Crossing Your Fingers Could Reduce Pain (No Lie)

The study, from researchers at University College London (UCL), suggests that the physical arrangement of the painful parts of our body, relative to the parts that are not in pain, could affect what we feel, too. In other words, the person's overall body position seems to influence how pain signals are sent to the brain.
UCL pain specialist Giandomenico Iannetti told the Guardian that, essentially, this is because our brains are good at playing tricks on us. “Perceptions are constructed in the brain with the objective of seeing the world around us,” he said. “This is why sometimes perceptions do not accurately reflect sensory input. Pain is a perception often only loosely related to the actual noxious sensory input.”
 In time, this line of research could lead to the development of better, simple, non-invasive management strategies that don't rely on medication—fingers crossed.