Hiccups Cure

I'm sure there are many ways to cure hiccups, but this is the only one that has worked for me. Please feel free to post your own cure in the comments below. The best part about this hiccup cure is that you can perform it on your friends and most of the time they're impressed and quite happy to not have the hiccups any more. It's pretty straight forward.

1. Get a cup/glass/bottle of water.

2. Take a small sip about every 5 seconds for 30-60 seconds.

3. Your hiccups should be gone.

If you want to make it a party trick and do this for a friend, make sure you're the one holding the glass and putting it up to their mouth every 5 seconds or so. Most people don't know how to cure hiccups, so it's actually pretty fun.

I have self administered this several times and it has worked every time.

Why I think it works?
Many other solutions involve drinking water, taking sugar, holding your breathe, etc. You just need some way to control your breathing to settle your diaphragm down.

Step 1: From the Archives of Time Magazine - Monday, Sep. 06, 1948

I found this article from 1948 during my google search and thought it was pretty funny. I really don't like to fly that much, so the last one is my worst nightmare.

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Almost everybody, except a doctor, thinks he knows a sure cure for hiccups. And sometimes the home remedies work.

Theodore L. Syvertson, of Pasadena, a 69-year-old retired building contractor, had hiccuped almost continuously, once every ten seconds, since November 1946. He lost ten pounds, spent nine months in hospitals, had consultations with 60 doctors which did him no good. Last week he tried bending over at the waist while drinking water from the far side of a glass. Halfway through the second glass, his hiccups stopped.

Pauline Lucas, 31, of Waynesburg, Pa., was hiccuping last week 10 to 25 times a minute, as she has since last Feb. 23. She has not tried Syvertson's method. Suggestions received in 8,000 letters have included such standard remedies as breathing in & out of a paper bag and eating ice cream. Doctors at Greene County Memorial Hospital have tried sedatives, anesthesia, benzyl benzoate (a relaxing drug), quinidine sulfate (a quinine-like drug used to regulate abnormal heart rhythms), amyl nitrite (a drug used to treat angina pectoris).

The doctors are also considering the new drug myanesin (TIME, July 12), and may suggest crushing one of the patient's phrenic nerves (TIME, Jan. 27, 1947) to stop the spasms of the diaphragm that cause the hiccups. Miss Lucas, whose weight has dropped from 129 Ibs. to 85, is willing to try almost anything.

Juniata McMichen, 19, of Atlanta, tried a variation of the scare technique. She took an hour-long ride in a stunting airplane, including a dive from 10,000 feet. It was her first plane ride and she was "almost scared to death." But it did no good; she climbed out hiccuping six a minute. Doctors finally cured her by crushing a phrenic nerve.

Here's the article.

Comments

[Tom Bedsworth]

Easy hiccup remedy..PUT YOUR CHIN AS CLOSE TO YOUR CHEST AS IS COMFORTABLE BREATHE NORMALLY FOR ONE MINUTE. IF THAT DOES NOT DO THE TRICK SEE A DOCTOR.

[3dChris]

Drinking small sips of water every few seconds doesn't help me. When I get them I get them bad. And I have found the only thing that consistently works for me is to get one or two full glasses or bottles of water, and drink at a continuous and medium to 'gulping' pace. I think it's the combination of being super full (it helps if it's something easy on the stomach like water - no carbonated beverages and no alcohol) and mostly due to all the muscles that are involved while swallowing water being kept 'busy'. If I notice the hiccup pattern is about once every 30 seconds, then I try to continuously drink for 30-60 seconds, while breathing through my nose very calmly. The longer I need to drink , the more the gulps get reduced to more like sips. But if I stop early, or pause while drinking, usually the hiccup sneaks in at that moment. I hope this helps someone else. Just try to be calm and focus on breathing while drinking and drinking and drinking....

[andy00077]

tickle them until they laugh so much they forget about hiccuping:)

[andy00077]

[Cheezpaper]

Hiccups you get 30 mins- 2 hours after eating is usually caused by indigestion. You can get rid of these types of hiccups easily by taking in a deep breath and hold it for a while. When you feel out of breath, quickly exhale and take another deep breath. Repeat for as long as you have hiccups, and they should be gone.

This is because If you take a deep breath and hold it, it puts pressure on your stomach, so it can excrete acids more easily.

I hope this helps!

By the way, the author should totally add this. =]

[zixx65]

that idea almost made me choke!!!!!!

[ludeen]

this isnt a cure, the hic ups would naturaly go by then

[lieuwe]

a way to test if you have hiccups is to fake a cough, when you have hiccups and you cough, the cough turns into a *coughic*, another way to stop hiccups is to hold your breath as long as possible, and then again, that always works for me

[luvit]

i call my local exorcist. it's free.

[iamthemeatball]

spoonful of sugar has always worked for me. note- you have to BITE the sugar.

[itsmanofpopsicle]

i swallow whole packs and it works

[Srsparkyjr]

What works for me is, Totally think of something different and not concentrate on getting rid of ur hic cups. Like write a quick story in your head, or think about what you did yesterday.

[CMPalmer]

Sugar has almost always worked for me. A packet or a teaspoon - force it down as dry as possible in one swallow. A spoonful of peanut butter also works most of the time (again, force it down in one gulp). The funniest cure that has worked for me was when I was ordering at a restaurant. After I placed my order, the clerk asked "Is there anything else I can do for you?" I said, "Can you cure my hiccups?" She said, "Sure. Name three bald actors." I thought for a minute and said, "Yul Brenner... Bruce Willis... and, uh, Natalie Portman in V for Vendetta." She said, "Now your hiccups are gone!" And they were...

[marc92]

it just takes your mind of the hiccups and thats why it works

[owlsVSsnakes]

water is good. I administer like so: hold glass of water in front of you put mouth over the FAR rim of the cup pressing your upper lip to the outside bend over and drink upside down, if you do this right you should be looking at your nether region. BTW. Don't let anyone see you do this. It's awkward to do, and even more awkward when someone looks stares at you at you afterwards. m

[wingman246]

if someone has the hiccups, ask them what they had for breakfast, don't know how it works but it usually works. It seems like everyone has their own way to cure their own hiccups.

[fgizzardbrain]

My mom was a teacher for many years, and this always worked for her: offer the person who is hiccuping a nickel if they can hiccup again. Works with any currency and she never lost a penny to a student.

[pharoah]

Works every time for me: Get a mouthful of water clamp your hands over both ears to seal them off swallow the water in small amounts until it's all gone.

[tiuk]

I hold my breath for 60 seconds, works every time. Some people have trouble holding their breath that long (I can go for 2+ minutes), especially doing it without hiccuping, so YMMV. My girlfriend absolutely can't do it, for example.

[lebowski]

2+ minutes is a long time, did you train to get there?