# Rewiring your brain to stifle hiccups **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 5, 2019, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rewiring-your-brain-to-stifle-hiccups/827238 "2019-01-05T05:15:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2019, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rewiring-your-brain-to-stifle-hiccups/827238/1 "2019-01-05T05:15:11Z")
One day a few months ago, I had a bad case of the hiccups. I then consciously thought “Stop hiccuping, you stupid diaphragm” for a good hour until I wasn’t hiccuping anymore. Now, when I start to hiccup, I just mentally say “stop hiccuping, diaphragm” and then my hiccups go away. I suggest those with hiccups try it. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2019, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rewiring-your-brain-to-stifle-hiccups/827238/2 "2019-01-05T05:31:05Z")
Are you drinking water upside down while you do it? ( i’m kidding you). Power of suggestion maybe? I’m trying it right now. I have a toe that keeps cramping up. I said " toe quit cramping" while staring at the toe, I added the staring to strengthen my position. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2019, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rewiring-your-brain-to-stifle-hiccups/827238/3 "2019-01-05T06:22:43Z")
Being involuntary, I’d be willing to bet the first time you got rid of them, it wasn’t what you did, but the hour that elapsed. After that, I’m guessing it’s some flavor of confirmation bias. ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2019, 8:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rewiring-your-brain-to-stifle-hiccups/827238/4 "2019-01-05T08:22:38Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > Being involuntary, I’d be willing to bet the first time you got rid of them, it wasn’t what you did, but the hour that elapsed. After that, I’m guessing it’s some flavor of confirmation bias. I think that too when it happens, but every time now, I “order” my diaphragm to stop hiccuping and then I stop hiccuping. ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2019, 8:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rewiring-your-brain-to-stifle-hiccups/827238/5 "2019-01-05T08:24:46Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > Are you drinking water upside down while you do it? ( i’m kidding you). Power of suggestion maybe? I’m trying it right now. I have a toe that keeps cramping up. I said " toe quit cramping" while staring at the toe, I added the staring to strengthen my position. The first time I tried it, it took a while. And then after that, it was easy. After all, isn’t strange muscle contractions just from your brain? If so, seems logical to force your brain to tell your muscles to “stop it” ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2019, 8:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rewiring-your-brain-to-stifle-hiccups/827238/6 "2019-01-05T08:31:31Z")
Well, my toe quit cramping. Maybe it worked? IDK. I’ll have keep trying when it cramps again. I’ll let you know. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2019, 9:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rewiring-your-brain-to-stifle-hiccups/827238/7 "2019-01-05T09:14:41Z")
drink water with your mouth open. You have to swallow with your mouth open. If you find this hard to do then bite down on a spoon handle to keep it open. there’s something about the unnatural act of swallowing this way that interrupts the signal to hiccup. I’ve suggested this to people in the middle of a hiccup “fit” and it stops it dead. YMMV. ---
**Author:** ![Les\_Espaces\_Du\_Sommeil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/les_espaces_du_sommeil/32/308_2.png) [@Les\_Espaces\_Du\_Sommeil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Les_Espaces_Du_Sommeil)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2019, 9:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rewiring-your-brain-to-stifle-hiccups/827238/8 "2019-01-05T09:30:57Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > The first time I tried it, it took a while. And then after that, it was easy. After all, isn’t strange muscle contractions just from your brain? If so, seems logical to force your brain to tell your muscles to “stop it” In the past 3-4 years, I’ve tried with some success to stifle hiccups by holding my breath AND sort of focusing my mind on my diaphragm. It doesn’t always work, it may be confirmation bias but it has been much more effective than every other methods I’d used over the years, including just holding my breath. ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2019, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rewiring-your-brain-to-stifle-hiccups/827238/9 "2019-01-05T16:50:23Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > drink water with your mouth open. You have to swallow with your mouth open. If you find this hard to do then bite down on a spoon handle to keep it open. there’s something about the unnatural act of swallowing this way that interrupts the signal to hiccup. > > I’ve suggested this to people in the middle of a hiccup “fit” and it stops it dead. YMMV. Yeah, I do a swallowing thing and that always works (and it would be fascinating to know exactly why). What I do is get a glass of water and take a tiny sip and swallow it; then repeat the process over and over again as rapidly as I can - sip, swallow, sip, swallow and so on - for a half minute or so. As for “focusing my mind on my diaphragm” - I have no idea where it is. My diaphragm, I mean. j ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2019, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rewiring-your-brain-to-stifle-hiccups/827238/10 "2019-01-05T17:13:53Z")
> [@Treppenwitz](#): > > Yeah, I do a swallowing thing and that always works (and it would be fascinating to know exactly why). It works because you’re not breathing while you’re swallowing. It gives the diaphragm a chance to relax. Of course, ANY attempted remedy will “work”, because except in rare pathological cases, hiccups resolve themselves in a short period of time. ---
**Author:** ![Les\_Espaces\_Du\_Sommeil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/les_espaces_du_sommeil/32/308_2.png) [@Les\_Espaces\_Du\_Sommeil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Les_Espaces_Du_Sommeil)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2019, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rewiring-your-brain-to-stifle-hiccups/827238/11 "2019-01-05T18:56:31Z")
> [@Treppenwitz](#): > > As for “focusing my mind on my diaphragm” - I have no idea where it is. My diaphragm, I mean. [https://jessicarealept.files.wordpress.com/2015/03/diaphragm.jpg](https://jessicarealept.files.wordpress.com/2015/03/diaphragm.jpg) 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2019, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rewiring-your-brain-to-stifle-hiccups/827238/12 "2019-01-05T20:01:08Z")
I’ve had a few patients with intractable hiccups, those that go on for days and even weeks. Extremely debilitating! Thorazine is my go-to drug for those situations. It hasn’t failed yet. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2019, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rewiring-your-brain-to-stifle-hiccups/827238/13 "2019-01-05T20:09:15Z")
Try this. Take a deep breath and hold it, then swallow as many times before you can’t resist the urge to breathe again. It’ll usually take about 6 swallows. By the 3rd or 4th, you’ll feel something shift inside your body, and your hiccups will be gone. It’s worked every time, and it works better than just holding your breath alone. EDIT: This is just for regular hiccups, not the more severe ones that last for months. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2019, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rewiring-your-brain-to-stifle-hiccups/827238/14 "2019-01-05T20:44:54Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > I’ve had a few patients with intractable hiccups, those that go on for days and even weeks. Extremely debilitating! > > Thorazine is my go-to drug for those situations. It hasn’t failed yet. I had an Uncle with this. What causes it? ---
**Author:** ![EmilyG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emilyg/32/364_2.png) [@EmilyG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmilyG)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2019, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rewiring-your-brain-to-stifle-hiccups/827238/15 "2019-01-05T20:48:23Z")
I have also been able to mentally stop hiccups. ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2019, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rewiring-your-brain-to-stifle-hiccups/827238/16 "2019-01-05T20:59:51Z")
My (possibly gross and rude) method, which has been adopted by a few people that I’ve recommended it to, is to simply convert hiccups into burps. Works every time. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2019, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rewiring-your-brain-to-stifle-hiccups/827238/17 "2019-01-05T22:15:04Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > I had an Uncle with this. What causes it? Damfino. Medicine is still far far more Art than science. And within that Art resides a lot of _magic_. So I consider myself more of a scientomagician than scientist, just like **Effrafax of Wug**. [sub]I just hope I don’t end up like him . . .[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2019, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rewiring-your-brain-to-stifle-hiccups/827238/18 "2019-01-05T23:00:11Z")
Hmmm? That would just be my luck if it was genetic or something. I can just see me with permanent hiccoughs. I may need lessons from you, Manson, if it happens. So don’t get lost. It could happen any day. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2019, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rewiring-your-brain-to-stifle-hiccups/827238/19 "2019-01-07T14:39:14Z")
Jeebus, do people with pathological hiccups develop washboard abs? I feel like I’ve done a hundred crunches, after a brief hiccup bout. … oh, I guess the 6-pack muscles aren’t the diaphragm, huh? ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2019, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rewiring-your-brain-to-stifle-hiccups/827238/20 "2019-01-07T17:24:50Z")
I’ve been doing the mental method for a few years now. You don’t “hold” your breath per se as that puts pressure on your diaphragm. Instead you stop breathing in a completely relaxed state halfway between a full inhale and exhale. Then focusing on controlling your breathing you take very very short inhales and exhales that use as little of your diaphragm muscle as possible. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rewiring-your-brain-to-stifle-hiccups/827238.md?page=2)