Tweaking Your Body

"Tweaking" is a term often used when we try to improve or fine-tune electronic instruments and computer systems so they can function even better. I recently came across some tweaking tips not for something electronic, but for the most complex system of them all --- the human body.

It's pretty interesting and most of you might even find it amusing. The three below are my favorites:

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."

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.

The full list is here. Be sure to read them all, and apply as the need arises.