Hack Your Body

Some little-known practical tips about your body

In a very entertaining article "18 tricks to teach your body" from Men's Health magazine you can learn a few astonishing, and practical things about your body. The ones I particularly liked:

1. If your throat tickles, scratch your ear.
"When the nerves in the ear are stimulated, it creates a reflex in the throat that can cause a muscle spasm... This spasm relieves the tickle."

2. Your right ear is better than your left at following the rapid rhythms of speech (good tip for spies!) The left ear is better at picking up music tones.

4. Feel no pain!
Coughing during an injection can lessen the pain of the needle stick.

5. Clear your stuffed nose!
Forget Sudafed. An easier way is by alternately thrusting your tongue against the roof of your mouth, then pressing between your eyebrows with one finger.

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... reduces toothache pain by as much as 50 percent

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... It'll get your heart rate back to normal.

15. 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.