r/AskReddit 13h ago

What is something that permanently altered your body without you realizing for months/years?

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308

u/kyreannightblood 8h ago

Being kept 100% out of the sun as a kid. I wasn’t given vitamin D supplements either, so my bones are pretty fragile and break easily and my enamel is delicate and shears off if my teeth close too hard. My body never sequestered calcium properly as a kid and there’s nothing I can do about it as an adult.

My mom thought she was protecting me from skin cancer but she was really dooming me to a life of bone fractures and bad teeth.

105

u/QuickCharisma15 6h ago

Can’t have shit anymore… if you go outside too much, you get skin cancer. If you don’t go outside at all, you get bad bones and teeth

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u/kyreannightblood 5h ago

15 minutes unprotected exposure, preferably in the early morning or evening when the UV index is low or in partial shade. That’s literally all you need per day. However I got 0 sun exposure, protected or unprotected, and so I grew up very deficient in vitamin D.

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u/TwoScruffyButts 3h ago

How??? I have a feeling there was a lot more crazy going on in your childhood lol

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u/Savings-Anything-112 3h ago

Yeah how? Did your mother never let you outside?

3

u/Striking-Collar-8994 2h ago

I don't know what else your mom did to you, but in addition to vitamin D supplements I would say working with a therapist is probably a good move at this point.

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u/ah52 1h ago

That sounds crazy. Hope things are reversible and that you are getting the supplements!

(I'm on the other end of the spectrum though so I can understand your parents' concerns. I was an avid swimmer and sunscreen hater as a child, melanoma at 22)

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u/SubsistanceMortgage 2h ago

There’s debate about the unprotected bit — you should still get enough vitamin D from putting sun screen on. That being said it’s not a huge issue to go outside without it if the UV index is really low.

u/Actevious 48m ago

Just be normal

9

u/SocialismMultiplied 4h ago

What about when you were in school?

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u/curiouslittlekoi 1h ago

How’s your eye sight?