We've all gotten those emails extolling the 7,893 "astounding uses for vinegar" or the myriad off-label ways WD-40 or Duck/Duct Tape can save you from _____ (insert Macgyver-like situation here), but recently ABC News and the Mayo Clinic released a list of 10 life hacks that are surprisingly and refreshingly useful.

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From deodorizing your stanky feet to taking the edge off road rage, dust off your inner Girl Scout and learn how to disarm some of life's little annoyances with some super simple solutions.

Here are my five favorites:

• Forget the Excedrin, nibble a #2: Have a throbbing headache? "Put a pencil between your teeth but don't bite," Fred Sheftell, MD, director of the New England Center for Headache in Stamford, CT says. Doing this helps to relax your jaw muscle, which can miraculously work to alleviate/eliminate your pain.

• Binaca blast is a thing of the past: Harangued by halitosis? Skip the mouthwashes and gum and grab a yogurt. Research reveals that the live-bacteria can repress the odor-causing germs in your mouth. "Good bugs in yogurt may crowd out the "bad" stink-causing bacteria or create an unhealthy environment for it," says John C. Moon, a dentist in Half Moon Bay, Calif.

• Use your now excess Listerine to eradicate blisters: Janet Maccaro, a holistic nutritionist from Scottsdale, Ariz. says that applying a Listerine-soaked cotton ball to a blister three times a day will dry it out and make it stop hurting in no time.

• Crisco your nails: Forget dropping wads of cash on exotic cuticle creams and brittle nail cures, dermatologist Dee Anna Glaser recommends vegetable oil. Slather it on to your hands, cover them in vinyl gloves (or baggies) and keep dry, cracked nails and cuticles at bay -- for just pennies a week.

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• Give your middle finger a rest: Traffic brings out the worst in us all and can cause dangerous situations and altercations. A NASA-funded study might be able to help us avoid the tension and anxiety caused by the common commute. Turns out that chomping on peppermint or cinnamon gum or mints reduced feelings of anxiety by 20 and 25 percent respectively. And both decreased frustration and made the commute seem 30 percent shorter. Not a big gum fan? Aromatic oils had the same effect. Pick up a diffuser the next time you're at the car wash and learn to enjoy the drive to work. (Or to at least despise it a little less.)


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