# What is happening in this gif? (creepy body phenomenon) **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 1, 2014, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-happening-in-this-gif-creepy-body-phenomenon/703199 "2014-11-01T04:25:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MichaelEmouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/michaelemouse/32/101_2.png) [@MichaelEmouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelEmouse)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2014, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-happening-in-this-gif-creepy-body-phenomenon/703199/1 "2014-11-01T04:25:01Z")
I’d like to know what is causing this subcutaneous movement. It’s safe for work, non-sexual, non-violent but it may make you uncomfortable. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2014, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-happening-in-this-gif-creepy-body-phenomenon/703199/2 "2014-11-01T04:42:53Z")
What part of the body is that, even? (_Is_ it actually part of the body?) ---
**Author:** ![Ruby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/13edae/32.png) [@Ruby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruby)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2014, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-happening-in-this-gif-creepy-body-phenomenon/703199/3 "2014-11-01T04:45:47Z")
It looks like it’s supposed to be an abdomen to me. I don’t think it’s real. ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2014, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-happening-in-this-gif-creepy-body-phenomenon/703199/4 "2014-11-01T07:07:51Z")
Not enough context to tell. ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2014, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-happening-in-this-gif-creepy-body-phenomenon/703199/5 "2014-11-01T07:22:53Z")
This is the stomach of a guy who’s apparently missing his abdominal muscles and what you’re watching is his intestines digesting a bowl of cereal - Corn Pops, actually! Want some? More detailed videos: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/3FngAWlM4y8/hqdefault.jpg "Peristalsis... after a bowl of corn pops") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FngAWlM4y8) [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/IGA-qkQsASY/hqdefault.jpg "Peristalsis... not for those with a weak stomach...lol") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGA-qkQsASY) ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2014, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-happening-in-this-gif-creepy-body-phenomenon/703199/6 "2014-11-01T07:43:48Z")
In case you were wondering, from his comments in the second video: > [@guy who posted his you-tubes on YouTube](#): > > This is from a motorcycle accident. I was exposed like this for about a year before I underwent an extensive ventral hernia repair surgery. My surgeon had to do a component separation, separating my 3 layers of oblique muscles all the way to my back. All I have now is a 1/2" incisional scar thanks to Boston Medical Center. ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2014, 9:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-happening-in-this-gif-creepy-body-phenomenon/703199/7 "2014-11-01T09:32:27Z")
And with context comes the answer. Man that’s freaky. I so have to use that when I teach the topic of digestion in a few weeks. ---
**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2014, 9:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-happening-in-this-gif-creepy-body-phenomenon/703199/8 "2014-11-01T09:58:53Z")
> [@voltaire](#): > > [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGA-qkQsASY](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGA-qkQsASY) “Peristalsis… not for those with a weak stomach” is actually a pretty funny joke. I’d have skipped the “LOL”, I’d have appreciated the delivery to be a bit more sly. Hanging a lampshade on it like that kinda ruins it. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2014, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-happening-in-this-gif-creepy-body-phenomenon/703199/9 "2014-11-01T11:22:51Z")
Good gravy. ---
**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2014, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-happening-in-this-gif-creepy-body-phenomenon/703199/10 "2014-11-01T14:30:58Z")
> [@cmyk](#): > > Good gravy. Huh? How can you tell just from the apparent motion through his intestines that it is good gravy? ---
**Author:** ![JKilez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e5b9ba/32.png) [@JKilez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKilez)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2014, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-happening-in-this-gif-creepy-body-phenomenon/703199/11 "2014-11-01T15:05:55Z")
Wow. I feel for that guy. Yet, I also kind of wish they could have closed him up with a piece of plexiglass instead of a layer of skin, so that you could really see what was going on in there. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2014, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-happening-in-this-gif-creepy-body-phenomenon/703199/12 "2014-11-01T16:02:21Z")
Visible peristaltic waves are almost pathognomonic of intestinal obstruction. This Google performed, this fact learned, this quote copied, this quote cited, this time spent, [del]this England[/del] because of this thread. Thank you to OP. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2014, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-happening-in-this-gif-creepy-body-phenomenon/703199/13 "2014-11-01T17:50:09Z")
Slightly disturbing yet painless anecdote… In my twenties I had a hernia, an abnormal opening in my abdominal wall. It allowed a loop of my intestine to drop down into my scrotum. The first I knew that anything was wrong was when I noticed I had a ball bigger than my fist. And then it would shrink to normal size and the other side would swell. The swelling was apparently material moving through the intestine. It was painless but I could sometimes feel pressure as things moved around. I went in for an operation, they put a mesh across the opening, and it hasn’t happened since. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2014, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-happening-in-this-gif-creepy-body-phenomenon/703199/14 "2014-11-01T20:52:36Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > Slightly disturbing yet painless anecdote… In my twenties I had a hernia, an abnormal opening in my abdominal wall. It allowed a loop of my intestine to drop down into my scrotum. The first I knew that anything was wrong was when I noticed I had a ball bigger than my fist. And then it would shrink to normal size and the other side would swell. The swelling was apparently material moving through the intestine. It was painless but I could sometimes feel pressure as things moved around. > > I went in for an operation, they put a mesh across the opening, and it hasn’t happened since. So you’re not GardenofGandalph. [suitable for work] ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2014, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-happening-in-this-gif-creepy-body-phenomenon/703199/15 "2014-11-01T21:15:37Z")
> [@bienville](#): > > Huh? How can you tell just from the apparent motion through his intestines that it is good gravy? If it were bad gravy, his intestines would be moving in the opposite direction. ---
**Author:** ![jharvey963](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/54ee81/32.png) [@jharvey963](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jharvey963)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2014, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-happening-in-this-gif-creepy-body-phenomenon/703199/16 "2014-11-03T21:10:28Z")
> [@bienville](#): > > Huh? How can you tell just from the apparent motion through his intestines that it is good gravy? Are we getting whooshed? “good gravy”, “holy cow” “will you look at that”, “oh my word”, “jesus H. Christ”, etc.??? J. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2014, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-happening-in-this-gif-creepy-body-phenomenon/703199/17 "2014-11-03T21:47:31Z")
> [@jharvey963](#): > > Are we getting whooshed? “good gravy”, “holy cow” “will you look at that”, “oh my word”, “jesus H. Christ”, etc.??? Not “we”, just you. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Bumbershoot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bumbershoot/32/3428_2.png) [@Bumbershoot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bumbershoot)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2014, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-happening-in-this-gif-creepy-body-phenomenon/703199/18 "2014-11-03T22:42:31Z")
I’ll say one thing- the guy has guts.