Interesting tricks that our body can do

1. If your throat tickles, scratch your ear.

When you were 9, playing your armpit was a cool trick. Now, as an adult, you can
still appreciate a good body-based feat, but you're more discriminating. Take
that tickle in your throat; it's not worth gagging over. Here's a better way to
scratch your itch: "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."

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. Clear your stuffed nose!

Forget Sinutab. An easier, quicker, and cheaper way to relieve sinus pressure is
by alternately 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.

6. Fight fire without water!

Worried those wings will repeat on you tonight? "Sleep on your left side," says
Anthony A. Star-poli, 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.

7. Cure your toothache without opening your mouth!

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.

8. 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 natural method brings the
burned skin back to a normal temperature, the skin is less likely to blister.

9. Stop the world from spinning!

One too many drinks left you dizzy? 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.

10. 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.

11. Stanch blood with a single 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."

12. 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.

13. 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.

14. 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.

15. 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.

16. 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 fold like a house of cards. 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.

17. 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.

18. 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.