people responded with everyday objects and activities that — it turns out — are super unsafe. Here are some of the most-upvoted comments:
1. "Kitten bites."
"If a kitten has unclean teeth and bites you to the point you draw blood there's a decent chance you can get a major infection and die. Their teeth [are] like little needles that inject bacteria right into your blood, and since their teeth [are] so thin you heal from the bite really fast. However your body never had a chance to clean the bacteria before the wound closed, so the rate of infection is crazy high."
—u/Kuronis
2. "Pushing and using force to push out a turd."
—u/WTF_Bridgett
"Unfortunately true. If you have to do a lot of straining, adjust your diet/talk to a doctor. Hard straining can cause everything from minor inconveniences like hemorrhoids, up to heart attacks and strokes. And let's face it, no one really wants to get found dead on the toilet."
4. "Both moving water and still water on the road can be very dangerous."
"You never know how deep it could be, and water can absolutely pick your whole car up and send you off in unintended directions quite suddenly, at the same speed you were traveling."
—u/araloss
5. "A lot of people end up with liver failure from overusing Tylenol (acetaminophen). Its not harmless, don't treat it like Skittles."
6. "Brazilian butt lifts. One of the most dangerous cosmetic surgeries."
7. "Not having enough sodium. There’s always warnings about too much salt, but apparently if you don’t have enough it can throw your body totally out of whack. Learned this after passing out and ending up in the ER."
—u/TheLastMongo
8. "Garage door springs."
—u/Skwerilleee
"My buddy installs garage doors professionally and he has a ton of horror stories. One that sticks out in my head is while tensioning the spring, one of the guys he was working with let the tension bar go and it flung it so hard that it went directly through the ceiling, second floor of the house and out of the roof. They never found where it landed."
—u/Guyzo2062
9. "A full-force punch to the face. People have died from a single punch."
—u/chinchenping
"Also just being pushed or falling on the ground. Human bodies can surprisingly be very weak and very strong. But not as strong as concrete."
—u/RedRye99
10. "Eating grapefruit while on medication. Grapefruit has so many bad interactions with medication, ranging from rendering the medication ineffective to toxicity."
11. "Putting your feet on the dashboard. It is extremely dangerous."
12. "Walking up or down the stairs. The most common accident at home is falling down the stairs."
—u/Elementus94
13. "Sitting all day."
—u/hquer
"I just tore my psoas because I sit all day and it was weak asf. I never knew you could tear a muscle from underuse. Two months of excruciating pain, three weeks of PT and I’m finally getting better. But yeah, stretching and yoga are top priority for me now."
—u/MarsaliRose
14. "Pregnancy can be deadly."
"Pregnancy can leave lifelong health complications.
Pregnancy can be expensive if you don’t have the right medical care (or are in the right country).
This is why it needs to be a choice. Because even when you plan things out, things can go south, quickly."
15. "I think people frequently drive WAY too close to the car in front of them."
"Growing up, I was always taught 'a car length's distance for every 10 mph.' And that simple rule of driving has saved my ass more times than I can count."
—u/MrDork
16. "Bleach."
"Mix with ammonia? Basically mustard gas (you die). Mix with alcohol? Chloroform (you can pass out and have organ failure). Mix with vinegar? Chlorine gas (you die).
Bonus: Mix hydrogen peroxide and vinegar? Peracetic acid (your lungs bleed).
To clarify: DO NOT CLEAN PEE WITH BLEACH. (Pee has ammonia.)"
—u/timotheySKI
17. "Falling down."
"I know there are jokes about the whole 'I've fallen and I can't get up!' But it's a real danger. As we get older, our bones lose density and strength, so falling can actually cause legitimate injuries.
And even if you're not old, unprotected falls are still dangerous. Street fights where people get knocked out and fall onto concrete is super dangerous. It doesn't take a lot of height to cause serious damage when falling and hitting your head."
—u/SMG329
18. "Noise canceling headphones while walking in cities."
"You need to be able to hear your surroundings to react properly, can easily walk into traffic or get swiped by a bike if you’re tuning out the world. It’s important to be aware of your surroundings in dense areas."
—u/OGpizza
19. "For new parents, sleeping with your newborn in the bed."
"A lot of SIDS cases are actually accidentally smothering from one of the parents rolling on the baby and not finding out until it's too late. Sadly, I've seen this happen more than a few times."
—u/MrWizard311
20. "Bathtub/shower combos. There are [more than] 80K injuries annually in the US from bathtub/shower accidents."
—u/Steamer61
21. "Running water in a river or steam. Doesn’t take much to swipe you off your feet!"
—u/Actuaryba
22. "Grain silos."
"There’s a lot of reasons, but most notably If you have to work on the interior of the grain silo, the grain acts like quicksand and you can sink into the grain and suffocate, being completely unable to get out on your own. Suffocation is the main cause of death in grain silo incidents. It can take less than 22 seconds to be completely enveloped in grain."
—u/googspoog
23. "Dogs."
"I fucking love dogs — but don't pet someone's dog without asking first. And absolutely don't put your face near theirs without knowing the dog is safe.
At the end of the day, it's a 50-pound predator with pointy teeth and strong jaws. If he feels threatened, he'll use them without a second thought."
Some comments may have edited for length or clarity.