How do I get rid of hiccups?

Hiccups are annoying, but there are really no medical risks associated with having hiccups and medical cures are usually offered only in the case of chronic hiccups. That means that you’re probably going to have to find a home remedy that works – and plenty of them do!

Tutorial

Hiccups are an enigma and as such, there are plenty of myths associated with hiccups. Some say that hiccups are a sign that a child is growing, or that they need some particular nutrient (though there’s never a really clear consensus of what that nutrient is). Hiccups are a spasm and are probably caused by the digestive process. Because these spasms apparently occur regularly, disrupting them is generally accepted to be the best cure for hiccups.

But how do you disrupt these annoying jerks?

Hold your breath is one cure that seems to work for many people, but you have to time the process correctly. Start holding your breath soon after a hiccup but before the next is building. Continue holding for as long as a minute, or until you feel the hiccups subside.

Drinking water is another cure that works well but the cure probably has nothing to do with the fact that you’re drinking water. Holding your breath works because you don’t breathe long enough to disrupt the pattern of spasm. You don’t take a breath while you drink which is the reason that drinking is believed to cure the hiccups. A sudden scare is also considered a good cure, though it’s difficult to arrange for this to happen!

There are some medical procedures that can be done for chronic hiccups, including a drug that will stop the spasms.