Best Health Tricks using our Mind
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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