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 Sudafed. 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