How Doctors Cure the Hiccups

Sometimes you have to resort to old school methods. What’s your favorite hiccups cure?

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All content is intended as medical education or entertainment and is NOT intended to be medical advice. If you have any symptoms concerning you, please schedule an appointment with your doctor.

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[sorrowsorbet]

The only time the doc is worse than web-md

[MorningMeasure]

Every hiccup cure has its stans, because most hiccups will go away seemingly randomly. It's always funny when you hear hiccup advice that ends with "and keep trying this until it works!" Because yeah. The hiccups will (usually) stop eventually. So whether you perform the cure over and over or do literally nothing, they'll go away after a while.

[saarelaian]

Just fill your lungs as much as possible like til bursting. Then hold your breath for 30 sec at least

[lucykavanagh]

When I had hiccups as a kid, my mom taught me to pinch my throat directly below the corners of my jaw, and then take 5 large gulps of water. I can't remember her medical explanation for why, but it works every time.

[graceisgoing]

My boyfriend and I have found that telling each other “you’re not a fish” works like a charm. Not sure why we started doing this but it’s become the magical phrase we use whenever one of us has the hiccups!

[LadyBastt]

Had an ex that had relentless hiccups for nearly a month. Only time they stopped was when he hit a level of exhaustion that he would pass out asleep. Bunch of tests never found anything, and bunch of meds didn't work. I forget what they finally put him on but it got them to stop. He was in an incredible amount of pain for at least a week after because of how much strain hiccups like that can put on the body.

[kurtie]

Having hiccups for more than 10minutes would be my own personal hell. I may honestly end it all if it lasted more than a couple days…

[xerofelix]

Most doctors I know try pinching the vagus nerve. Usually the bridge of your nose or pinch and hold your tongue. These have scientific research backing the treatment of hiccups. Holding your breath also does the same.
But there are some cases that can't be treated normally and need medications or surgery to fix. Such as cancer.

[ryangagnon]

I know it sounds crazy but when you have the hiccups say in your head, ”I don’t have the hiccups, the hiccups don’t exist” once or twice and they go away, trust me it really works

[yayaoncanvas]

Chronic hiccups can be a sign of Tourette’s syndrome, even in adulthood. It runs in my family and while my tics didn’t include vocalization, I had a cousin who hiccuped and coughed constantly as a symptom. It can also be related to other brain and mental health issues. Also had a friend in middle-high school who would hiccup as a way of getting attention. It was disruptive in class and social situations, but she had a really tough home life and I hope she was able to get the help she needed.

[lovebugmac]

My niece had the hiccups real bad one time when she was around 10 and I pretended to scold her. I honestly believe it was an Oscar worthy performance on my part! I couldn't actually accuse her of anything specific or she might have seen through the act. I just adopted a stern look, raised my voice a little and said how disappointed I was with her or ask why she would do something like that. She was a great kid that never got into trouble so the shock of possibly being in trouble scared the hiccups right outta her! I felt terrible after because she had started crying which got me crying! I told her I was sorry, gave her a hug and asked her where her hiccups went! She looked puzzled for a few seconds at which point I explained why I did what I did! She got mad, punched me in the arm, and then smiled and laughed! She was an extremely intelligent child. Straight A student, never got in trouble, never argued with adults, always helpful, etc...! The only complaint anyone ever had was that her farts stank like death! She was born with a severe cleft lip and palate and because of that along with the surgeries required to fix it her sense of smell is practically non existent! Letting her death farts that she can't smell rip around people amuses her to no end! ❤

[cameronjadewallace]

My dad always told me to hold my breath for ten minutes. Works every time

[multiversomc]

Saw a video of a guy that had hiccups went to the doctor come to find out he had a brain tumor he was lucky a japanese doctor manage to reach him

[chibigirl]

One dude with hiccups for over 2 years. He couldn't do his job effectively, eat, or sleep without constant interruption from hiccups. He finally found someone that did a scan (forget if if was MRI or CT) and they found a tumor pressing on his brain stem. It may be possible that there are certain places that tumors can develop that make hiccups a symptom.

[inovotny]

Im no doctor, but, with what i know about hiccups, everyone gets rid of them diffrently, but all solutions follow a formula, as they are one of three things:
1. Ingestion (drinking water, eating peanut butter, taking medication, etc)
2. Distraction (anything that can distract you, from getting scared, to patting your hesd and nose and spelling dinosaur, and maybe even watching youtube)
3. Playing tricks on your lungs (like taking a deep breath then holding it in for 10 seconds, just holding your breath, taking quick breaths, and many more)

[Lucy-fnrj]

it’s like how if someone is having a panic attack, startling them can temporarily snap them out of it. it doesn’t help in the long term though, so only do that if they’re in a dangerous situation and need to move quickly.

[kohlraedirectioner]

As someone who trained myself to belly-breathe (I breathe by filling my diaphragm rather than my lungs, meaning deep breaths move my belly rather than my chest/shoulders), I don't get the hiccups often, but when I do, I hold a deep breath in for a count of thirty or as long as I can. Since hiccups are involuntary contractions of the diaphragm, holding your breath there can "reboot" the system so that they stop. If that fails, I turn a somersault, because someone once suggested going upside-down to cure hiccups. That one has never failed me.

[Katiebartl]

If I hold my breath and slowly sip water for 30-40 seconds my hiccups almost always go away.

That said, my friend's dad passed from esophageal cancer and the first symptom he had was hiccups that wouldn't go away. I think about it a lot.

Also the person with the world record for longest time hiccuping had them for 68 years!

[geoffreymartin]

I use a mantra, lol. It's been 100% effective and it blows my mind every time. Basically, knowing that hiccups are from when our species were fish, expelling air from our gills, I just say out loud "I am not a fish" and it relaxes that nerve. I fully understand when people don't believe me cause I'm still like "wtf that shouldn't work", even though it's been years of evidence for me now

[thetableoflegend]

As someone with really intense hiccups, when I found out that we don’t *really* truly know what causes them it was very sad XD

My hiccups sound very aggressive and usually feel really painful in my lungs and throat