Hiccuppp. Hiccccup. Hiccuuuup. Hiccups, I’m sure this is something that we all have dealt with in our life at one point or another. Hiccups are considered to be one of the biggest nuisances, that may strike at the most random of times. Many people have their own home remedies to cure hiccups, but do any of these procedures actually work? And before we look into how to cure them, do we even know what hiccups actually are?

The technical term for hiccups are spontaneous contractions of the diaphragm. This contraction is immediately followed by an abrupt closure of the vocal chords, that closure is what produces the hiccup sound. There are multiple causes for the common case of hiccups; they could come after finishing a big meal, after the consumption of alcohol/carbonated beverages, or a sudden burst of excitement. (www.mayoclinic.org) Common cases of hiccups usually have a very short but inconsistent duration. They could last a couple minutes, a couple hours, or even a couple days. Are certain ways to cure these hiccups more effective than the others? Now that we know what hiccups actually are, let’s take a look at some of these “hiccup curing remedies”.

The first strategy to stop them is by drinking a cup of water with your ears plugged. Now it might be difficult to do both at the same time so hopefully you some good ear buds or a very good friend. This technique is given by Dr. Goldstein, a medical officer at CFB Petawawa, Ont. Goldstein claims to have used this technique many times during both social occasions and at the office. The patient is to drink a large glass of cold water will simultaneously tightly closing their ears. This technique is said to have worked on even the most “resistant of hiccups”. (www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)

Another strategy that I’m sure everybody has tried is scaring the hiccups out of somebody. Whether it’s jumping out from behind a couch or faking a punch to make them flinch, many attempts have been made to scare the hiccups “right out of a person”. The reason this myth is believed to work is because of the distraction that the scare is causing. In the moment you’re sacred your focus leaves the hiccups and goes to the threat and by the time you refocus on the hiccups they’re gone. The distraction that the scare causes is believed to cause the hiccups to halt.

The last strategy is a little stranger, but it is believed that organisms can cure hiccups. After recovering from back pain, a 40-year old man developed intractable hiccups. He tried multiple home remedies but nothing worked. After a couple days of continues hiccups he then proceed to have sex with his wife. The hiccuping continued throughout the experience until ejaculation, when the hiccups suddenly came to a stop. (www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov) There are multiple stories of organisms curing hiccups but no hard scientific evidence proving this.

As seen by the examples above there are many ways people try to cure hiccups but unfortunately there is no hard cure for these annoying things; however, the home remedies do follow a pattern. The one trend is by diverting the brain away from the nerves associated with causing the hiccups.(www.livescience.com) This trend can be seen is the second example. The other trend is by direct contact or stimulating the body parts that cause the hiccups. This can be seen by drinking a cup of water and closing your ears. The water touches the throat directly and closing the ears affects the nerve system associated with hiccups. Remedies also work for unknown random causes as we can see in the last example.

In conclusion, if one does develops hiccups they should try out a home remedy. No, there is no scientific evidence at all to back any of them, but then again they are all completely harmless. Each one has multiple flaws and their results vary from person to person, which may be the reason there are so many different remedies. However with over 100 plus possible cures, one of them has got to work right? The true is answer is maybe, but hey it’s at least worth a shot!

Images

http://www.dogonews.com/2012/5/16/13-year-old-concocts-sweet-recipe-for-pesky-hiccups

http://mlb.nbcsports.com/2012/10/19/yankee-stadium-boos-spooked-a-lot-of-guys-according-to-anonymous-yankee/

Bibliography

Peleg, R., and A. Peleg. “Case Report: Sexual Intercourse as Potential Treatment for Intractable Hiccups.” Canadian Family Physician. College of Family Physicians of Canada, 1 Aug. 2000. Web. 23 Oct. 2015.