THE HICCUP PAGE


Introduction

Hiccupping is utterly useless and for some of us a frustrating experience. You probably did it before you were born and will probably get the hiccups every now and then until you depart from this earth.

According to Guinness the longest recorded attack of hiccupping was 69 years and 5 months. Charles Osboune (1894-1991) began hiccupping in 1922 and hiccupped every 1 1/2 second until a morning a February 1990. He died only a year and a bit later on May 1st 1991. And you thought having them for a few minutes was bad!


Hiccup Cures

There must be thousands of cures and they date back ... way back. Most of the cures try to increase the carbon dioxide levels in the blood or disrupt the impulses causing the hiccups. Physicians say that most hiccups will stop on their own in few minutes, but if you're like me you'll keep trying any and all of these cures and more until they are gone!

AHH... SUGAR
Take sugar swallowed dry, some say take a teaspoon others a tablespoon, and some say white and some say brown sugar, I think that depends on your personal taste.

UPSIDE DOWN GULP
Take a glass of water, bend over forward and drink the water upside down. Now we know how to drink from the other side of the glass too!

WATERY EARS
Put your hands over your ears and have someone you trust (trust the key word here) feed you a glass of water, holding your breath and drinking slowing while doing this trick may help. For me this is one of the only methods that works. If you don't have anyone you can trust around you can place the cup on a counter put your index fingers in your ears. Then bend forward and grab the cup with your thumbs and pinkie fingers. I would suggest a non-breakable glass if you're going to attempt this marvel of dexterity!

TO BREATHE OR NOT TO BREATHE
Simply holding your breath works for some. Blowing out air in a steady slow stream is a another technique, this relaxes the diaphragm. If you are a runner and find you get shoulder cramps you can try the pursed lips and blowing technique as well. Believe it or not the pain in your shoulder could be caused by your diaphragm as the shoulder is one of the closest nerve endings for the diaphragm.

THE LONG DRINK
Drink a large glass of water very slowly. Take well over a minute to drink about a half litre.  

BREATHING PLUS
Hold your breath and
Pass your arm behind your back, and pull it with your other hand while you hold your breath.

BROWN PAPER BAG
Breath in and out 10 times into a brown paper bag. Make sure there is a good seal around your mouth and breath HARD. Your face should be red when you are done.

TONGUE PULLING
Pull hard on your tongue

SPOON GAGGING
Lift your uvula with a spoon. Your uvula is that thing that hangs down in the back of your mouth. If that doesn't work while you have the spoon you could try the spoon upside down, under the tongue and hold for a few moments.

GARGLE
Simply gargle with water, add a little salt if you like.

I NOSE HOW
AHH CHOO! Take one involuntary reflex and cure it with another. Sneeze! Find some magic sneezing powder and sniff. You could always substitute pepper if you don't have any magic sneezing powder about. 

SUCK ON THIS
Suck on some crushed ice, try a lemon wedge or a spoonful of peanut butter.

HAVE A SHOT
Try a "shot" of pickle juice, pickles and other kinds of shots have been known to cause the hiccups, so why not turn the tables and get even with a "bite of the dog that bit you"...so to speak.

ICE ME
Try taking ice right to the problem area. Place an ice bag on the diaphragm, just below the rib cage.

TICKLE ME
This one may work better on kids. Tickle them and tell them not to laugh. You can be sure if they are at all ticklish they will change there breathing pattern and this may stop those hiccups.

MOUTH TICKLING
Take a cotton swab and rub it on the roof of your mouth at the point where the hard and soft palate meet.

BURP COUGH
Force a belch and coughing without inhaling, is a sure fire cure for Jeff. It requires a trifle of muscle control, but we can overcome involuntary reflexes if we try hard enough. Best done in private as it looks a little silly.

BELLY RUBBING
Rubbing the hiccupping person's belly button seems to work for Dennis. Pressing inward just as the hiccup occurs may "catch them" and cure the person instantly. I would suggest caution with this cure, pressing on your innards may be hazardous to your health.

MIND OVER HICCUP
Just thinking about the next hiccup may stop you from having them. Some say that after the first few hiccups the rest are just in your mind and your body is following your mind. If this were true why do babies get the hiccups? Anyway just try to predict when the next hiccup will strike! You may be concentrating so hard that it just won't arrive. If you are with someone who has the hiccups offer them something if they can hiccup just three more times. If you offer them something like $5 or $20 it works even better!

SCARED HICCUP
When you have the hiccups, if someone startles or scares you, most of the time the hiccups will disappear. Now to be properly startled you have to be unaware of what is about to happen. So how do you get someone to startle you without being aware that they are about to scare you? I think an easier question might be "what came first the chicken or the egg"?



Mail a cure that that works for you


About the Hiccup Page
This page started one day in 1992 (I think), yes, that is over 10 years ago! Even at that time I thought the Internet was full of good and useful information. I wanted to learn a bit about HTML and thought to make a web page about a subject I could not find on the Internet. Hiccups, I thought it was a humorous subject until I personally got the hiccups for about three days straight. The page has not really changed that much in 10 years, this has been intentional. Why mess with a good thing? The page has moved a few times and been updated with new "cures" from time to time, and so it shall remain in it's own little corner on the Internet for quite some to come. Enjoy it!