Hic...Hic...Hiccups: Causes and Cures for Your Body's Most Annoying Reaction

Everyone in the world has been affected by the most annoying occurrence known to man... hiccups. They show up at the most awkward times and make a nuisance of themselves when you try to talk, sleep, or eat. But what exactly are hiccups? Why do we get them? And most importantly, how do we get rid of them?

Hiccups or sometimes called hiccoughs, are involuntary spasms of the diaphragm that repeats several times a minute. The diaphragm is the dome-shaped muscle that is at the bottom of your chest. The diaphragm almost always works perfectly. When you inhale, it pulls down to help pull air into the lungs. When you exhale, it pushes up to help push air out of the lungs. But sometimes the diaphragm becomes irritated. When this happens, it pulls jerks down, which makes you suck air into your throat suddenly. When the air rushing in hits your voice box, you're left with a big hiccup.

A lot of times, hiccups can happen if you eat too fast, eating too fast causes you to swallow air along with our food causing a case of the hiccups. Also, eating too much fatty foods, eating very hot or spicy foods or drinking too much can irritate the diaphragm and result in hiccups. Laughing vigorously or coughing can trigger hiccups as well. Some medical conditions such as hysteria, personality disorders, laryngitis, multiple sclerosis, meningitis, peptic ulcers, low sodium, low potassium, low calcium, high glucose, emotional stress, smoking, sudden temperature changes, stomach inflammation, and indigestion can also cause hiccups.

A case of the hiccups is rarely a medical emergency, however if your case of the hiccups is frequent and last more than 3 hours, or if they interfere with your daily life such as your sleeping patterns and you have any abdominal pain or you spit up blood when hiccupping, you really should seek medical attention. Any disease or disorder that irritates the nerves that control the diaphragm such as pleurisy or pneumonia or a stroke or tumor affecting the hiccup center in the brain can cause a medical emergency. If you have recently had abdominal surgery, hiccups can be present. Doctors have prescribed medications suck as Lioresal and Dilantin, both have been successful to get rid of those annoying hiccups. A last resort for ridding hiccups has been surgery to disable the phrenic nerve, but like I said that is a last resort.

Hiccups are common and normal in newborns and infants. During the first few months, babies will hiccup at regular intervals, this is quite normal and is nothing to be alarmed about, and you may notice hiccups to be present particularly when the baby gets excited or just after feeding. Much has to do with the relative immaturity of the baby's internal organs. Frequent burping during feeding may decrease the instances of the hiccups. Hiccups for babies can last anywhere fro a minute or so up to an hour at a time but they do not harm the baby in any way.

The most known case of the hiccups was from Charles Osborne, he began hiccupping in 1922 while slaughtering a hog and they continued for 68 years until he died of complications from ulcers in 1991. Despite his conditions, he was able to lead a normal life, marry twice and have eight children.

A lot of home remedies exist for getting rid of hiccups. Here are some things that you can try:

Hold your breath.

Drink a glass of water quickly.

Have someone try to scare you.

Use smelling salts.

Pull hard on your tongue.

Place half a teaspoon of dry sugar on the back of your tongue.

Bite into a wedge of lemon.

One shot of apple vinegar.

Rub the soft part of the pallet on the inside of your mouth for 20-30 seconds.

Chew up and swallow one large marshmallow.

The reason that these remedies are thought to work is that carbon dioxide build-up in the blood will stop hiccups, which is what happens when you hold your breath. If the vagus nerve that runs from the brain to the stomach is stimulated, hiccups can also be alleviated (this is what is happening when you drink water or pull on your tongue).

All in all, this annoying reaction can be resolved by one of the hundreds of home remedies that are out there, if none of them work for you...patience is a virtue.