I have a confession.

When I am stressed, overwhelmed or trying to switch my brain off after a long day, I do not meditate. I do not do breathwork. I am rarely mindful. Instead, I watch YouTube videos of draining boils and earwax extraction.

Deeply satisfying. Genuinely calming. Extremely unsettling to anyone who happens to walk into the room.

I am not alone, although my husband tells me I soon will be if I continue watching acne “removal” videos in bed, particularly at full volume. Gross-out health content is everywhere, and it is wildly popular. Videos of extractions, parasites, clogged pores and bodily “build-ups” rack up millions of views. Articles about strange symptoms, mystery lumps and alarming bodily discoveries consistently top health reading lists.

This is not because people like me are weird. Or at least, not only because we are weird.

It is because bodies are strange, unpredictable and often poorly explained. When something feels embarrassing, frightening or just plain confusing, curiosity kicks in hard.

As a health editor, I commission articles from experts about the parts of the body we are usually taught not to talk about. Time and again, the most-read stories are the ones that make people recoil........

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