In the newer theme of this blog, covering technology, programming, law and anything that is relevant to me, today I am suffering from my first bout of hiccups in years. These are not just polite, these are violent, body heaving, mind distracting monster hiccups.
As I write this I have not found a cure for the hiccups that has worked for me, but have been conducting research on how to stop them, and thought I would share with my valued readers the research I have done and the methods I have tried.
Please note, I am not a doctor, please try the below techniques at your own
If you ever find yourself in this position you will know how I am feeling. If you appreciate this article please share it or subscribe to my feed.
1. Hold Your Breath
This used to work for me, better than any other options. Simply breathe in, and hold your breath for as long as possible. (not too long so you pass out) Hopefully your hiccups should be cured and you do not need to go any further.
2. 30-Second Hiccup Cure
This is an extension of the idea of holding your breath; the author of this posts suggests that you can donate to them on their site if you find the advice useful:
From: http://cognitial.com/hiccups.asp
Step 1: Start by inhaling through your mouth until your lungs feel full (when it feels like you cannot inhale any more). For overall best results, try to do this as quickly as you can. DO NOT LET ANY AIR OUT.
Step 2: Swallow. You are not really swallowing anything but it seems that without this act, it doesn’t work. DO NOT LET ANY AIR OUT.
Step 3: Now inhale some more. You don’t need to inhale a lot, but do get some more air in. It will start to get difficult to do this as you go, but keep trying. You obviously can’t suck in as much air as you did initially, but just a little will do (think of it as taking a “sip” of air). DO NOT LET ANY AIR OUT.
Step 4: Swallow again. This too will start to get difficult as you go. DO NOT LET ANY AIR OUT.
Step 5: Repeat steps 3 and 4 until you cannot swallow again. While it seems you can almost always suck in just a little more air, it is the swallowing that gets to be impossible. When you feel like you cannot swallow again, swallow again anyway. It will be hard to do, your face will probably turn red, and you may make squeaking sounds. But you CAN swallow one last time. By this time, your lungs should also be quite full and it should be difficult to get much more air in as well. While you should try not to let any air out, if you have really repeated steps 3 and 4 as many times as you can, you probably will end up letting a little out before you can take that last swallow. If you find that air keeps escaping out of your nose even early in the process, try squeezing it shut with your fingers.
Step 6: Exhale.
3. 12 second Cure for Hiccups
I am not convinced by the speedy claims of this article, but if you want to look silly while you are hiccupping then this may be the approach for you.
From: http://www.opiniorama.com/opiniorama/2007/02/15_second_cure_.html
This is a summary:
Do a little stretching while holding your breath. Place your hands above a door frame and lean forward. You should feel an arch to your back and your abdomen stretching. Continue to push your hands upwards and let the weight of your body send you through the door frame. Maintain this stretched position for 30-60 seconds while holding a big breath. See the picture for an example:
4. Sugar For Hiccups
From: http://www.peoplespharmacy.com/archives/home_remedies/sugar_for_hiccups.asp
This is a summary:
Apparently, a teaspoon of sugar stops hiccups. This is supposed to be immediate and can last for hours. Sugar packets are easy to carry, too. The author of this article found the remedy published in the New England Journal of Medicine (Dec. 23, 1971) and have been recommending it ever since
Other articles recommend the sugar suggesting that there is a chemical reaction that can help and to place the sugar on the back of the tongue, where "sour" is tasted and it should fix your woes.
5. Burp the Hiccups Away
From: http://www.opiniorama.com/opiniorama/2007/02/15_second_cure_.html#comment-28691357 (comment by superman)
This is a summary:
Learn how to voluntarily burp.:
*HICCUP* (inner monologue goes…)
"Oh you want to go into hiccup mode?"
*SWALLOW AIR* … *burp*
"Done! Take that!"
Just make sure you have a bucket close buy in case you have an accident.
6. "Hughes/Green Hiccups Cure"© 1997
From: http://www.mastersweep.com/curehiccups.htm
(1) Pour a TALL glass of water.
(2) Hold your breath… ***
(3) IMPORTANT…PINCH YOUR NOSE CLOSED.
(4) Slowly, take 10 - 20 swallows of the water…while holding your breath with your nose pinched closed.
(5) When you can’t stand it any more….you’ll know by that overwhelming drowning sensation — after a gasp, take a deep breath and relax.
This cures the hiccups 99 percent of the time - guaranteed! It’s a proven medical remedy! (A second treatment could be necessary for stubborn cases.)
Note it mentions that it cures hiccups 99 percent of the time guaranteed, the only problem with this is that if I do it twice then I should be cured, sadly I think I want my money back
7. Do Nothing
Hiccups can be partly psychological. If you distract yourself and stop thinking about them, or continue on your way then maybe they will just cure themselves and stop annoying you!
8. Take Some Vinegar
From: http://www.tellmehowto.net/howto/cure_hiccups_542
Suggests that instead of taking a teaspoon of sugar that a spoon full of vinegar will wash your troubles away. I know which one I would be trying first
9. The Say Now Method
From: http://www.wikihow.com/How-to-Cure-Hiccups
- If you see someone with hiccups, offer something of value if they can win this contest (for a competitive person, a single dollar may be all that is necessary).
- Tell them that they will win the contest if they can say the word "now" just before the next hiccup. Hiccuping during the word "now" does not win, nor does saying the word "now" repetitively.
10. Play "hear no evil
From: http://health.howstuffworks.com/10019-13-techniques-to-cure-the-hiccups.htm
Some doctors recommend that you put your fingers in your ears to stop hiccups. The branches of the vagus nerve also reach into the auditory system, and by stimulating the nerve endings there, the vagus nerve goes into action. But be gentle, and don’t stick your fingers too far into your ears.
11. Tickle it away
Also From: http://health.howstuffworks.com/10019-13-techniques-to-cure-the-hiccups.htm
Tickling the soft palate of the roof of your mouth with a cotton swab may do the trick. Or, if you’re the type who enjoys getting tickled, and you don’t mind doing it wherever the evil hiccups decide to strike; have someone find your ticklish spots.
12. Catch the Hiccup
This is a test of coordination and physical approach to try to stop the hiccups once they have taken control
From: http://www.members.tripod.com/Benthall/hiccup.html
Steps:
1. Close your eyes, relax and breathe smoothly.
2. Get ready to clap your hands at the moment BEFORE the hiccup occurs.
3. Try to sense in your throat where the muscle is that will contract.
(This will help you feel it start to contract so that you can clap).
4. You will be late the first number of times but don’t give up! Try to beat the muscle. Keep smooth breathing. Concentrate!
5. On about the fourth one, you will notice that the hiccup will take longer, but it wants you to quit the method. Don’t give up until the hiccups are at least 30 seconds apart (to make sure they are gone)
13. Mentally Think Away the Hiccups
From: http://www.frogstar.com/hiccup/index2.asp
This is a summary
This cure is based upon the claim that every hiccup cure is the same hiccup cure. That You can try whatever silly cure you’ve been told works, and then you sit there eagerly waiting to see if it worked.
Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn’t. However, if you REALLY concentrate on seeing if the cure worked, it will. The cure isn’t the act of drinking water upside-down, or holding your breath, or being scared. The REAL cure is the wait AFTER the trick cure that is the real cure.
Anyone can mentally think away their hiccups. You may not believe it till you try it. The above site’s guestbook is filled with thousands of people who were amazed after they are trying it.
All you need to do is really concentrate on waiting for your next hiccup, without distractions.
14. Watch Your Breathing
From: http://www.instructables.com/id/EBDHGUO8KGEP4HD71L/?ALLSTEPS
Step 1, Relax
It’s semi important that when doing this, you don’t move around too much.
Step 2, Long Breaths
First, breathe in slowly through your mouth. Do this until you’re pretty much full of air. Hold this breath for 2 seconds, and then release the air slowly through your mouth.
Do this again, except hold the air for 5 seconds.
Step 3, Fast Breaths;
Breathe in slowly, through your mouth, until you fill up about 1/4 - 1/3 of your lungs. Hold this for 2 seconds. Breathe out slowly.
Repeat this as well, but hold for 5 seconds. After this, breathe regularly for about a minute:
15. Blow Your Thumb
From: http://health.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=120417 which goes through many different ways of solving your hiccups; one quasi scientific method is to:
Blow really, really hard on the end of your thumb until the hiccups stop.
This is supposed to trick the brain into thinking the lungs aren’t working right, and re-starting your breathing and hence destroying the hiccup menace.
16. Breathe Into A Bag
Image from http://tutorials.com
No, this is not an old version of a breath test, but take a bag (a clean paper one is preferable) and then just breathe into the bag. This is supposed to control your breathing, and it may "re-boot" your respiratory system. Some claim this always works and other claim that it may just be a complete waste of time. Other theories why this works is that it restores a correct balance of CO2 in your blood stream. Some sites warn that this should only be done for a period of 1 minute for safety reasons.
17. Bet You Can’t
From: http://oldmdgirl.blogspot.com/2007/08/hiccups-cure.html
This site recants a story saying, they were with friends and one had the hiccups, another said
"I’ll pay you $5 if you can give me another hiccup. I’ll bet you can’t do it. Come on give me another hiccup. What’s the problem? Can’t do it? Why not?" And she kept heckling my friend for good 2-3 minutes after that."
This may be a variant of concentrating above, but with the pressure of performing it may be such a psychological distraction that stops the victim from hiccupping again.
18. Massage your uvula
From: http://www.tutorials.com/04/0450/04503.asp
Firstly, Locate your uvula. For those less medically inclined, It’s that tear-shaped flap that hangs from the back of your throat.
Touch it gently with the handle of a CLEAN spoon. Breath steadily but not too deeply–this will prevent you from gagging, and after you have been through this medical procedure your hiccups may have disappeared, or you may have inhaled the spoon.
19. Change Your Posture
Many different articles suggest that you need to either stand on your head, crouch over, stretch, lie on your back with your head hyper extended. Many people seem to have great success with one or a mixture of these approaches. Some claim that this will either make it harder for your body to spasm (hiccup) or changes the balance of CO2 in the blood. Either way, if you can perform these acrobatics then be sure to give it a Go
20. Seek Medical Help
If none of the above approaches work and your hiccupping is going for longer than 48 hours most people think then it is time to see a doctor. Doctors have approaches they can take to intervene and stop your hiccupping from procedures, to psychological exercise to drugs.
Conclusion:
I hope that you have found this article interesting and useful. Thanks for the sites that I have been able to reference, I have noted that by the end of writing this my hiccups have been cured, maybe blogging is the answer. If you have any other cures please let me know in the comments below and if they are supported by others I will add them to my list.
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