Strange Causes and Even Stranger Cures for Hiccups

For most of us hiccups are no more than a nuisance that has no known physiologic function. For others, hiccups can be so persistent that they lead to malnutrition, weight loss, fatigue, dehydration and insomnia. Persistant hiccups occur more frequently in men, but even infants can get hiccups. In fact, babies can get hiccups before they're even born with fetal hiccups occurring especially in the third trimester.

Some of the more unusual causes of hiccups include:

• malingering (pretending to be ill)
• tobacco use
• brainstem tumors
• sudden changes in gastrointestinal temperature
• foreign bodies in contact with the tympanic membrane in your ear
• a rare complication of AIDS

Some of the tried and true hiccup cures:

• Breathing into a bag
• Drinking from the opposite side of a glass
• Swallowing granulated sugar
• Ice water gargles
• Biting on a lemon
• Valsalva maneuver (exhaling with mouth closed and nostrils pinched shut)
• Breath holding
• Fright
• Noxious odors (inhaling ammonia)

Some of the newer cures for hiccups:

• marijuana use
• hypnotherapy
• acupuncture
• anti-psychotics, anticonvulsants, antidepressants

Most extreme cure for hiccups:

• An implantable breathing pacemaker cured 5 individuals who had suffered from intractable hiccups for up to 13 years.

Reference:

Fishman, M. Overview of Hiccups. UpToDate. 2007.