#635 When the hiccups stop

She's no rookieHow do you get rid of a bad case of The Hics?

Brother, I don’t know about you, but in my neck of the woods it’s all about the junk science moves. Yes, when your diaphragm starts spazzing, it’s time to keep cool, keep calm, keep collected and try one of these:

1. The Backwards Sip. Tilt your neck to your chest and drink upside-down from the wrong side of a glass of water. Wet bangs, stinging eyes, and a drippy forehead means you did it right.

2. Sugar, Spice, and Everything Nice. Some people say eating a spoonful of sugar or gargling with sugar water helps. Hey, any cure that sounds delicious works for me, so I say give it a shot. While you’re at it try scarfing a couple Oh Henry’s for that bum knee and chugging a few cans of Jolt cola for that eyelash stuck in your eye.

spoonful of sugar3. The Surprise Attack. This where you think someone scaring you will frighten the hiccups away. Of course, popping a paper bag behind you or clapping in your ear isn’t going to cut it. No, this only works when somebody shoves you off an apartment building ledge onto a properly rigged-up safety net below. … Then again, maybe just skip it altogether.

4. The Deep Sea Diver. Fill your lungs up, pop your belly out, and hold your breath as long as possible. If all goes according to plan, your face will turn bright red and look hilarious to all your friends.

Now, come on, let’s face facts, people. None of these usually works so you’re stuck pulling off The Annoying Wait. You think they’re gone, but they’re not, and then you think they’re gone again, but then they’re actually not again, and then you think they’re really gone for sure this time.

And then they actually are.

And in that beautiful moment you just stare up at everybody around you with a sweaty face, tired eyes, and a slow smile curling onto your face. Because when the hiccups finally stop it’s a giant sensation of sweet relief and a big ol’ moment of

AWESOME!

Heals what ails yatPhotos from: here, here, and here

106 thoughts to “#635 When the hiccups stop”

  1. Hiatal hernias run in my family, and chronic hiccups are really common.

    Hiccups are the diaphragm spasming against the stomach – it happens because of the way they end up laying against or next to each other. This is why many people get morning hiccups when they stand up out of bed too fast.

    It’s also why drinking water and holding breath are usually the most popular remedies – it realigns the position of your stomach in relation to your diaphragm, or vice versa.

    The upside water drinking is most effective if you stand up and bend all the way over when drinking, chug the whole glass, wait a couple of seconds for the water to go down, and then stand up straight fairly quickly. This weighs your stomach down and drops it far enough away from the diaphragm to stop the spasming.

    I’m not sure why sugar would work – unless it’s psychosomatic or it causes your stomach juices to function in a particular way…

  2. I’m totally with Cate on this one… drinking water through a paper towel works every time! (but it seems so bizzare!) My grandma taught it to me when I was young. I was surprised someone else knew this trick!!

  3. You don’t have to bend over and drink water upside down like that…..

    put water in your mouth…..bend over (so your head is upside down) then swallow.

    Much easier than trying to drink like that

  4. I used to be able to stop the hiccups by drinking some water (with my chin tucked in), holding it in my mouth, and then swallowing it all at once, which usually causes me to burp. For some reason, it doesn’t work for me anymore.

    The last few years I have been able to get them to stop with a gigantic spoonful of peanut butter.

    I’m kind of excited to try some of these other cures though!

  5. My brother had the hiccups for 5 days straight, morning noon and night… he tried just about everything anyone could think of, they only stopped once he he went to bed tileting the foot end up with 3 bricks on each side. He later said is was the most uncomfortable comfort he ever felt.

  6. My hiccups always make me sick and used to always last for a few days…until I was told to try eating a spoonful of peanut butter. Revelation! It totally works!!!

  7. I love the hiccups. They make me giggle. I wouldn’t want them for days on end, but for the few minutes they last I’m a very smilin’ boo.

  8. Because hiccups are actually the irritation of a nerver which is near your lungs, this method always seems to work for me. You breathe out as much air as you can, then breathe in as much air as you can, then you repeat 2 more times. It always works for me…

  9. When my kids got them I’d have them sit on my lap with their arms folded. I would then wrap my arms around theirs, sort of like a big bear hug. Then while squeezing, I’d have them slowly breathe in and out. After about ten seconds the hicuups are gone. This works on adults too but be careful who you try to help. ;-)

  10. Especially when they’ve been going on forever!

    I find a combination of #1 and #4 works very well :) I suck in a huge amount of air and, while holding my breath, down a glass of water (the longer this goes on the better, but 1 or 2 glasses seems to do it :).

  11. This one hasn’t been posted but it’s what a teacher told me when I was little and now I have my kids do it. It works if you don’t laugh mid-way. Hold your tongue and sing the Star Spangled Banner. I think it’s b/c you have to take deeper breaths when holding your tongue to belt the words out. LOL

  12. My boyfriend is convinced that sour stuff works (a piece of lemon…some lemon juice….)…and it does for him. Me, just trying to burp makes them go away…..but I can see how the Peanut Butter can work…

  13. My go-to cure for hiccups is to take a bite of a wedge of lemon sprinkled with sugar. It stops them immediately!

  14. The backwards Sip is THE cure!! it has never failed me, however I find that anything that can busy your mind while relaxing your diaphram will work. But as soon as I seen the first pic I knew exactly what you were writting about. This blog is dope !!!!! :)

  15. If you put a pencil in between your teeth then pour water into your mouth around the pencil and swallow, they will go away. Its interesting to watch someone do it, but I swear it works like a charm.

  16. I had this moment today. The moment is always delayed. I find I don’t usually realize when my hiccups have stopped until it’s like, hey, I haven’t hiccuped in a few minutes, awesome! Oh, and I tried every trick in the book I knew today (chugging water, holding my breath, doing both while swallowing, burping while holding my breath (it’s worked before,don’t diss it) I had the hiccups for like 20 minutes until a friend suggested eating a large spoonful of peanutbutter, my hiccups went away while I was thoroughly enjoying my spoonful of deliciousness. Best. Hiccups. Cure. EVER!

  17. I get hicups really bad. usually 2 time a day, 1 time if I’m lucky. I get briuses on my ribs from it, and the only thing that really works for me is holding my breath until I’m blue in the face, and then take a deep breath and hold it agian and repeat as needed. It’s not fun.

  18. whenever someone tells me they have hiccups, I know to ask them to “prove it.” When i did that to my boyfriend and his hiccups stopped, he yelled out, “YOU DEMON!” and scared me off the bed. :D
    haha, but it works.
    just ask them to prove that they have hiccups.

  19. Holding your breath usually works, but when it doesn’t, you may need have to escalate.

    Take a breath, hold it for a few seconds, then take in more breath WITHOUT EXHALING. Then do it again a few seconds later. And again, if you can. When you absolutely, positively have to exhale, do it as smoothly as possible.

    This will stretch and calm down that spasming diaphragm.

  20. The sugar trick has always worked for me. My mum used to give us about 10ml of straight cordial and we’de have to drink it in one go. Of course straight lemon juice also works, so I don’t know why either does.

  21. This is gunna soud wierd but it always works.
    find a pencil and put it in your mouth so that the ends are sticking out the sides.
    Then grab a glass of water and chug it.

    It works EVERY time for me, my friends, and family (:

  22. I’ve always just drank the hiccups down if that makes any sense. I take a drink of water and when I am hiccuping again I swallow it while holding the hiccup in. Goes away on the first drink everytime. :)

  23. My second-grade teacher told my class that the cure for hiccups was to hold your breath for 20 seconds and then swallow three times in a row. It has never failed me (or any of the people I have told) since! Awesome! (The only hard part sometimes is making it to 20 seconds without hiccuping…) :)

  24. A spoon full of peanut butter and chew it slowly. Learned that from Arthur. Always works and tastes even better :)

  25. Distraction….

    Ask the person some random question that makes them stop and think.
    Like…
    When did you last see a white horse?
    the oddity of the question makes them stop, then they will inevidabily laugh at you, but you stay serious and repeat the question, no, seriously, when’s the last time you saw a white horse? (any odd question will work, but you have to stay serious about it) Give it like 5 minutes or so, then end with..
    “your hiccups are gone”

    or, best of best…
    dare them to hiccup again.

  26. When i honestly enjoy what you may web site on the subject of below, preferably topical as well as sharp. 1 issue nonetheless, I’m operating Safari about Debian along with parts of the website page shape are actually somewhat apart. I do know it’s a fantastic frequent installation, but it’s also some thing that will to maintain through thinkings. Simply delivering some manages.

  27. There are some brilliant things to try here, but since babies are the trickier of them all, Greg gets my platinum star;)

  28. I think hiccups are natures way I telling the world that you are thinking of something really Really really ReALLy AweSomE!

  29. In sixth grade I got the most obnoxious hiccups. They were super loud and high pitched, so when I got the hiccups she would make me stand on a chair in the front of the classroom until they went away. Meanwhile she would just keep teaching. One time I stood there all class long. Mrs.Theis, if you’re out there, you are one of the main reasons I have stage fright.

  30. I hate hiccups. I swear it feels like my chest is going to cave in. I loooove when they stop. Its those few seconds of wondering if they have indeed stopped that’s killer too.

Comments are closed.