079 - Ice for Panic Attacks?

Episode Summary Welcome to The Dr. Brian’s Health Show, a weekly podcast where Dr. Brian Boxer Wachler uses his decades of experience in medicine and ability as an expert researcher to provide a light-hearted approach and share health trends popular on TikTok. In this episode, Dr. Brian provides his analysis on today’s topic: Can Ice Be Used as a Distraction for Pain Attacks & Anxiety? Can touching something cold, like an ice tray, disrupt our body's panic response? What is acupressure and can it help distract from pain? What can trigger anxiety or panic attacks and what can we do to stop them? Find out in today’s episode! If you’re enjoying the show, we’d love it if you leave the show a Rating & Review at RateThisPodcast.com/NoCap Key Takeaways 01:04 – Dr. Brian takes a moment to talk about the reception of his book INFLUENCED; learn more at https://www.influencedsocialmedia.com 03:18 – Dr. Brian introduces today’s topic: Can Ice Be Used as a Distraction for Pain Attacks & Other Ailments? 07:28 – An interesting study on children using distraction with and without ice 08:24 – Women in labor and acupressure 11:37 – Other ways to help to stop panic attacks 14:09 – Triggers that can set off anxiety and panic attacks 14:53 – Dr. Brian teases next week’s topic, reminds listeners about his recent released book, and encourages them to Subscribe, Rate and Review this podcast on RateThisPodcast.com/NoCap Tweetable Quotes “I’m a Beverly Hills doctor. I have a very successful practice. I have millions of followers. And I have a flaw. I was easily addicted to social media, and I mean it in the true sense of addiction where it was really interfering with my relationships with my family.” (01:56) (Dr. Brian) “Just like that, you can give somebody anything - anything at all - that’s basically distracting them from what they’re experiencing, and that has been shown to be very effective at reducing anxiety and panic attacks.” (05:02) (Dr. Brian) “A lot of times when people are anxious about a situation, if you think about it, it’s just in somebody’s head. It’s how they are perceiving, or reacting to, a situation.” (06:37) (Dr. Brian) “Acupressure, they concluded, was more effective for patients that are in the hospital - inpatients - or people getting ready for surgery compared to just finger massage.” (10:09) (Dr. Brian) “The second thing is just having insight to recognize that you are potentially having a panic attack. Then you can use some of these things we’re talking about. And I don’t think it’s even beyond trying to distract yourself about something, because we know distraction is really effective. So, if you can focus on something else that you have to deal with, that can be a form of self-distraction. That’s also worth a consideration.” (12:26) (Dr. Brian) “Number one, top of the list, is exercise. Regular exercise is so critical for stress and anxiety.” (14:25) (Dr. Brian) Resources Mentioned Children’s Study Using Distraction with and without Ice – https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29687673/ Women’a Labor Study Using Acupressue with and without Ice – https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01443615.2020.1747412? Meta-Analysis of Studies Using Acupressure for Anxiety & Pain – https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/10.1089/jicm.2020.0256 NCHS Links Mentioned NCHS Footer Powered by FullCast