I went out with my cousins last night to try and catch up, and halfway through my first beer I got a terrible case of the hiccups. It was awful and painful and people could hear me hiccupping from outside, and then it eventually went away.
Now, I remember when I was a kid, I’d get them fairly often, but they didn’t hurt like that, they were just annoying. Is there a reason why kids are always getting them and grownups get them so rarely?
Also, in cartoons why do drunks hiccup?
Until the real medical dopers come along, what I remember:
hiccups are caused by a spasm in your diaphragm. What parents usually tell kids who hiccup at the dinner table is to “eat slower so you don’t swallow so much air” - kids talking very excitdly might be a reason for them getting mixed up.
As for drunks: I don’t have enough personal experince outside cartoons, but my guess is that alcohol messes up the muscles, (relaxation), which would cause hiccups. And it’s a convenient shorthand.
Interesting question. Fetuses get hiccups so swallowing air can’t be the only mechanism. And I’ve also noticed that my children get them a lot more than I do, particularly when they were still feeding on milk.
And if talking excitedly is the reason, I’d have them all the time.
Hiccups are spasms of the diaphragm. They are not caused by swallowing air, and I once had an argument with an RN who insisted my (patient’s)endotracheal tube was misplaced or there was something wrong with my ventilator because the patient kept getting the hiccups, setting of the vent alarms and causing annoyance for all involved (except the patient who was sedated).
In reality, the cause of the hiccups is…unknown. There are conditions that seem to lead to them (alcohol intoxication for example) but it is unknown by what mechanism it happens (my vote is the muscle relaxation as well) and that doesn’t explain the billions of cases that do not involve alcohol. There is also no real cure for the hiccups. Drinking water (or drinking upside down or from the wrong side of the cup etc.) holding your breath and other tricks really serve only as a distraction until the spasms stop on their own.
ETA: I want to clarify that not all hiccups are of unknown origin, damage to the phrenic nerve or vagus nerve is one known cause and there are a few others I think.
I disagree. I have found holding my breath for a long time (usually has to be >1 min) to be very effective. The majority of the time, it works first time. I don’t believe the hiccups would have stopped within that minute if I had not been holding my breath.
The next 20 times you get the hiccups, flip a coin. If the coin comes up heads, hold your breath. If the coin comes up tails, do nothing. In all cases, measure the amount of time it takes for the hiccups to subside. Be sure to write down all results and don’t just try to remember what happened each time.
Of course, 20 samples isn’t large, but I would expect the median time for both the breath holding and doing nothing trials will be within the expected error. It would be interesting to see if that is true.
I get hiccups a lot, and it’s whenever I eat fast…which is a lot. I’m a lot like a little kid myself.
I suppose that it is possible that you (you in particular not everyone) are able to stimulate the nerves in such a way by your breath holding that the spasms stop, but since most cases of hiccups last only 2-5 minutes* I imagine that doing anything at all for >1 min. will seem to cure them the majority of time.
*there have been cases of hiccups lasting far longer, up to months and years even, and it is recommend to seek medical treatment if hiccups last more than 48 hours.
I found that sucking the juice from a lemon wedge is the best cure. Works every time!
I also find that holding my breath works immediately. As soon as I get the hiccups, I hold my breath, once my breath is held I have one more hiccup at most and then they’re gone.
Drinking dill pickle juice works for me, almost every time.
It probably does work for you, I won’t dispute that; but it probably does not work for the reasons you think it does. Try instead of holding your breath, putting your head between your knees. It is equally effective. So are: a teaspoon of sugar (sometimes a bit of salt instead) drinking water in a strange way, standing on your head, and reciting the state capitols in reverse alphabetical order. They all work, and for the same reason.
There have been actual studies (unfortunately none of which I know where to find online) and it is a pretty widely known truism in the cardiopulmonary medical field (where we get lots of hiccup questions and concerns) that many home remedies do have a psychosomatic effect for some people, but otherwise are ineffective. What “cures” the hiccups is time- they stop on their own usually within 2 minutes or so- or in rare cases of nerve damage, CNS abnormalities, etc. there are medications that can be used (mainly to affect the central nervous system) that sometimes work and sometimes don’t.
No other remedies work for me. I assume that’s because they’re merely distractions while holding your breath physically affects the muscles involved in the hiccups.
I don’t buy the time aspect, if I try one of the distraction methods then it takes time, if I hold my breath the effect is immediate.