18 Health Tricks to Teach Your Body
By: Kate Dailey
Eating 10 hot dogs in 6 minutes and belching the national anthem may impress
your friends, but neither of those feats will do much for your body—at least
not much good.
Instead, why not train yourself to do something that may actually pay
off?
We're not talking bench presses and interval training (though those do
help). You can teach your body to cure itself from everyday health
ailments—side stitches, first-date jitters, even hands that have fallen
asleep.
Just study this list, and the next time your friends challenge you to an ice
cream eating contest, chow down: You know how to thaw a brain freeze—and 17
other tricks that'll make everyone think you're the next David Blaine. But
without all that "hold your breath for 17 minutes" mess.
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Cure a Tickling Throat
When you were 9, playing your armpit was a cool trick. Now, as an adult, you
can still appreciate a good body-based feat, especially if it serves as a
health remedy. Take that tickle in your throat: It's not worth gagging over.
Here's a better way to scratch your itch: Scratch your ear. "When the nerves
in the ear are stimulated, it creates a reflex in the throat that can cause
a muscle spasm," says Scott Schaffer, M.D., president of an ear, nose, and
throat specialty center in Gibbsboro, New Jersey. "This spasm relieves the
tickle."
Experience Supersonic Hearing
If you're stuck chatting up a mumbler at a cocktail party, lean in with your
right ear. It's better than your left at following the rapid rhythms of
speech, according to researchers at the UCLA David Geffen School of
Medicine. If, on the other hand, you're trying to identify that song playing
softly in the elevator, turn your left ear toward the sound. The left ear is
better at picking up music tones.
Overcome Your Most Primal Urge
Need to pee? No bathroom nearby? Fantasize about Jessica Simpson. Thinking
about sex preoccupies your brain, so you won't feel as much discomfort, says
Larry Lipshultz, M.D., chief of male reproductive medicine at the Baylor
College of Medicine. For best results, try Simpson's "These Boots Are Made
for Walking" video.
Feel No Pain
German researchers have discovered that coughing during an injection can
lessen the pain of the needle stick. According to Taras Usichenko, author of
a study on the phenomenon, the trick causes a sudden, temporary rise in
pressure in the chest and spinal canal, inhibiting the pain-conducting
structures of the spinal cord.
Clear Your Stuffed Nose
Forget Sudafed. Here's an easier, quicker, and cheaper remedy to relieve
sinus pressure: Alternate thrusting your tongue against the roof of your
mouth, then pressing between your eyebrows with one finger. This causes the
vomer bone, which runs through the nasal passages to the mouth, to rock back
and forth, says Lisa DeStefano, D.O., an assistant professor at the Michigan
State University college of osteopathic medicine. The motion loosens
congestion; after 20 seconds, you'll feel your sinuses start to drain.
Fight Fire Without Water
Worried those wings will repeat on you tonight? Try this preventive remedy:
"Sleep on your left side," says Anthony A. Starpoli, M.D., a New York City
gastroenterologist and assistant professor of medicine at New York Medical
College. Studies have shown that patients who sleep on their left sides are
less likely to suffer from acid reflux. The esophagus and stomach connect at
an angle. When you sleep on your right, the stomach is higher than the
esophagus, allowing food and stomach acid to slide up your throat. When
you're on your left, the stomach is lower than the esophagus, so gravity's
in your favor.
Cure Your Toothache
Just rub ice on the back of your hand, on the V-shaped webbed area between
your thumb and index finger. A Canadian study found that this technique
reduces toothache pain by as much as 50 percent compared with using no ice.
The nerve pathways at the base of that V stimulate an area of the brain that
blocks pain signals from the face and hands.
Make Burns Disappear
When you accidentally singe your finger on the stove, clean the skin and
apply light pressure with the finger pads of your unmarred hand. Ice will
relieve your pain more quickly, Dr. DeStefano says, but since the natual
method brings the burned skin back to a normal temperature, the skin is less
likely to blister.
Stop the World from Spinning
One too many drinks left you dizzy? Ah, luckily there's a remedy. Put your
hand on something stable. The part of your ear responsible for balance—the cupula—floats in a fluid of the same density
as blood. "As alcohol dilutes blood in the cupula, the cupula becomes less
dense and rises," says Dr. Schaffer. This confuses your brain. The tactile
input from a stable object gives the brain a second opinion, and you feel
more in balance. Because the nerves in the hand are so sensitive, this works
better than the conventional foot-on-the-floor wisdom.
Unstitch Your Side
If you're like most people, when you run, you exhale as your right foot hits
the ground. This puts downward pressure on your liver (which lives on your
right side), which then tugs at the diaphragm and creates a side stitch,
according to
The Doctors Book of Home Remedies for Men. The fix: Exhale as your left foot strikes the ground.
Stanch Blood with One Finger
Pinching your nose and leaning back is a great way to stop a nosebleed—if you don't mind choking on your own O positive. A more civil approach:
Put some cotton on your upper gums—just behind that small dent below your nose—and press against it, hard. "Most bleeds come from the front of the septum,
the cartilage wall that divides the nose," says Peter Desmarais, M.D., an
ear, nose, and throat specialist at Entabeni Hospital, in Durban, South
Africa. "Pressing here helps stop them."
Make Your Heart Stand Still
Trying to quell first-date jitters? Blow on your thumb. The vagus nerve,
which governs heart rate, can be controlled through breathing, says Ben Abo,
an emergency medical-services specialist at the University of Pittsburgh.
It'll get your heart rate back to normal.
Thaw Your Brain
Too much Chipwich too fast will freeze the brains of lesser men. As for you,
press your tongue flat against the roof of your mouth, covering as much as
you can. "Since the nerves in the roof of your mouth get extremely cold,
your body thinks your brain is freezing, too," says Abo. "In compensating,
it overheats, causing an ice-cream headache." The more pressure you apply to
the roof of your mouth, the faster your headache will subside.
Prevent Near-Sightedness
Poor distance vision is rarely caused by genetics, says Anne Barber, O.D.,
an optometrist in Tacoma, Washington. "It's usually caused by near-point
stress." In other words, staring at your computer screen for too long. So
flex your way to 20/20 vision. Every few hours during the day, close your
eyes, tense your body, take a deep breath, and, after a few seconds, release
your breath and muscles at the same time. Tightening and releasing muscles
such as the biceps and glutes can trick involuntary muscles—like the eyes—into relaxing as well.
Wake the Dead
If your hand falls asleep while you're driving or sitting in an odd
position, rock your head from side to side. It'll painlessly banish your
pins and needles in less than a minute, says Dr. DeStefano. A tingly hand or
arm is often the result of compression in the bundle of nerves in your neck;
loosening your neck muscles releases the pressure. Compressed nerves lower
in the body govern the feet, so don't let your sleeping dogs lie. Stand up
and walk around.
Impress Your Friends
Next time you're at a party, try this trick: Have a person hold one arm
straight out to the side, palm down, and instruct him to maintain this
position. Then place two fingers on his wrist and push down. He'll resist.
Now have him put one foot on a surface that's a half inch higher (a few
magazines) and repeat. This time his arm will cave like the French. By
misaligning his hips, you've offset his spine, says Rachel Cosgrove,
C.S.C.S., co-owner of Results Fitness, in Santa Clarita, California. Your
brain senses that the spine is vulnerable, so it shuts down the body's
ability to resist.
Breathe Underwater
If you're dying to retrieve that quarter from the bottom of the pool, take
several short breaths first—essentially, hyperventilate. When you're underwater, it's not a lack of
oxygen that makes you desperate for a breath; it's the buildup of carbon
dioxide, which makes your blood acidic, which signals your brain that
somethin' ain't right. "When you hyperventilate, the influx of oxygen lowers
blood acidity," says Jonathan Armbruster, Ph.D., an associate professor of
biology at Auburn University. "This tricks your brain into thinking it has
more oxygen." It'll buy you up to 10 seconds.
Read Minds
Your own! "If you're giving a speech the next day, review it before falling
asleep," says Candi Heimgartner, an instructor of biological sciences at the
University of Idaho. Since most memory consolidation happens during sleep,
anything you read right before bed is more likely to be encoded as long-term
memory.