Home Remedies for Getting Rid of Hiccups

What are hiccups anyway? Hiccups are a sudden involuntary contraction (spasm) of the diaphragm muscle. When the muscle spasms, the vocal cords snap shut, making the hiccup sound. Hiccups are usually a minor temporary annoyance and sometimes are good for a laugh. But there are times when hiccups last a prolonged amount of time and can be very disruptive. Try the following methods to get rid of hiccups fast.

Hold Your Breath

Holding your breath is probably the most widely known remedy for hiccups. This is believed to be an effective method because holding your breath causes the body to retain carbon dioxide. And carbon dioxide is believed to relax the diaphragm which in turn stops the spasms, therefore stopping the hiccups.

Drink Water Upside Down

What? Yep, you heard right. The way to do this is to bend forward and drink the water from the far side of the glass. The glass isn't actually upside down. It's you that's upside down!

Sugar

Slowly eat 1 teaspoon of white sugar.

Crushed Ice

A simple home remedy is to suck on crushed ice to relieve hiccups.

Lemon

Biting on a lemon is an old fashioned remedy believed to stop hiccups.

Stick Your Tongue Out

Stick your tongue out as far as you can. The belief is that this will open your throat and stop your diaphragm from spasming.

Honey

Take a teaspoon of honey as soon as the hiccups start.

Peanut Butter

A home remedy for hiccups that has been around for a long time is to eat 1 teaspoon of peanut butter as soon as hiccups start.

Breathing

Breathing into a small paper bag is thought to stop hiccups. Make sure the bag is pressed tightly around your mouth.

Have Someone Surprise You

Then there's the oldest known hiccup remedy in the book. Have someone sneak up on you and scare you!

Source:

http://answers.webmd.com/answers/1178443/What-are-hiccups