The best way to cure hiccups
This is a technique I came up with after a bit of self-reflection and a lot of hiccups. For me, it is 100% effective provided you do it correctly. Try it out and let me know if it works for you.
The technique
What you will do is strictly control your breath for about 8 to 24 seconds. The stronger your hiccups, the longer you may need.
Breathe in and out slowly, about 2 seconds inhale and 2 seconds exhale between 2 and 6 times.
Key point: You need to make sure you don’t stop, pause or rest between inhaling and exhaling. Normally we stop between breathing in and out. Here you need to be exhaling the moment you stop inhaling and vise Versa.
If you pause during this process too soon, you will hiccup right away and you have to start over. Try to think of it as a circle of breathing rather than in and out.
Why does it work?
I’m not a doctor but here is my notion. Hiccups are involuntary spasms of the diaphragm caused by some cascade reaction in the nerves or muscles. By taking active and constant conscious control of the same muscles you disarm this reaction long enough for the muscles or nerves to regain a normal state of affairs. Essentially you are hitting a kind of manual reset.
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I just rub my right ear lobe and they go away in about 15 seconds, though it doesn’t work for everyone.
Fascinating! Apparently, there is a nervous system connection there that also goes to the diaphragm.
slowly sipping water long enough to go through a cycle or two of hiccups stops the diaphram spasms. Or even a mouthful of water can be swallowed in very slow sips, that mothod works if you don’t have a glass of water but instead are using a water fountain such as in a waiting room, at work, at school or in a store or public place such as a library.
Thanks for the tip. This is definitely one of the classics I learned when I was young. The other was scaring people, but that’s pretty impractical compared to slowly drinking some water.