We’ve all experienced it at one point of our lives, you’re laughing, drinking a lot of alcohol, or maybe simply eating something to fast, causing a spasm in your stomach. Here it comes: the hiccups. And with hiccups, everyone has their own set of remedies to cure them.
Although there’s no real cure for hiccups, it’s quite interesting to see the cures that most people employ while they’re hiccupping. However, what we’ve noticed, is that there are generally two types of remedies to hiccups, and they fall under two categories.
The first one is the method of trying to increase levels of carbon dioxide in the blood. This usually includes holding your breath, breathing into a paper bag, or maybe even keeping breaths short and quick. Sometimes they work, sometimes, not really. However, scientists aren’t exactly sure why and researchers try to speculate why. There are speculations about the body getting distracted from the hiccups by the lack of oxygen and increased carbon dioxide. Other scientists suggest that hiccups are actually caused by low levels of carbon dioxide, and when you hold your breath, you try to increase it back to normal levels, therefore stopping the hiccups.
The second type of remedy to hiccups involves stimulation of the vagus nerve running the course of your brain to your stomach. The vagus nerve coordinates breathing and swallowing, why you can try to breath while swallowing, but can’t. According to some scientists, the nerve is implicated when you have hiccups, and stimulating the nerve can stop the infamous hiccups. Remedies like drinking a lot of water (or alcohol!), biting a lemon, or eating crushed ice come to mind. It’s kind of like trying to distract the body so that it isn’t focused on your hiccups anymore.
Despite all of this, these are all only speculations, though, some still claim that it has something to do with the brain, and that you can train it to stop hiccups at any point. Here at the office, the boss recommends apple cider vinegar, but of course, everyone has their own remedies.
However, the next time you’ve got hiccups, keep those in mind, and then forget about them as you chug down on that bottle of Absolut while your friends cheer you on! Talk about distracting from the hiccups – that would, wouldn’t it?
