# What is your remedy for hiccups? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 16, 2015, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-remedy-for-hiccups/734771 "2015-10-16T01:23:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![steronz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steronz/32/11765_2.png) [@steronz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steronz)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2015, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-remedy-for-hiccups/734771/21 "2015-10-16T12:26:12Z")
I also hold my breath, but critically, I _exhale_ every last bit of air from my lungs before doing so. As others have mentioned, the trick seems to be getting your brain into “panic over breathing” mode to reset your diaphragm, and if you take a deep breath first, that just means you have to hold your breath for a minute or so before you get there. If you exhale first, it takes about 15 seconds and works like gangbusters. ---
**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:** [October 16, 2015, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-remedy-for-hiccups/734771/22 "2015-10-16T13:14:45Z")
> [@Archeonomist](#): > > There is actually a cure, according to [this](http://qi.com/infocloud/hiccups) > > “The best cure for hiccups, in the sense that it’s medically proven, rather than being mere folklore, and involves no drugs or surgery - is digital rectal massage: a finger up the bottom. It’s been used successfully in cases of chronic hiccupping at least twice, in hospitals in Haifa, Israel, and in Tennessee.” There was a comedian who did a bit about that, but I forget who it was. This guy has hiccups and needs help. I wonder what happens if I stick my finger in his ass. ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2015, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-remedy-for-hiccups/734771/23 "2015-10-16T14:06:55Z")
So it seems like the most certain method is to mix up some peanut butter, sugar, water, lime, and bitters, and then drink it upside down as you hold your breath. Then have someone surprise you with a finger up your butt. It may not cure your hiccups, but it’ll certainly be a memorable experience. ---
**Author:** ![steronz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steronz/32/11765_2.png) [@steronz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steronz)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2015, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-remedy-for-hiccups/734771/24 "2015-10-16T14:21:43Z")
With a remedy like that, we need tricks on how to acquire the hiccups. ---
**Author:** ![GrumpyBunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bc8723/32.png) [@GrumpyBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrumpyBunny)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2015, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-remedy-for-hiccups/734771/25 "2015-10-16T14:21:59Z")
> [@raventhief](#): > > Drinking a glass of water upside down. Lean over, mouth on the far side of the glass , And drink. This works for me. So does the spoonful of sugar thing. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2015, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-remedy-for-hiccups/734771/26 "2015-10-16T14:25:26Z")
> [@raventhief](#): > > Drinking a glass of water upside down. Lean over, mouth on the far side of the glass , And drink. This is what I do and it works every time. I’ve tried a few of the other things mentioned here, but this is the only one that does it for me. ---
**Author:** ![August\_West](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/august_west/32/18069_2.png) [@August\_West](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/August_West)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2015, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-remedy-for-hiccups/734771/27 "2015-10-16T14:37:00Z")
Get a large glass of water and saw a serrated knife across the bottom as you drink it. I was a bartender for years and tried every form of hiccup “cure” on my customers and none of them worked. I gave up on attempting to stop them until a friend showed me this trick. It stops hiccups immediately. I **know** you’re skeptical, I was too. I claimed for a decade that hiccups were not curable, but this method shut me up. It’s witchcraft. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2015, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-remedy-for-hiccups/734771/28 "2015-10-16T17:00:55Z")
> [@Archeonomist](#): > > There is actually a cure, according to [this](http://qi.com/infocloud/hiccups) > > “The best cure for hiccups, in the sense that it’s medically proven, rather than being mere folklore, and involves no drugs or surgery - is digital rectal massage: a finger up the bottom. It’s been used successfully in cases of chronic hiccupping at least twice, in hospitals in Haifa, Israel, and in Tennessee.” Yeah, sure… especially if it happens on a date, right? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2015, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-remedy-for-hiccups/734771/29 "2015-10-16T17:04:16Z")
> [@August\_West](#): > > Get a large glass of water and saw a serrated knife across the bottom as you drink it. > > I was a bartender for years and tried every form of hiccup “cure” on my customers and none of them worked. I gave up on attempting to stop them until a friend showed me this trick. > > It stops hiccups immediately. I **know** you’re skeptical, I was too. I claimed for a decade that hiccups were not curable, but this method shut me up. It’s witchcraft. I can see where this would work, because it focuses the hiccuppers attention on something besides the hiccups. The husband of a friend of mine has a cure based on the same principle. He is a swarthy, menacing-looking fellow and his cure is to get in the hiccupper’s face and J U S T S T A R E in their eyes… **HARD**. If they don’t wet themselves, it works. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2015, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-remedy-for-hiccups/734771/30 "2015-10-16T17:14:02Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > The husband of a friend of mine has a cure based on the same principle. He is a swarthy, menacing-looking fellow and his cure is to get in the hiccupper’s face and > J U S T > S T A R E > in their eyes… **HARD**. If they don’t wet themselves, it works. Working in a shop with a guy I complained I couldn’t get rid of my hiccups. A big stout guy, he suddenly got in my face, looked pissed and said “So I hear you’ve been calling my wife a whore.” Well, truth be told she kinda was, although I was pretty sure I’d never have said anything of the kind. I stammered for a sec and said “Ken, I honestly have no clue as to why you’d say that.” He paused, smiled and said “Still got your hiccups?” No, I did not, they were miraculously gone. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2015, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-remedy-for-hiccups/734771/31 "2015-10-16T18:30:57Z")
Interesting…so, fear for your bodily safety? Presumably if you jumped off a building, your hiccups would be gone before you hit the pavement? ---
**Author:** ![Eutychus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Eutychus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eutychus)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2015, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-remedy-for-hiccups/734771/32 "2015-10-16T18:34:53Z")
Twist your little finger and say “Garbo” backwards. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2015, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-remedy-for-hiccups/734771/33 "2015-10-16T18:39:16Z")
> [@steronz](#): > > I also hold my breath, but critically, I _exhale_ every last bit of air from my lungs before doing so. As others have mentioned, the trick seems to be getting your brain into “panic over breathing” mode to reset your diaphragm, and if you take a deep breath first, that just means you have to hold your breath for a minute or so before you get there. If you exhale first, it takes about 15 seconds and works like gangbusters. Beat me to it. This is my guaranteed way to cure my own hiccups, and it works every single time for me. I’ve also found it helpful to allow my body to “strain” for air as I hold my breath. it’s like stretching out a cramp. ---
**Author:** ![northporlarbear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7bcc69/32.png) [@northporlarbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/northporlarbear)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2015, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-remedy-for-hiccups/734771/34 "2015-10-16T18:40:28Z")
Drinking water. Or I just wait for a minute, and it stops. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2015, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-remedy-for-hiccups/734771/35 "2015-10-16T18:53:41Z")
> [@Archeonomist](#): > > “The best cure for hiccups, in the sense that it’s medically proven, rather than being mere folklore, and involves no drugs or surgery - is digital rectal massage: a finger up the bottom. It’s been used successfully in cases of chronic hiccupping at least twice, in hospitals in Haifa, Israel, and in Tennessee.” So this is like the Heimlich Maneuver then. If I see someone hiccupping at a restaurant I should just bend them over and stick my finger up their ass. I’ll be a hero. ---
**Author:** ![sitchensis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sitchensis/32/4892_2.png) [@sitchensis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sitchensis)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2015, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-remedy-for-hiccups/734771/36 "2015-10-16T19:29:31Z")
> [@tuesdayweld](#): > > Pour bitters over a wedge of lime, put it in your mouth and chew. Works every time. Seconding the lime and bitters ---
**Author:** ![Canadjun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/76d3ee/32.png) [@Canadjun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Canadjun)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2015, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-remedy-for-hiccups/734771/37 "2015-10-16T20:30:11Z")
Guaranteed cure - just hold your breath for 20 minutes. ---
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2015, 8:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-remedy-for-hiccups/734771/38 "2015-10-17T08:02:02Z")
We haven’t done one of these threads in quite a while! Mine: Old self-hypnoses trick: Visualize a Figure Eight pattern on its side on your forehead. Nothing exists except that figure eight track. Now visualize a dot moving along the track. Your inhales and exhales power the dot along the track. Just that dot on that track, smoothly propelled by your breathing. I can do it faster than I can type up the instructions. Yes, it works for hiccups. Self-Hypnoses? Maybe not so much… ---
**Author:** ![TheSpeculationElucidation](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@TheSpeculationElucidation](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheSpeculationElucidation)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2015, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-remedy-for-hiccups/734771/39 "2015-10-17T11:32:04Z")
> [@steronz](#): > > With a remedy like that, we need tricks on how to acquire the hiccups. HA! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-remedy-for-hiccups/734771.md?page=1)