My son commented the other day, “Every time I eat spicy foods, I’ll hiccup for a few minutes.” I thought that was strange. Consequentially, this strange phenomena happened to me today.

Why Do We Hiccup?

The strange occurrence is caused by a swelling pressure in the stomach resulting in the diaphragm and nearby muscles to jerk which results in gulping air and then within milliseconds the glottis (the opening at the top of the air passage) slams shut. This produces the characteristic sound ‘hic’, which we hear.

Years ago, I remembering being told by my children’s pediatrician  the reason babies got the hiccups was because they were sucking into too much air.  This usually happens when babies or adults eat too fast or too much. I have noticed sometimes carbonated drinks, like soda will cause me to develop a case of high-pitched hiccups.  In fact, did you know that any irritant of the stomach or throat can cause you to hiccup?  This is new to me. I suppose this is why spicy foods triggers this reaction in both my son and me.  Here’s an interesting tidbit I read… being too nervous or excited can set off hiccups.

How Do I Stop the Hiccups?

Roland ran into a bar and shouted a question to Rita, the barmaid, “What’s the quickest way to stop hiccups?”

Rita was holding a damp bar towel in her hand so she smacked him round the face with it.

Completely stunned, Roland spluttered, “What did you do that for?”

“Well, you haven’t got hiccups now, have you?” beamed a satisfied Rita.

“It ain’t me you Silly Billy”, retorted Roland, “It’s my son outside.”

As a kid, I was told to hold my breath and count to ten or drink water. These suggestions rarely helped, if at all.  A more well noted home remedy was to scare the hiccups out of person, but more times than not, a person would jump out of fright and still retain the pesky hiccups.

The base of these treatments is to disrupt the hiccup cycle – holding your breath, forced sneezing, breathing into a bag, sudden fright, drinking water, etc.  In retrospect, none of these things necessary benefited me as much as going about my business did. Somehow along the way I unknowingly created that break and the hiccups faded away magically.

Remember….

The next time you get a hiccuping streak just be prepared for them to hang around for a few minutes. It’s not uncommon for you to hiccup 63 times or more before they stop.  However, if you should develop a case of persistent hiccups, as one 32-year old man, then you may want to ponder trying his relief technique. He discovered having sex stopped his hiccups. The effect was only temporary and soon additional therapy was required.  LOL Nice try Mister!

Be sure to swing by to see which Monday’s Music Moves Me 80s hits I’m dancing to. Have a wonderful weekend!

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