60-second pain hacks

When you're in pain, it's like nothing else matters. Here are eight little tricks to cope. Also, a boneheaded mistake on my part, and 7 other things worth your time.

Do you remember that Carly Simon song from the 1970s? “Haven't Got Time for the Pain”?

I'm pretty sure it was about heartache. But when you're in physical pain, it can be almost impossible to get past it.

That’s why I was glad to come across a series of YouTube videos a while back by Amy Rushlow, formerly of Prevention magazine, explaining how to make several common discomforts disappear.

Some of them are pretty cool, and they seem to work. Here are her eight quick fixes—how many of them are new to you? (Note: I’ve embedded the YouTube videos as we go along):

1. Cure a stress headache with a pencil.

In 2021? This one is relevant, to put it lightly. According to Rushlow, stress headaches are often caused by unintentional flexing of the muscles between your jaw and your ear.

So the trick is to consciously relax those muscles. Here's how: Grip a pen or pencil lengthwise with your mouth, but don't bite down.

Balancing requires you to relax your jaw muscle, which should ease the headache after…