Why do we hiccup? - John Cameron

The longest recorded case of hiccups lasted for 68 years … and was caused by a falling hog. While that level of severity is extremely uncommon, most of us are no stranger to an occasional case of the hiccups. But what causes these ‘hics’ in the first place? John Cameron takes us into the diaphragm to find out.

Lesson by John Cameron, animation by Black Powder Design.

[Chinatsu_Kano]

Hiccups over 68 years? Must be a nightmare

[freakmeoutwillu]

I need an entirely different ted talk explaining how a hog "fell" on a full grown man.

[Vvikky]

Ok but why can’t I have those “cute” and quiet hiccups? When I hiccup, I sound like a dying frog

[DominicBlair]

You never stop hiccuping, it’s just the pauses between that change

[JJ-fqrl]

When I was younger I used to think getting hiccups was my own heart giving me cpr 😂😂

[davidpo]

So basically this was an almost five minute hypothesis ending in a "we don't really know."

[SkySpiral_Lets_play]

This always works for me: take a deep breath and hold it a couple seconds then exhale very slowly. The idea is to stop the diaphragm then force it to move slowly rather than spasm. If you can do this without a hiccup it's unlikely they'll start up again. If you hiccup during this (which is very rare for me) then try again but with slower breathing in and out.

[terrythao]

Sometimes when I'm bored, I usually write down questions for myself so I can look it up on the internet later. I am so glad I asked myself why we, humans, hiccup. What a interesting video I just watch and not to mention some history about the hiccup.

[cooldudeg]

50 hiccups per minute?! Jesus christ, that would be a living hell.
My diaphragm is on fire if I have hiccups for more than a couple of hours. Can't imagine what Jennifer Mee did during those four weeks. I doubt she'd even be able to speak in that time frame.

[frzn]

Who searched this because they have hiccups rn?

[Symball]

Dude the way he said 'suddenly frightened' at 4:19 scared me and that ghost came out of no where like what the heck

[WeAreTheInsurgents]

ffs that jumpscare almost gave me a heart attack

[joshuabrown]

When I was in 6th grade, one of my fellow classmates had hiccups, and the teacher noticed it. She put a paper towel on top of a bottle of water, and told her to drink it. It worked, but I never understood how. To this day, if I have hiccups, I still use this method, and crazy as it sounds, it works every time.

[KurisChan]

The drinking of copious amounts of water actually works for me almost everytime

[TheCocozzz]

Hey there!
I'm an osteopath, and I learned in class that hiccup was a physiological reflex for the diaphragm muscle to re-balance itself.
Indeed when the hiccup occurs, the diaphragm contracts, or in other words, it goes down.
When your stomach is full, it pushes the diaphragm upward, stretching the left part of it, so the hiccup appears.
Same when you get a strong emotion, you often gasp, or sob (if crying), which induce an unbalanced diaphragm. This explains the hiccup afterwards as well.
This is why breathing exercises, or stop breathing for few cycles are methods to stop the hiccup:
you try to "reboot" the diaphragm reflex circuit.
I hope it helps :)
Cheers!

[spudwk]

When I was 12 or 13 years old, I developed / learned the ability to stop my hiccups.

I heard that pinching your earlobe stops hiccups. It seemed to work for me, but I found that eventually when I would get the hiccups and consciously think to pinch my earlobe my hiccups would subside without having to pinch.

Ever since, when I get the hiccups, as soon as I recognize I am hiccuping, they go away. I never experience more than 3 or 4. I learned to stop my hiccups with my mind.

[nazou]

I learn more things with Ted Ed in a day than I do in school in a year. THANK YOU FOR EDUCATING ME FOR FREE

[alisafeerhyder]

I thought my crush thought of me that's why I got hiccups


Damn I was being happy for no reason

[prahladdwivedi]

In India people say when someone is thinking of you somewhere you start getting hickups.

[ZOCCOK]

In India, A hiccup is said to be a sign of someone remembering you.