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It's a
reflex similar to your leg jerking when a doctor hits a hammer to your
knee. Hiccups result when the vagus nerve or one of its branches, which
run from the brain to the abdomen, is irritated. And the vagus lets you
know by tweaking the phrenic nerve, which leads to the diaphragm, the muscle
below the lungs that helps you breathe. The diaphragm then spasms, causing
the "hic."
The home remedies used to stop a hiccuping bout are believed to word on two principles. Some basically rely on overstimulating the vagus nerve. Nerver deal with a number of different sensations, from temperature to taste. When one sensation is more overwhelming than another, the vagus nerver tells the brain that thers's something more important to deal with. The brain then shuts off the hiccop response. Here are some tried-and-true remedies: Play "hear no evil." Some doctors recommend that you put your fingers in your ears - and not because they don't want you to hear yourself hiccop. It seems that branches of the vagus nerve also reach into the suditory system, and by stimulating the nerver endings there, the vagus nerve goes into action. Of course, other doctors insist that you should never put anything smaller than you elbow in you ear in order to avoid irritating or damaging the ear canal. So if you do decide to try this hiccup reliever, be gentle, and don't stick your fingers too far into your ears. Get scared silly. Having someone surprise you may be the one method that overwhelms the vagus nerve more than anything else. It is similar to the method adults uses to quiet a child who is crying endlessly. Out of frustration, a parent may yell at the child to stop, and sure enough, the child will stop, almost as if on cue. Scaring the vagus may shut it up. Drink water. Swallowing water interrupts the hiccuping cycle, which can quiet the nerves. Gargling with watermay also have the same hiccup-stopping effect. Sweeten the hiccups. Mary Poppins sang that a spoonful of sugar
helps the medicine go down. But does it help hiccups? Many experts think
so. The nerve endings in the mouth become overloaded with the sweet sensation.
Have a teaspoon of sugar , and if you can, place the sugar on the back
of the tongue, where "sour" is tasted. This way, the sugar overload will
pack the most punch.
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When You Can't
Stop the Hiccups Though thankfully
rare, chronic or
consistent hiccups can be a sign of a more
serious problem. Among medical
reasons for hiccups are infection; renal (kidney)
failure; liver disease;
cancer, including lung cancer; nervous system or
abdominal problems, such as ulcers;
and even heart attacks.
Virtually anything that affects the
head, chest, or abdomen can be
implicated, reports the National Heart,
Lung and Blood Institute
in Bethesda, Maryland.
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