The Hiccup Cure to End All Hiccup Cures:
The best thing about getting the hiccups in a large group of people is that everyone will have a different embarrassing treatment for you to laugh at. Since hiccups occur when your stomach is too full of food or booze, or when you are emotionally excited, you’re almost guaranteed to have the majority of your hiccup attacks in public.
But here is a Pro Tip: Anything that you can do to desensitize the Vagus Nerve signal that runs from your brain to your diaphragm will stop your hiccups. This Vagus Nerve branches into the back of your mouth and esophagus as well as your diaphragm. So this brings us to..
Vagus Nerve disruption tactic #1 - irritate another branch of the nerve.
- tickle the roof of your mouth with a cotton ball or your fingernails
- swallow a tablespoon of dry granulated sugar
And if those don’t appeal to you feel free to try:Vagus Nerve disruption tactic #2 - halt your breathing enough to increase the amount of carbon dioxide in your blood, thereby desensitizing the nerve:
- Hold your breath and take 20 tiny sips of water
- Plug your ears and chug a bunch of water or
- Whisper quietly into a hiccuping friend’s ear, “If you had a dinosaur in your backyard what color would it be?”
This dinosaur one works (I promise it works!) because the question is so weird every hiccuping person automatically holds their breath while they consider it. It is maybe the finest hiccup solution ever known.
So, to all my bloated, drunk, and/or emotionally excited friends: it is my sincerest hope that knowing science, while not likely to make you any less bloated/drunk/excited, will at least rid you of the plague of hiccups!
