Hiccup? This trick really helps against the tormentor

Away with it!
Hiccup? This trick really helps to get rid of the tormentor straight away

We all know various tricks that are supposed to help against hiccups: scare, hold your breath, drink a glass of water over your head – but it doesn’t have to be that unpleasant or complicated. Instead, a simple trick can help.

Sayings like “Someone is thinking of you” used to try to put a pleasant spin on the annoying hiccups. And as a child, it was still fun to scare others or to be scared yourself – sometimes with more or less success as far as the tormentor was concerned.

But in my current everyday life, the hiccups often hit me when I’m working from home – and thinking about the past lunch is more fun when someone else assigns you such a bizarre task. I myself have it more often hiccups to do. Most of the time it comes out of nowhere and lasts for several minutes, no matter how long I hold my breath… And then it’s only gone for a few moments before it comes back just as annoying. But not with this trick that changed my life in an instant. When I heard about it, I thought it would never work. Too simple. Then everyone would be doing it long ago if it actually worked, right? At least that’s how it is for me as of today.

Hiccup trick: How to get rid of it

It really makes you wonder, but it helps to put your fingers in your ears. One on the left, one on the right. The moment I tried it, my hiccups immediately disappeared and I couldn’t believe it. The vagus nerve is responsible for making this easy measure work. It connects the brain to the abdomen – and if we stimulate it with a different sensation, it can get rid of our hiccups. All the other methods that many of us know can also work. However, they are often much more complicated than this trick. For example, drinking a glass of water overhead. I would probably hurt myself.

What do all the anti-hiccup methods have in common? They are a distraction. They are meant to focus our attention on something else. That’s why other tips, according to the Department of Surgery at the NYU School of Medicine, include counting backwards from 100 or tickling the upper side of the oral cavity with a Q-tip. Strange, but apparently quite effective. So if the finger method doesn’t work, you can always try these tricks or resort to the classics. Other options could include reciting the alphabet backwards or figuring out something difficult in your head.

What can you do to prevent hiccups from occurring in the first place?

Hiccups can be caused by stress or have something to do with your own digestion. Possible reasons for hiccups can be, for example, these:

Another option may be that you swallowed too much air in some way, such as chewing gum or smoking. Strong emotions such as excitement can also cause hiccups. In my case, my frequent hiccups may come from a preference for spicy food, a taste that I love, but unfortunately my body doesn’t… But at least now I’ve found a hiccup cure for myself.

Sources used: froemkelab.med.nyu.edu, betterhealth.vic.gov.au, mayoclinic.org, nhs.uk

Bridget