Everyone has hiccups, either right after eating a meal or before starting. The reasons are different, but it often creates embarrassment if you are in company or in a restaurant. Fortunately, hiccups only last a few moments, but there are cases where it doesn’t go away easily.
What is hiccups?
The hiccup is a transient phenomenon, which causes repeated and sometimes involuntary contractions of the diaphragm. It can often happen when you have a quick meal, when you are short on time, as a result you take in too much air and consequently hiccups occur. But it should be noted that hiccups are not a disease, but a simple frequent ailment, which, for some, becomes really annoying. In fact, sometimes for a few moments or even minutes.
How to stop hiccups?
Hiccups can happen often, but how can you get rid of it? Let’s discover some small remedies.
1 Drink a glass of water: just drink a glass of plain water. You can swallow water quickly, but you have to take small sips.
2 Squeeze the earlobes: help yourself with your thumb and forefinger, press the earlobes, and shake gently. You don’t have to put too much pressure on it because you risk stimulating some nerve endings.
3 Gargle: drink some water and do the classic gargle, you will notice that the hiccups go away.
4 Hold your breath a little and no more!
5 Drink water and sugar or lemon: put a little lemon juice in a glass with water, or dissolve a teaspoon of sugar in water, then drink.
6 Chewing bread: you can chew dry and not exactly fresh bread.
7 Lemon slice: you can cut a slice of lemon and try to chew the lemon a little to stimulate the vagus nerve, so it relaxes the diaphragm.
8 Ice: According to the owner of the Montgomery County Chiropractic Center, hiccups pass quickly with a crushed ice cube. Place a cube on the nape of the neck and another cube five centimeters below the jaw. Leave it like this for 20 minutes, so it goes to stop the blood flow to the vagus nerve will stop the hiccups.
9 Breathe into a paper bag: the classic bag that bars use to take away sweets. Breathing into the pouch reduces the CO2 level in your blood and will help relax your nerves.
10 Bring your knees to your chest: just sit on a sofa and bend your legs and bring your knees to your chest. This creates compression on the diaphragm which in this way relieves the pressure on the diaphragm.
11 Fear: with a fright the hiccups could pass. Maybe you can blow up a balloon and pop it so that the person concerned is scared. This will create an unconditional reflex which blocks the contraction of the diaphragm.
12 Tickling: holding your breath and being tickled but without laughing is a foolproof method.
Never underestimate hiccups
As mentioned, hiccups are a transitory problem and not a disease, so there is no need to be alarmed. But when the problem may persist it is advisable to contact your doctor and talk about it. There are cases where the problem could arise from inflammation of the pericardium esophageal gastric reflux gastritis. Then it will be the doctor who will show you how to proceed by diagnosing the problem.
But hiccups could be “prevented”, perhaps by avoiding eating quickly, but chopping food well would be a good and healthy habit that everyone should have. Not only should you also limit alcohol or foods that are too hot or cold.
