Hiccups Causes, Treatment: 10 Effective Things to Do When They Occur

Most people are getting hiccups at times. They should last for only a few minutes. One can typically wait for them to vanish or treat them alone, even without seeing a doctor.

A report from The National Health Services specified that there is frequently no reason a person gets hiccups, although some individuals find certain things are triggering the hiccups.

Such triggers include strong emotions such as excitement, stress, drinking, and eating. In rare cases, hiccups that last beyond 48 hours can be because of a medical condition or a drug taken.

Nearly all people have had hiccups at one time or another. While hiccups typically heal on their own within a couple of minutes, they can be annoying and disrupt eating and talking.

Dealing with Hiccups

People have come up with a long list of tricks to avoid hiccups, from breathing into a paper bag to consuming a spoonful of sugar. The problem, though, is that effective remedies remain unknown.

According to a Healthline report, there isn't a lot of research that analyzes the effectiveness of remedies for hiccups. Nevertheless, hundreds of years of anecdotal evidence support many of them. Additionally, some of the most commonly applied remedies trigger the vatus or phrenic nerves connected to the diaphragm.

Hiccups occur when the diaphragm starts to spasm involuntarily. Essentially, the diaphragm is a large muscle helping with breathing in and out. When it spasms, one suddenly inhales, and the vocal cords snap shut, causing a distinctive sound.

In most circumstances, they come and go fast. More so, lifestyle factors that may cause hiccups may include eating too much or too fast, fondness for spicy foods, frequent consumption of carbonated drinks, stress or emotional excitement, alcohol consumption, or exposure to quick temperature changes.

Hiccup Treatment

As earlier mentioned, most hiccup cases go away on their own, even without medical treatment. A Mayo Clinic report specified that if an underlying medical condition causes the hiccups, treatment for that illness may cure hiccups.

For a hiccup that has lasted longer than two days, one can take drugs such as Baclofen, Metoclopramide, and Chlorpromazine. Some may also undergo surgical and other procedures. If less invasive treatments are not that effective, the doctor may recommend an anesthetic injection to block the phrenic nerves for the hiccups to stop.

Another effective option is the surgical implantation of a device run by a battery to deliver mild electrical stimulation to the vagus nerve. This procedure is most commonly used for epilepsy treatment, although it has helped control persistent hiccups.

10 Things to Do When Hiccups Occur

Eating certain foods or changing the way of drinking may help stimulate the vagus or phrenic nerves. Here are some of the things you can do when dealing with hiccups:

1. Slowly sip ice water as it may help stimulate your vagus nerve.

2. Drink from the opposite side of your glass. You can do this by tipping your glass up under your chin to drink from the other side.

3. Without stopping to breathe, slowly drink a glass of warm water.

4. Drink water on a paper towel or cloth. Do this by covering a glass of cold water with a paper towel or cloth, then sipping through it.

5. For a few minutes, suck on an ice cube, then slowly swallow it; once it shrinks to size, it can be swallowed.

6. For 30 seconds, gargle ice water. Repeat the step as needed.

7. Consume a spoonful of peanut butter or honey. Allow the sweets to dissolve in the mouth a bit before swallowing them.

8. Eat a pinch of sugar. Put it on your tongue and let it sit for five to 10 seconds before swallowing.

9. Suck on some lemon. Some are adding a pinch of salt to their slice of lemon. Rinse out your mouth with water for your teeth's protection from the citric acid.

10. Add one drop of vinegar to your tongue.

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