# What are your go-to hiccups cures? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 4, 2022, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-go-to-hiccups-cures/972709 "2022-10-04T15:05:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2022, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-go-to-hiccups-cures/972709/41 "2022-10-05T01:05:56Z")
My wife swears by a teaspoon of sugar chased by a teaspoon of vinegar. I would rather have hiccups than drink vinegar. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2022, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-go-to-hiccups-cures/972709/42 "2022-10-05T01:07:22Z")
I take a deep breath and hold it for 15-20 seconds. I intensely will them away during that time, or so I like to think. ---
**Author:** ![Zyada](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zyada/32/3028_2.png) [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2022, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-go-to-hiccups-cures/972709/43 "2022-10-05T03:52:24Z")
I’m another person who uses the sugar treatment. It works consistently enough that mom would nag me when I got the hiccups around her. (I didn’t like it) The breathing trick has never worked for me. I 'll hold my breath till I’m dizzy and they still won’t go away. I had someone do the scare tactic on me once. It was strange - it felt less like the hiccups were cured, and more like they had been scared into hiding! ---
**Author:** ![SlipperyPete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ba9def/32.png) [@SlipperyPete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlipperyPete)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2022, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-go-to-hiccups-cures/972709/44 "2022-10-05T18:17:08Z")
Here are techniques that usually work for me: Take a large drink of water, and hold it in your mouth. Plug your ears and then swallow without swallowing any air. (kinda slide it down your throat) May take a couple repeats. If that fails, then a large tablespoon of peanut butter. If that fails, stand on your head against the wall for 30 seconds. (have an assistant to help you with positioning) I rarely get to the 3rd one, usually if the water fails, the PB does the trick. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2022, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-go-to-hiccups-cures/972709/45 "2022-10-05T18:33:21Z")
I stick my finger down my throat. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2022, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-go-to-hiccups-cures/972709/46 "2022-10-06T02:13:59Z")
Australia’s Dr Karl, in his conclusion to a two part series on hiccups reports, in [“A hiccup cure that really works”](https://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2012/09/04/3582324.htm), that digital rectal massage is the answer. He cites the work of 2006 Ig Noble Prize in Medicine winner Dr Francis M Fesmire. The doctor subsequently offered another, possibly more popular, cure to _New Scientist_ - orgasm. > An orgasm results in incredible stimulation of the vagus nerve. From now on, I will be recommending sex — culminating with orgasm — as the cure-all for intractable hiccups. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2022, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-go-to-hiccups-cures/972709/47 "2022-10-06T02:32:09Z")
I’ve never had this fail and I’ve taught it to many people. Bite down on a spoon handle. Anything like it works. The idea is to keep your mouth open while drinking a liquid. The idea is to swallow while your mouth is open wider than normal. there’s something about the unnaturalness of the act that resets the brain. I don’t know if it’s swallowing with mouth farther open or what. You don’t need props to hold your mouth open but it helps. ---
**Author:** ![Al128](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/al128/32/16541_2.png) [@Al128](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al128)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2022, 9:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-go-to-hiccups-cures/972709/48 "2022-10-06T09:20:30Z")
interesting and good anecdotes … q: can we distill all those into a “what do they technically achieve in common” finding on the macro level? … e.g. they relax the diaphragm by doing xyz (swallowing a liquid seems to be top of the list ) … but to ge honest, the peanutbutter thing is a real curveball here hence my request [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-go-to-hiccups-cures/972709.md?page=2)