Home Top Stories 21 Human Body World Records That Are Hard to Handle

21 Human Body World Records That Are Hard to Handle

MP Staff March 7, 2023

Did you know that there are 8 billion people in the world? So standing out from everyone else can be a bit difficult. Have you ever wanted to go against the grain and be your own person? Maybe you don’t want to fit in with the crowd. Well, these people have something so unique from the rest that all you can do is admire them. After this article, you will say, “Woah! How cool is that?”. From long nails, bizarre talents, weird body modifications, and things that might make you scream, you will not be disappointed.

We gathered some of the most extraordinary people you’ll ever see that will shock you, astound you, and leave you speechless. They are so insanely bizarre that the Guinness World Records have recognized them for being one-of-a-kind. Get ready to see what the human body can do and the weirdly awesome humans behind it. Don’t worry; you won’t see anything bloody or nothing graphic, but we can assure you it will blow your mind.

21. Big Foot doesn’t have anything on Robert Wadlow, who has the largest feet ever!

Robert Wadlow, also known as “Alton Giant” or the “Giant of Illinois,” was born in 1918 in Alton, Illinois, and by the age of 8, he was taller than his father at 5 feet 11 inches tall. To this day, he holds the record as the tallest man ever to exist, with a height of 8 feet 11.1 inches tall. So what made him grow so big? Even if his father was a tall man (not as tall as him, of course), the main reason for his height was hyperplasia of his pituitary gland. It causes abnormal production of the human growth hormone, which he never received any treatment to help it stop.

So how big were his feet, you may ask? Well, with a body of that size, his feet were something to be amazed by. They were 18.5 inches long, making him a size 37AA! They were so big that shopping for a new pair was next to impossible, so his shoes were custom made by a company named INTERCO which agreed to make them for free if he did a promotional tour for them. If he had to buy his true-to-his-size shoes, they would cost him as much as $100, which is the equivalent of $1,500 in today’s currency!

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20. Just how long were the longest fingernails in the world?

This lady has a nail-biting story! Her name is Lee Redmond from Salt Lake, Utah had the longest fingernails in both hands in the world. Believe it or not, her nails were over 28 feet in total, and her story is a fascinating one. She started growing them in early 1979, thinking it was interesting to try. Furthermore, she planned to cut them off around 2006. However, Lee Redmond got so used to them that she kept them going way after her deadline. It blew everyone’s minds to learn that her crazy long nails were not a problem for her to live an everyday life.

Lee Redmond could cook, ride bikes, and even take care of her bed-ridden husband as if she didn’t have 28 feet long nails in both hands. In 2008, she was recognized by Guinness as the person with the longest recorded fingernails ever known to man, which she still holds today. Sadly, in 2009 Lee Redmond had a car accident which meant having her nails destroyed. Today, Redmond says that even if she can do even more things without having long nails, she’s in the works of re-growing them, although not as long as she used to.

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19. Age is just a number to the world’s oldest bodybuilder.

Sometimes it’s hard to get up in the morning to do exercise, and as you get older, the struggle gets worse. However, for Jim Arrington, going to the gym to train is something that he loves at the ripe age of 88. And believe us, he’s in the best shape of his life. This great grandfather and retired salesman have been competing professionally in bodybuilding events for the last 70 years. The great part of this is that he’s good at it! He has competed in over 60 competitions and won 16.

Jim’s impressive muscular body wasn’t always like that. When he was young, people nicknamed him “Skinny Bones” because of how slim he was. As a result, he committed to training to be a bodybuilder and become one of the best. To maintain his physique, he chances his regime constantly depending on the goal he has for his next competition. However, most of the time, Jim Arrington does full-body workouts for over an hour twice a week. He also has a mostly high-protein diet to keep himself in good shape even when he’s not training for his next event. Talk about commitment!

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18. Having the longest hair on the planet is a goal for some girls!

For some girls, it’s their dream to have hair as long as Rapunzel and feel like a real Disney Princess. However, for Xie Quiping from China, that is exactly how she feels like every single hair. Xie’s hair measured 18 feet 5.54 inches, holding the longest head of hair since 2004. At the age of 13 in 1973, Xie decided she was never to cut her hair to see how long it could get, and what do you know. It can grow long. She is very used to having her long locks, but it is still a long process and a lot of patience to maintain it this long.

For an average woman, washing her hair might take around 20 minutes. For Xie Quiping, it takes about 3 to 4 hours, including drying it. Since it’s so long, she tends to braid it to keep it from tangling and getting into things. For a long time, she thought of cutting it because of how long it took her to maintain it. However, because of all the attention, she gets all the time, she’s more than happy to keep it long now. She hasn’t gotten her hair measured by the Guinness book of records in a while, but we know that her hair is still as long as ever.

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17. Just how tiny is the smallest waist in the world?

Having the perfect body, or one where curves stood out, is something many models and celebrities aspire to have. Not everyone has the same beauty standards, but we can tell you for sure that Cathie Jung can quickly turn heads around with her 15-inch tiny waist. She and her husband are fascinated with corsets and Victorian-era clothes and how they can transform the human shape to have the perfect hourglass form. So in the 1980s, she began tight-lacing training to lower her waist from 26 inches to 15.

Believe it or not, she had never had any type of surgery to get her tiny waist; it’s all with years of tight-lacing training every single day. In fact, she has worn a corset for 23 hours a day since 1983, and she only removes it when she goes into the shower. This mother of three doesn’t have a special diet or any type of exercise to achieve this, just the consistency of wearing the corset every day. Cathie never did this to set a record. She only did this because “it was about dressing appropriately for the age.”

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16. He holds the world record for the widest mouth.

Trust us on this one! Your mouth will fall when you see this fantastic human. Francisco Domingo Joaquin, also known as “Chiquinho,” is a man from Angola with incredible talent. If you read the title, you know already, he has the most enormous mouth in the world. When his mouth is unstretched, it measures 6.69 very impressive inches. However, when stretched, his mouth is so huge that it can fit an 11-ounce soda can sideways. There is also an explanation of Francisco’s amazing talent.

He can fit a whole soda pop can sideways in his mouth because Chiquinho suffers from a connective tissue disorder. A talent search team spends two years trying to find Chiquinho after they saw his talent in a Youtube video. They finally found him at a marketplace in Angola and were invited by Guinness World records to go to a show in Rome, Italy. He entered a big mouth competition where he got his mouth measured and confirmed the world record.

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15. Have you seen the longest-living conjoined twins?

Seeing conjoined twins out and about is extremely rare in this day and age, mostly because medicine is pretty advanced. Doctors tend to separate them very quickly to help them have independent lives and have a longer lifespan. Nevertheless, this is not the case for Ronnie and Donnie Galyon from Dayton, Ohio. They were never separated and made it to be 68 years old and primarily independent. You might think that living glue to each other could have been quite tricky, but it was the contrary. They loved each other’s company and lived very ordinary lives, even if it was out of the ordinary.

Born on October 28, 1951, the twins share a few organs, including a lower digestive tract, groin, and rectum. The twins spent two years in a hospital with doctors after they were born. Why? Because the doctors were scratching their heads on how they would separate them without killing one or both twins. In the end, the doctors determined it was too risky and left them as it is. They toured with their father as a sideshow attraction to make some money and made appearances on TV for The Jerry Springer Show and the Discovery Channel. Sadly, they passed away in 2020 with heart failure.

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14. They hold the world record for most tattooed seniors.

I bet you wished your grandparents were as cool as them! Meet Charlotte Guttenberg and Charles Helmke from Florida. They have a few Guinness World Records under their belts. They met while Charlotte was at a tattoo parlor getting some work, and he helped her out by holding her hand. They’ve been together ever since, and they have become a lovely sight to behold. Charlotte started her tattoo journey when she was in her 50s after her husband, who didn’t fancy her getting tattoos, passed away. As soon as she got her first tattoo, she knew that she wanted to cover her whole body.

Now, Charlotte has 98.75% of her body covered with Japanese-inspired tattoos. Because of it, she has the record for being the most tattooed female senior citizen, the most tattooed woman ever, the most tattooed woman living, and the most feathers tattooed on the body, with 216. Her partner Charles has a few records himself, with 97.5% of his body covered in tattoos. He is also the most tattooed male senior, plus the most skulls tattooed on the body with 376. They stop to compliment and judge. Nevertheless, the couple sure loves the attention of having so much art on their bodies.

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13. Have you ever tried to run on all fours? This guy has a world record for being the fastest!

Sure, as humans don’t run as fast as we want to, but that’s what mother nature gave us. However, this human has found a very interesting way of running that seems not human but is fantastic to watch. Meet Kenichi Ito from Setagaya, Japan. One day he decided he would study how monkeys run on all fours and go as fast as he can. He started training over a decade ago and researched monkeys’ movements by going to zoos and watching videos online.

So in 2013, he put all his training and studying to the test in the field. Kenichi Ito ran 100m track in 16.87 seconds! However, that doesn’t stop there. In 2015 he decided to try it again, and shockingly, he broke his record to 15.71 seconds which still stands to this day. Even if this achievement is awe-inspiring and very cool to watch, it’s still not as fast as running on two legs. In comparison, Usain Bolt is the 100m world record holder, covering 100m in just 9.58 seconds. We still have to admire the dedication and training that Kenichi Ito has to run just like a monkey.

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12. Do you want to be a record-breaker for the stretchiest skin? Probably not.

This man is almost the human equivalent of that childhood toy Stretch Armstrong! Garry Turner is one interesting man with a rare condition called Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome. It makes the collagen that determines the skin elasticity inactive, which results in a few things, including loosening of the skin and hypermobility of the joints. For Garry, this means that his skin is extremely stretchy, and it’s perfect for breaking records and making his skin the stretchiest one on the planet. How flexible, may you ask? Well, the skin of his stomach can stretch to a distended length of 15.8 cm or 6.25 inches.

He’s been the record holder since 2009, but he knew he was special since he can remember. When he was born in 1971, the midwife noticed that this baby had very loose skin. That is not normal for a newborn, so doctors knew that something wasn’t right. Garry says that stretching his skin doesn’t hurt at all. However, his condition did cause a lot of joint pains, which can be an issue sometimes. Nevertheless, he enjoys the attention that his rare condition gives him, so he performs from time to time to show the world that it is OK to be different.

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11. Being the hairiest man alive will cover your legacy.

Larry Gomez is a man from California. His body is covered in hair, 98% of it, to be exact. He is officially the world’s hairiest man alive. “Being one of the hairiest guys in the world makes me special, and I’m famous, too,” Gomez, aka “Wolf Man,” told Caters News. “Not many people in the world have this condition, I believe six to eight people, and I am the hairiest one.” A rare genetic disorder called hypertrichosis causes excess hair. Less than 100 people have this condition worldwide. Furthermore, this rare disorder also affects some of Gomez’s family members. Although, women who have the condition have slightly finer hair.

He has to get a haircut about once a month but explains that the hair grows back just as thick. “Some people ask if it’s itchy,” Gomez jokes. “No, this is my normal life.” People bullied him for his look throughout his childhood. Luckily, Larry Gomez has since embraced the condition, especially after his marriage. “I have to live with this because I have it. I don’t know other ways,” Gomez explained. Living with this condition isn’t easy, but Gomez has learned that you just have to embrace it.

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10. Check out the most pierced person on Earth.

When a Guinness World Record official examined Elaine Davidson in May 2000, she had 462 piercings. One hundred ninety-two of them being in her face alone. By August 9, 2001, they re-examined her. At that time, she had 720 piercings. The Guardian reported that she had 3,950 body piercings when performing at the Edinburgh Festival in 2005. As of 2003, Elaine Davidson has had more piercings in her genitalia than in any other part of her body. Davidson has 500 in all, internally and externally. Experts estimate the total weight of her internal piercings to be about 3 kilograms.

In February 2009, her piercings totaled a whopping 6,005. Elaine is a former nurse, born in Berinsfield, Brazil, but she now resides in Edinburgh, Scotland. Davidson married Douglas Watson on June 8, 2011. However, the couple had later divorced in 2012. At the time of their wedding, news reports had claimed that her total number of piercings was 6,925. With that many piercings all over her body, just imagine how much extra weight she is carrying around that is voluntary.

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9. No, the longest mustache in the world didn’t come from no shave November!

Ram Singh Chauhan of India is the proud owner of the world’s longest mustache. The massive strip of hair that resides on his upper lip has been in the works since 1982, making it around 30 years old. Chauhan says it takes him up to two hours of maintenance each day when caring for his mustache. It was officially named the world’s biggest ‘stache by the Guinness Book of World Records in 2011. He most certainly wears it with pride.

“For me, the mustache is everything,” says Chauhan. “For me, it is priceless.” Because his mustache is so long, he has to help keep it from flapping in the wind when outside. So he wraps his mustaches around his neck and head. Then, he secures it under his turban for safekeeping. Now that is what you call dedication! So, while no shave November activities are fully supported, if you are looking to break any sort of records with it, it seems doubtful.

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8. Being the heaviest twins in the world is double trouble.

On December 7, 1946, Billy Leon and Benny Loyd McCrary were born prematurely at 5 lbs each. Later in life, Guinness World Records confirmed the McCrary’s as the world’s heaviest twins in November 1978. Benny weighed 328 kg (723 lbs), and Billy tipped the scales at 337 kg (743 lbs). Each had a waist measurement of 213 centimeters (84 inches). Benny gave an interview with Inside Wrestling magazine in 1998. He admitted that he and his brother had started to pile on the pounds around the age of four. Why? It was after a nasty bout of German Measles had damaged their pituitary glands. These are the hormone-producing glands that control a human’s rate of growth.

Their weight had ballooned to 90.7 kg (200 lbs) by the age of 10, and in high school, they had reached about 272 kg (600 lbs) each. Billy passed away in 1979 and Benny in 2001. Both are buried side by side at Crab Creek Baptist Church Cemetery near Hendersonville. A 13-foot wide headstone, reputedly the world’s most giant granite gravestone, stands at the head of their graves. It is complete with depictions of Honda motorcycles, proclaiming them as “world record holders” and “the world’s largest twins.”

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7. Having the largest kidney is quite painful.

Ahmed Saeed Mohammed Omar, a 56-year-old male, was presented with an official certificate for having the world’s largest kidney. It was removed by a Dubai surgeon nine months ago, named Dr. Fariborz Bagheri, who is the leader of the Urology Department in Dubai Hospital. They had removed a 4.25 kg (9lb 5.91 oz) non-functional kidney from Ahmed. He was suffering from Polycystic Kidney Disease. Polycystic Kidney Disease, or PKD, is a genetic disorder that causes abnormal cysts to develop and grow in the kidneys.

Ahmed’s extremely enlarged kidneys caused his belly to swell and compress all his other internal organs until he had difficulties breathing. The kidney measured a whopping 34 centimeters by 17 centimeters in diameter. To put that into perspective, that means it was bigger than a rugby ball. The record-breaking kidney was almost twice the weight of the previous record of 2.14 kg (4.72lbs), which was removed in 2011 at the Institute of Urology in Dhule, India.

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6. The longest eyelashes in the world might be too long for your comfort.

Born in Shanghai, You Jianxia has a profusion of luxuriously long eyelashes, which the lengthiest of then grows on her upper left lid and reaches a record-breaking 12.40 centimeters (4.88 inches). In June 2016, experts measured them in Changzhou, Jiangsu Province, China. Since then, the length of her luscious lashes has earned her the new Guinness World Records in the 2018 book for the longest eyelash. Her lash length beat the previous longest eyelash, which grew on the left upper lid of Canada’s Gillian Criminisi.

Gillian Criminisi’s eyelashes measured 8.07 cm (3.17 in) long. Back in 2013, on an eighteen-month-long nature retreat, she first noticed her eyelashes growing. She puts the unprecedented growth down to living with one with nature. The spiritual record-breaker says that having long eyelashes is beautiful because it also shows that she is healthy. Could you imagine having eyelashes that reach down to your chin? That’s a lot of mascara!

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5. A teenager has the world record for longest female legs!

Maci Currin, a 17-year-old American, has a brand new Guinness World Record for the 2021 book. She has the world’s longest legs for a female and the longest legs for a teenager. Her legs stretch almost a meter and a half in length, with her left leg measuring 135.267 centimeters (53.255 inches), while her right leg measures 134.3 centimeters (52.874 inches). Maci’s family, from Cedar Park, Texas, is relatively tall. Nevertheless, none of her other siblings or even her parents quite match her height.

Maci stands at 6 feet, 10 inches tall. Her legs make up 60% of her total height. Even though it can be hard to fit through most doorways, it is difficult to get in and out of cars. Furthermore, it especially hard to find clothes that fit just right. However, her long legs also give her lots of advantages. That is especially true when it comes to playing on her high school’s volleyball team. Maci first noticed she had longer than average legs back in 2018. Someone asked her if she wanted her own custom pair of leggings since she could not find any that fit her. Then, Maci researched if she could hold the official Guinness World Records titles for the world’s longest legs on a female. Now she is a part of history.

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4. Imagine living as the shortest woman in the world.

Jyoti Kisanji Amge, who turned 27 on December 16, 2020, is the Guinness World Record holder for the world’s shortest living woman. Born in Maharashtra’s Nagpur, Amge is two feet tall (61.95 cm), confirming her as the world’s shortest female alive. In 2009, she hit the spotlight globally when she appeared on Fuji TV’s Bikkuri Chojin 100 Special no 2. Amge was measured by Dr. Manoj Pahukar, an orthopedic consultant, at the Wockhardt Superspeciality Hospital in Nagpur, her hometown. Also, GWR adjudicator Rob Malloy was on hand to oversee proceedings, as per the record book.

According to her mother, Ranjana, her daughter was of average stature under five years of age. “It subsequently emerged that she has a form of dwarfism, known as achondroplasia, and will never grow beyond a certain height,” Guinness World Records states. The genetic condition is considered a disorder of bone growth, which prevents the changing of cartilage to bone, particularly in the legs and arms. The dwarfism also includes “limited range of motion at the elbows, large head size, small fingers, and average intelligence.”

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3. Would it be weird to have the most fingers and toes on the planet?

A 63-year-old woman named Kumari Nayak from Odisha’s Ganjam district has made it to the Guinness Book of World Records. For what? She has the most fingers and toes in the world. Nayak, who suffers from a condition known as polydactylism, has 12 fingers and 19 toes in total. Because of her situation, she has sadly spent her entire life in isolation and hiding at home. She claims that she has no money to afford medical treatment, although she has gained fame due to her extra digits. However, what hurts her the most isn’t physical pain. It is an emotional pain brought on by people who avoid her and sometimes brand her as a ‘witch.’

After living in isolation for years, government officials are finally reaching out to try and help her. She is eligible for a regular pension and has also been offered a new home to live in. Officials have stated that they will help raise awareness about her condition with her neighbors and ensure that she enjoys a pleasant and less lonely life. Before she set the record, the previous record-holder for having the most digits in the world was Devendra Suthar. In 2014 he made it to the record books with his 14 fingers and 14 toes.

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CR Fashion Book Brad Elterman, CR Men’s Book Issue 3

2. Having the world record for highest top fade is something to brag about.

Benny Harlem is easy to spot in a crowded place. It is not just for his fashion sense but for his sensational record-breaking hair. Benny made his way into the Guinness World Records in 2018 as the titleholder for Tallest High Top Fade. His hairstyle stands 20.5 inches (52 cm) tall, and to perfect his perfect updo, the model sometimes has to take up to two hours to shape and comb his hair. The dad, from Los Angeles, California, has passed on his stunning hair genes to his daughter Jaxyn. Benny Harlem wants to inspire people of all cultures to embrace their true identity by appreciating their own natural hair.

Benny Harlen first started getting attention for his hair after posting a magnificent Instagram photo with his daughter in 2016, showcasing both of their luxurious manes. The images, of course, then went viral, earning Benning a whopping 381,000 followers. Benny, his wife, and daughter now have become known for their inspiring “hair goals.” All members of the Harlem family exhibit a passion for natural hair care. Benny and the rest of his family use homemade shampoos prepared with unprocessed and pure ingredients like berries and coconuts. In turn, they are also taking care of their overall health so that their hair is well nourished.

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1. The record for tallest married couple is relationship goals.

Sun Mingming, and his wife Xu Yan, of China, was certified as the world’s tallest couple by Guinness World Records in 2016, with their combined height of nearly 13 feet and 11 inches. At 7 feet 9 inches tall, Sun easily towers over everyone else who is in the room. Xu, who stands just shy of 6 feet 2 inches tall, stands above most people in the room. You may be curious about Yao Ming. Just so you know, the former NBA center for the Houston Rockets is one of China’s most famous tall people. However, he is 7 feet 6 inches tall.

The couple had married back in 2013 in Beijing, and both are athletes, not surprisingly enough. Sun, who is 33 years old, plays basketball, while his wife, 29 years old, is a handball player. The fortunate couple offered their recipe for a happy and trusting marriage, telling the records keeping group, “No one is perfect. Therefore you need to support one another daily.” I guess you won’t be finding any step ladders or footstools in their home.

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