Hiccups... What are they for?

[birudagmawi 0]

I'm always baffled every time I had them. I really don't know why hiccups occur in the human body, or what process in the body create the effect. My other question is, what is a real effective way of stopping hiccups, I've tried holding my breath and drinking water but nothing helps.

[YungOdo 0]

Hiccups - What Causes the Hiccups?

Hiccups are usually a reaction to your stomach and digestive system getting wonky. This happens when you eat too much, drink bubbly drinks like soda, or swallow too much air. Some people get the hiccups for no reason at all. Other things that cause hiccups include skull fracture, epilepsy, tuberculosis and believe it or not, constipation (not being able to poop).

 

Hiccups - Common Cures for the Hiccups

Unlike sneezing, farting, burping, etc., hiccups don't serve any purpose. They're just annoying and pointless! So how do you get rid of hiccups? Which remedy works best? Home remedies are usually based on the idea that you have to disrupt the hiccup cycle. Remedies include holding your breath, breathing into a bag, pulling your tongue, sudden fright, or - get this - eating sugar. Just drinking water, if done soon enough, might wash down a chunk of food in the throat that's pressing against a nerve.

 

If these fail, a doctor could prescribe the drug chlorpromazine, tickle the pharynx with a hollow flexible tube through the nose, or use hypnosis or acupuncture. Not doing the trick? You could use extreme measures. In 1833, it was recommended that you blister or burn the skin above the phrenic nerve on the neck and back. Ouch! There are endless sites with the "perfect cure" for hiccups, so the next time you "hic" head over to this site for a cure!

Hiccups can get real annoying sometimes every time i have hiccups i drink alot of water and hold my breath a couple times it seems to work for me..

[csp4.0 1]

I commonly get the hiccups, and have developed a effective way of stopping themwhen you hold your breath about 3-4 seconds later you should feel a hiccup being suppressed if hiccups continue then continue holding your beathPS when holding your breath hold as much air as your lungs will hold or it will not suppress the hiccup enough for it to stopIt Works!

[birudagmawi 0]

sudden fright

That is the only remedy that worked so far in my life. Every time I get hiccups my mother scares the sense out of me, I am so scared that usually I would forget I even had any hiccups!

[Shaelon 0]

Honestly, I haven't had any hiccups for over a year! i don't know what causes them, as I see no reason for why they exist either.

[salamangkero 0]

I usually have hiccups when I drink soda, which is why I'd so much love to see fizz-less sodas come out in the market. When I get hiccups, I try my best to be extremely aware of them. I breathe much more slowly and, when I sense the onslaught of a fresh hiccup, I try my best to suppress it without holding my breath.Blah! It's kinda hard to describe what I do but suffice to say that holding my breath doesn't work for me. Neither does eating a spoonful of sugar, drinking water from the far side of the glass or fright. The last one actually aggravates the condition 'coz I'd find myself choking some times

[serverph 0]

one trick i came to learn to stop a bad case of hiccups is by plugging your ears with your fingers for about twenty seconds. the theory that was espoused is that by sticking your fingers in your ears temporarily, it short-circuits the nerve that control hiccups, which results in the interruption of the hiccup cycle. not recommended when you're having a bad bout of hiccups when your boss is talking though.

[bishoujo 0]

This method to stop hiccups works like a charm for me. Not sure if it will help you, but it's probably worth a shot.1. Prepare a glass of water out (can be normal temperature or warm)2. Hold your breath for 10 seconds, no less. If you hiccup halfway, you'll have to start all over again.3. Gulp down the glass of water after the 10 seconds and the hiccups should be gone. Normally, only once is sufficient. If you are still hiccuping, try the procedure again. And if it still doesn't work, you might have to find another method for yourself.

[Unknown_99 0]

Hiccuping is a strange phenomenon that mostly happens when your having indigestion, so drinking a lot of water seems the best choice.

[abminara 0]

I had to make a paper about it in my Health class last semester, and I actually remember some stuff from it (which is surprising). here's a summary:Causes: To "bump" heavy pieces of food that are stuck in esophagus by "shaking" them. It can also be caused by overeating, or overdrinking (doesn't really matter, tha cause is the same - enlongation of your stomack)Mechanics: an enlongated stomack activates a nerve that recieves an electrical impulse from the brain and your diafragm thus shrinks rapidly and creates a "bump" that you feel. With that bump the volume inside you changes rapidly also, thus you exhale and inhale during the hiccup - and make the weird soundReasons: To protect the food from being kept in esophagus for too long by blocking access to all the rest of the food and thus make you starve to death in the endHow to prevent: Don't eat a lot during one meal, eat a little, but more frequently. Same with water, or any other liquid (Consider MASS instead of the volume - mass is the thing that pulls the stomack down)How to stop: Well... a bad idea would be to become anaeroxic and just throw out. A better way to do that is to start breathing very slowly, or use a plastic bag to inhale and exhale rapidly. Usually that helps in several minutes, but sometimes there are those weird cases - like a girl that was hiccuping for five weeks in a row without stopping - then she was prescribed special pills, etcetera. Usually it just goes away on its own once a portion of "heavy" food is digested - so - try to stimulate the production of your stomack acid (actually, HCl) by thinking about something very tasty that you enjoh eating, even if you are not hungry.Hope, that helps.

[dwolters 0]

I usually have hiccups when I drink soda, which is why I'd so much love to see fizz-less sodas come out in the market.

Here are directions on making fizzless soda (lol):

 

Option 1:

1. Buy a 2 liter of your favorite soda.

2. Shake the heck out of it.

3. Release the cap slowly so a little air escapes, little by little

4. Rinse and repeat until the soda doesn't foam up anymore

 

Option 2:

1. Put your soda in the fridge with the cap off for about a week.

 

fyi: Soda is made with carbonated water which is what makes it fizz. If it was made with regular water it wouldn't be soda. But if you like flat soda, by all means follow the directions above!

[midnightvamp 1]

A few times a week I get the hiccups and it can get pretty annoying... but i never really had them long enough to bother trying with the different methods to get rid of them. I usually tried to hold my breath to make them go away, but that didn't really seem to do much, then I would get distracted with something else, and stop trying to make them stop, but then they would go away on their own. I'm guessing because I wasn't thinking about it by then. Now I kind of want to get the hiccups though, as weird as that may sound, because I want to try the different methods to use to make them go away. Maybe I should go and drink a whole bunch and cross my fingers

[Echo_of_thunder 1]

after reading all the replies I see most have done the glass of water thing. True it works, even the soda. The one cure I always will do is 1 Tables spoon of white suger. works 100% of the time. why it works I have no idea.

[Bluebear 0]

A spoon of raspberry jam works great, and so does standing on one leg and holding your breath. (I do not think the one leg thing does matter, but it is kind of funny.) Hiccups are annoying, especially if I am in front of people that I do not know or something like that. I often get hiccups when I am laughing, so it turns into a combination. Weird.

[lennyg. 0]

the best way 2 get rid of that crap is a nice glass of water. theres no trick no special cure jus a nice glass of water. works like a charm in my country so you should try it