# What's your surefire cure for hiccups? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 8, 2008, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-surefire-cure-for-hiccups/466943 "2008-10-08T02:32:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mixolydian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/da6949/32.png) [@Mixolydian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mixolydian)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2008, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-surefire-cure-for-hiccups/466943/1 "2008-10-08T02:32:24Z")
Here’s mine… Put both thumbs in your ears (enough of a seal as possible), and, while simultaneously both pinkies pinching your nostrils shut, take 3 or more good swallows of water, either through a straw or holding a paper cup in your teeth. Looks ridiculous, but guaranteed effective. Even worked for my three-year old this evening - with my assistance of course. Got any others? ---
**Author:** ![Buckler\_of\_Swashing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Buckler\_of\_Swashing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buckler_of_Swashing)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2008, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-surefire-cure-for-hiccups/466943/2 "2008-10-08T02:38:32Z")
Mine is similar. I block my ears, hold my breath, constrict my throat and just swallow a few times (I don’t drink - I just ‘swallow’ nothing). Works for me. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2008, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-surefire-cure-for-hiccups/466943/3 "2008-10-08T03:08:12Z")
I just hold my breath. Give my lungs a little “reboot.” Seems to work. Although…now I can’t remember the last time I had hiccups. Maybe I cured them for good? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Ms.Pumpkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a87d85/32.png) [@Ms.Pumpkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms.Pumpkin)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2008, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-surefire-cure-for-hiccups/466943/4 "2008-10-08T03:16:26Z")
Take a sip of water, but don’t swallow it. Bend forward at your waist as far as you can and then swallow the water. My 4th grade violin instructor taught me this(only she had me trying to drink out of “the wrong side” of a glass- much messier), and it’s worked for me ever since. ---
**Author:** ![Valgard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/7feea3/32.png) [@Valgard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Valgard)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2008, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-surefire-cure-for-hiccups/466943/5 "2008-10-08T03:29:14Z")
BOO! Did that help? ---
**Author:** ![Ace309](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ace309/32/1050_2.png) [@Ace309](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ace309)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2008, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-surefire-cure-for-hiccups/466943/6 "2008-10-08T03:36:44Z")
[You don’t want to know.](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2299306) ---
**Author:** ![PapSett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecc23a/32.png) [@PapSett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PapSett)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2008, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-surefire-cure-for-hiccups/466943/7 "2008-10-08T03:37:11Z")
I have a really… odd one that has never failed to work for me. Close your eyes. Imagine a long, dark stage. Begin holding your breath. On that stage, imagine the 10 best looking men or women (Your preference) you have ever seen. Naked. Look at the first one. Thoroughly. Move on to the second. Repeat. I have never gotten past the third, and my hiccups are gone. Dammit. The explaination I have heard is that it changes your breathing pattern. I dunno… but it works. Every time. ---
**Author:** ![Mixolydian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/da6949/32.png) [@Mixolydian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mixolydian)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2008, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-surefire-cure-for-hiccups/466943/8 "2008-10-08T03:42:30Z")
> [@Ace309](#): > > [You don’t want to know.](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2299306) :eek: (LMAO) ---
**Author:** ![Dignan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f07891/32.png) [@Dignan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dignan)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2008, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-surefire-cure-for-hiccups/466943/9 "2008-10-08T03:58:16Z")
The most effective technique I have ever personally witnessed was my 8th grade social studies teacher. There was some sort of group project going on, and a girl had the hiccups. The teacher asked who had the hiccups, and then proceeded to say something about disrupting class, etc. She had this whole routine down, and when she finished, she looked at the girl, and said, “Your hiccups are gone now, aren’t they?” And they were. Probably a little frightening for a middle school kid, but it worked. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2008, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-surefire-cure-for-hiccups/466943/10 "2008-10-08T04:00:21Z")
Drink from the opposite side of the glass. ---
**Author:** ![Mrs\_Johnson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7cd45c/32.png) [@Mrs\_Johnson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mrs_Johnson)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2008, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-surefire-cure-for-hiccups/466943/11 "2008-10-08T04:01:06Z")
My grandma’s tip: 7 sips of water. Don’t breathe - just sip, swallow, repeat. It works for me every time. ---
**Author:** ![Leah\_M](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/57b2e6/32.png) [@Leah\_M](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leah_M)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2008, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-surefire-cure-for-hiccups/466943/12 "2008-10-08T04:05:23Z")
If the hiccups are really painful and persistent, swallowing a level teaspoonful of dry plain sugar quickly, all in one gulp, completely gets rid of them in seconds for me. ---
**Author:** ![Randy\_Seltzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ee7513/32.png) [@Randy\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Randy_Seltzer)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2008, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-surefire-cure-for-hiccups/466943/13 "2008-10-08T04:18:20Z")
Breathe diaphragmatically. An old singing coach once explained to me that hiccups are a remnant from our fetal days. In the months before birth, our breathing muscles must develop, but actual breathing would damage the lungs by forcing amniotic fluid in and out of them. The solution is to spasm the diaphragm, but force shut the epiglottis before anything can be taken in.[sup]1[/sup] Thus: the hiccup. Since it’s caused by the diaphragm, it can be solved by consciously controlling the diaphragm. Most people, when they inhale, use both their diaphragms and their rib cages, dropping the diaphragm and expanding the rib cage to increase lung volume. If you eliminate the chest movement, and allow your diaphragm to do all the work of inhalation, the conscious control of the muscle will eventually cause the spasms to subside.[sup]2[/sup] It’s probably all pseudoscience, but hey, a couple minutes of diaphragm-breathing always cures my hiccups. [sup]1[/sup]I have two reasons to doubt this guy. First, I believe that our lungs are full of fluid before birth, so there’s no reason to avoid filling them. Second, he was a music teacher. How much could he possibly know about physiology? [sup]2[/sup]If it doesn’t work as a hiccup cure, at least you’ll improve your breathing for the purposes of proper vocal technique. ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2008, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-surefire-cure-for-hiccups/466943/14 "2008-10-08T04:19:32Z")
Just relax your diaphram… my wife can do it easily because she is a singer. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2008, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-surefire-cure-for-hiccups/466943/15 "2008-10-08T04:27:58Z")
A teaspoon of peanut butter has always worked for me. Plus, you get to eat a spoonful of peanut butter. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2008, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-surefire-cure-for-hiccups/466943/16 "2008-10-08T12:20:22Z")
Decapitation This has a familiar ring to it – didn’t we do this about six years ago or so? … ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2008, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-surefire-cure-for-hiccups/466943/17 "2008-10-08T12:25:03Z")
> [@featherlou](#): > > A teaspoon of peanut butter has always worked for me. Plus, you get to eat a spoonful of peanut butter. 🙂 Swallowing a tablespoonful of vinegar works without fail for me, plus you get to drink some vinegar ! ---
**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 8, 2008, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-surefire-cure-for-hiccups/466943/18 "2008-10-08T12:58:32Z")
Hold a plastic cup full of water between your teeth and drink it with your fingers in your ears. I remember years ago reading an anecdote by someone who had been in a bar where one patron had “incurable” hiccups and Mark Knopfler of _Dire Straits_ had come over and showed them the same technique, with positive results. Once in a bar I had really bad hiccups and the barman handed me a shot of _Grenadine_ and told me to “just knock it back.” Worked like a charm. Free too. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2008, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-surefire-cure-for-hiccups/466943/19 "2008-10-08T13:06:19Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Decapitation Two in the hat is a lot less messy if you keep it to a small caliber. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2008, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-surefire-cure-for-hiccups/466943/20 "2008-10-08T13:10:40Z")
> [@Cunctator](#): > > Drink from the opposite side of the glass. Yes. This is the only one the works for me. And you have to drink continuously for about minute. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-surefire-cure-for-hiccups/466943.md?page=2)