Hiccup Remedies That Work

Hiccup is a form of muscular contraction that is repeated several times in a short spell of time. The windpipe and the food pipe or the esophagus are located very close to each other. The windpipe is covered with a trap door known as epiglottis. Every time we eat or drink something, the epiglottis closes the windpipe so that the food does not enter the wind pipe. There is diaphragm, a big muscle wall that lies in between the chest and abdomen, that helps in pulling down the lungs to fill it up with air. Hiccups can happen when the lungs are pulled down by the diaphragm but the epiglottis is closed before the air can enter the lungs. Thus, the air is prevented from entering the wind pipe and gives rise to hiccups.

What Causes Hiccups?

The main cause of hiccups is some form of irritation or pressure on any of the nerves that leads to the heart or lungs or diaphragm. This can happen as a result of certain types of foods or drinks, some activities or some form of illnesses. Foods that are often responsible for hiccups are spicy foods, particularly if they are consumed hot. Beverages like alcohol or soda can cause hiccups. Hiccups during pregnancy, particularly in the third trimester, is quite common. Many expecting mothers often fear that the hiccup can cause harm to their baby. Though the exact cause of pregnancy hiccups is not clearly known, one thing is for sure that they are absolutely harmless. Hiccups in babies may occur when they cry continuously for a long time. Taking a large meal very quickly can cause hiccups because of distention of stomach. Coughing can result in hiccups too. Illnesses like certain tumors or diabetes cause hiccups. People who are given general anesthesia for some surgical procedures may get hiccups, as a side effect of the anesthesia.

How to Stop Hiccups?

Sugar is an excellent cure for hiccups. Take one teaspoonful of dry sugar and put it inside the mouth. Allow it to melt down slowly inside your mouth. Do not try to chew it or swallow it. The sweet sensation on the nerve endings help in stopping the hiccups. Similarly, if one teaspoon of peanut butter is kept inside the mouth for some time and then swallowed, hiccups are cured. These are the two home remedies for hiccups, that work really well in small children. Newborn babies can also get hiccups. Any form of suckling, like breastfeeding is the best way to cure hiccup. Burping is also a cure for a baby. Probably, this way the baby's brain gets diverted and the hiccup cycle is interrupted.

Water is also one of the best hiccup cures. Take a glass of water and put some ice cubes into it. Then sip this icy cold water slowly. Another method of stopping hiccup with water is to drink water after plugging your nose and ears. Holding up the breath for a brief period of time successfully stops hiccups in most of the cases. After that, when you release the breath swallow some amount of air. This way the hiccup cycle gets disrupted and is stopped.

Distraction while hiccuping often helps. Therefore, you can start back counting from 100 to 1. It requires concentration and your brain gets diverted towards the counting. By the time you end counting, you will find the hiccup gone! Drinking water in an uncomfortable position like bending over the sink, will divert the attention away from hiccups. There are many more distraction techniques that act as effective remedies.

Hiccups may not cause any serious harm to your health. However, if it recurs frequently, it becomes very annoying. In that case, you have to take up some measures to prevent this. When you eat fast, hiccups may happen because of improper chewing of food, as air often gets trapped in between large food particles. Therefore, make it a habit to eat your food slowly. Overeating of food should be avoided. Many specialists opine that hiccups while eating is a signal given by the body, which indicates that your stomach is full. Spicy foods and alcohol should be avoided if you are getting hiccups. These food substances cause irritation to the lining of the stomach. Sometimes, there is a leakage of acid into the esophagus because of such foods and resulting in hiccups. These measures, if followed properly, can reduce further occurrence of hiccups to a great extent.

All the remedies are safe to follow and do not have any side effects. Moreover, hiccup remedies that work for you may not show results for others. If hiccups last for 4-5 hours and do not stop even after sleeping or if is accompanied by abdominal pain or spitting of blood, then it is a cause of concern and medical advice should be sought immediately.