How to Stop Hiccups with this Sure Fire Hiccup Cure
How to get rid of hiccups has been a question in my house ever since my oldest son was born 12 years ago. All three of the boys {and myself} often end up with the hiccups.
We have tried almost everything from drinking LOTS of water, holding our breath, drinking upside-down and even a spoonful of sugar.
Incidentally, my kids favorite hiccup cure is the spoonful of sugar, but it unfortunately it has proved to be the least effective!
Up until we learned this best hiccup cure secret, our most effective method was being “scared” out of hiccups. But once you realize someone is going to scare you, you don’t get scared.
OK, are you ready to hear how to get rid of hiccups?
How to Get Rid of Hiccups Quickly
It is a simple two-step process to get rid of hiccups:
- The person with the hiccups drinks a beverage WHILE
- Another person stands behind him/her and pulls DOWN gently on both the hiccuper’s ear lobes.
It works pretty quickly. Usually a few swallows in, the hiccups disappear.
Why This Hiccup Cure Works Every Time
Scientifically, it appears the sticking fingers in your ears helps stimulate the vagus nerve overloading it to a point where the hiccups stop.
That is it! No more hiccups!
How I Learned How to Stop Hiccups
We were on vacation staying at a roadside hotel in Amarillo, TX on our drive from Texas to Colorado. The hotel had a buffet breakfast which we were inhaling {foreshadow alert} before the long trip ahead.
My 10 year old had the hiccups.
He was walking {hiccup} around the {hiccup} buffet choosing the food {hiccup} he was going to {hiccup} eat when a stranger {hiccup} approached him.
“Do you want me to show you how to get rid of those?”
Startled by being approached by a stranger scared the hiccups out of him! But that is NOT the cure I am talking about.
The man’s wife approached and announced that they knew the secret to 100% hiccup cure to date. They were a retired couple also traveling and they swore that this was grandkid-tested. We chatted for awhile. They shared the secret and I thanked them.
Ever since that day, we have used this hiccup ridding method and it has been 100% effective for us too!
What an easy way to get rid of hiccups!
What are Hiccups?
Hiccups are funny things that just happen and I didn’t know why. When I did a little hiccup research, I found this was the best explanation of what hiccups actually are…
Hiccups are involuntary contractions of the diaphragm — the muscle that separates your chest from your abdomen and plays an important role in breathing. Each contraction is followed by a sudden closure of your vocal cords, which produces the characteristic “hic” sound. – Mayo Clinic
I hadn’t thought of why they are called hiccups until I read that description, but you do end up making that “hic” sound over and over.
How long can hiccups last?
Normal hiccups last just a few minutes up to one hour (that sounds miserable), but if your hiccups last longer than a day and start to interrupt your ability to eat or sleep it is recommended you see a doctor.
How do you get hiccups?
Why do Hiccups happen in Kids?
In kids, the most common reason why hiccups happen is excitement triggering a spasm of the diaphragm They can also be the result of a large meal or carbonated beverage. Most cases of hiccups last just a few minutes. If your child has persistent hiccups that lasts hours, check with your doctor.
Why do Hiccups happen in Adults?
WebMd reports that hiccups happen in adults for multiple reasons like eating too quickly, feeling nervous, stress, drinking carbonated beverages or alcohol, sudden change in temperature or swallowing air.
Hiccup Cure – Other Ways to Get Rid of Hiccups
There are scores of hiccup remedies and I hope you do not need to look beyond the one that worked best for us described above we are always in favor of home remedies:
- Check out the hiccaway straws. This straw-like device has a pressure valve inside the McFlurry straw size Hiccaway device. The additional suction you need to exert to get fluid through the straw gives this new device the ability to outperform numerous home remedies for curing hiccups. The downside is that you need to have a hiccaway straws handy next time you have a case of the hiccups.
- Breathing into a paper bag has been reported to help eliminate hiccups, but it has never worked for me. Theoretically when you breathe into a paper bag, it elevates the blood’s level of carbon dioxide which calms the contraction of the diaphragm spasms.
- Drinking from the opposite side of the glass is one of the most popular old wives’ tales hiccup cures! It is an easy way to describe how to drink water upside down. Simply lean forward and place your lips on the opposite side of the glass you would normally drink from. This is one of the hiccup solutions that have partially worked for us if you are looking for anecdotal experience as a guide!
- Eating a spoonful of peanut butter is also a popular cure. Since peanut butter takes awhile to digest, your vagus nerve reacts in a way that slows breathing and stopping the hiccups. For us, this hiccup cure just takes longer and isn’t always effective.
- Try the bartender hiccup cure by sprinkling a lemon wedge with bitters. There is more information about the steps here.
How To Prevent Hiccups
To prevent hiccups be careful to:
- Eat at a normal pace.
- Keep your stress level in check.
- Watch your carbonated beverage and alcohol intake.
- Dress for the weather.
- Be conscious of not swallowing air when chewing gum or eating candy.
Longest Bout of Hiccups Recorded
The vast majority of cases of hiccups last just a few minutes and resolve without adverse effects. As a proof that hiccups won’t kill you, check out the story of Charles Osborne and his intractable hiccups.
Charles Osborne started hiccoughing in 1922 while attempting to weigh a hog before slaughtering it. He was unable to find a cure, but led a normal life in which he had two wives and fathered eight children. He continued until a morning in February 1990.
–Guinness World Records, Guinness Book of World Records Longest Attack of Hiccups
How to Get Rid of Hiccups
You have tried all the traditional hiccup cures and your child still has the hiccups! Here is the one that has worked for us 100% of the time to cure the hiccups.
Materials
- Glass of water
Tools
- An additional person available to assist
Instructions
- The person with the hiccups drinks from the glass of water WHILE...
- The assisting person stands behind and gently pulls DOWN on both the hiccuper's ear lobes.
Notes
This usually works within a few swallows of water.
More Hiccups Info & Fun from Kids Activities Blog
- Good news for babies with the hiccups! Experts say baby hiccups may help brain development.
- Need a giggle? Check out this video of a baby confused over hiccups.
- At home preschool curriculum
- 100th day of school shirt ideas
- Playdough recipe
How did this hiccup cure work for you? Please let me know in the comments below if you have a way to cure hiccups that we didn’t mention.
If it works, awesome, but sounds strange.
It does!
I’ve heard some crazy ones, but this I have to try.
It is so simple…but works!
Now how do I intentionally get the hiccups so I can test this?!? 🙂
hahaha – that was my first response too!
no joke! a spoon of peanut butter gets rid of the hiccups instantly!!!!
That seems to be a popular one I had never heard of!
I use the peanut butter all the time and have told numerous people about it. Never had it fail. good to know the other one for those with nut allergies.
Another similar way which can be done alone…..with practice. Plug nose and ears while drinking water. A straw helps.
That is one way that we used to do it, but this is so much easier – I am not that coordinated! haha
No way- cant wait to try it!
Yes! And sooooo easy.
Oh, I can’t wait to try this!
Good luck!
Or a spoonful or peanut butter! My daughter will sometimes get hiccups 5 times in one day… And so peanut butter is our best friend!
That is one I haven’t tried.
I know of one thing that works on just about everyone… you have to catch the person with the hiccups off guard!! Example… ask them what color is in the Mexican flag?? It will take their minds off the hiccups!!! Best thing EVER!!!
That is a gentle scare! hahaha
I am going to have to try this! I have had the hiccups daily for over 4 years!!! They aren’t consistent but are a constant every day thing.. Always willing to try something!! Thanks for posting 🙂
Good luck!
Here is another way to cure hiccups 100 % of the time. Person who Hals the hiccups put your fingers in both ear to plug them and at the same time have someone take a glass or bottle of water.
Somebody told me this when I had a
really bad case of hiccups and they gone the minute I did this. It has also helped everybody I know who tried this.
It is something about those ears! So strange.
At the same time drink a glass or bottle of water that someone is holding for you.
Works 100% of the time in my experience
Thanks for the suggestion!
I’ve done this trick for years and as crazy as it sounds….it works EVERY time!
That is so cool to hear that! Thanks.
I wonder if I can get my three year old to do this the next time he has hiccups!
It certainly is easier than the upside-down drinking, but not as easy as the spoonful of sugar!
I use the spoonful of peanut butter method and it has always worked for me but good to know there is another method for those with peanut allergies. Thanks for the post
We never tried that!
One teaspoon of balsamic vinegar works every time. Probably a difficult swallow with the young children, but a breeze for everyone else. When I was in grade school we would take a teaspoon of mustard and this is much easier. If you have a olive oil and vinegar store in your town you can get a great flavor, like white peach balsamic and it’s actually yummy.
This works well, too:
Get a tiny bowl or spoon of granulated sugar.
Have the person get their finger wet and dip it in the sugar.
Then they suck the sugar off their finger without breathing.
Hiccups GONE! Really. It works. 🙂
suck the juice of a lemon wedge. Works every time, have been doing this for years.
I know three ways to get rid of hiccups. I use this ALL the time since I am a teacher. Water, sugar, lemons and other kinds of foods are good but sometimes you just don’t have those things handy, like in a classroom.
1. Catch the person with the hiccups off guard by rushing them to name 10 things in a category very quickly. I usually use vegetables or song titles. You have to rush them and keep count and keep their mind off anything else other than the list and you need to catch them off guard.
2 If that doesn’t work, or the hiccups come back, ask the person with the hiccups to do a series of physical activities. First, stand on one foot. Second, hop on the foot you are standing on. Third, now keep hopping and pat your head. Fourth, as they are doing those three things add rubbing their belly. Usually by then the hiccups are gone.
3. The last way to get the hiccups to go away with out food or any other outside item, is to tell the person with hiccups this – “Prove to me that you have the hiccups. Hiccup RIGHT NOW!” For some reason, trying to prove you have the hiccups makes them go away.
I hope these help in your quest to cure hiccups.
I always do the drink from a straw with my ears plugged trick as well. It has never failed me. You really have to gulp the water and not let the hiccups come up. 🙂
My grandson actually taught us the cure that works every time. You drink while pulling your own earlobe out. For me it’s my right earlobe while I take a couple swallows of water. Then they are gone like magic. I guess it makes sense because our ears, nose and throat are connected.
Now you share this after my youngest is 19?! I will remember this since even grown-up kids (and grownup parents) get hickups. This sounds great!!
ok so i have read all through these comments and there seems to be many different ways to cure the hiccups that i have never heard of. for my family we would just sip a drink of water upside down like from the opposite side of the cup while bending over. (does that even make sense?) what i want to know is – does anyone have any medical theory as to why and how these curious remedy’s work? ??? i would love to hear some of these explained =) cant wait for the chance to pull someones ears!
No way! So simple…this is awesome. Found you on what I learned Wednesday link party…love your blog!
A spoonful of lemon juice works like majic!
Is it crazy that I am waited with baited breath for my kids to get the hiccups again?
so easy I will have to remember this next time my kids get hiccups. Thanks for linking up at Tell Me About It Tuesday. We hope you hop over and share with us again next week.
I live in mexico and my husband has a great cure for hiccups…cut a lime (their the green ones) in half…dip in sugar….bite on the lime and suck the juice and sugar…..hiccups stop almost immediately!!
I learned this cure from my grandmother, Nana, the person with hiccups gets a glass of water, start drinking it counting the swallows of water not letting up. You have to take as many gulps as you can but you MUST end with an odd number of swallows.
It has always worked for me and my family. Try it and let me know how it works for you.
The way we get rid of hiccups is to grab 2 cold metal cans of your favorite beverage and place one on each side of your neck right about where your carotid artery is and leave them there for about 30-60 seconds. What I was told is that the cold interrupts the signal going down your neck that triggers the hiccups.
I always get rid of mine by holding my breath for as long as I can. Works every time.
I didn’t know about that hiccup cure, I knew about the scaring cure, but not that. I will keep it in mind next time someone I knew get the hiccups.
Wow! This is a cool idea. We got a hicural and guess what. We have had it in the house for 15 months or so and no one has had the hiccups. I guess it works without ever being used!
Thank you for stopping by the Thoughtful Spot Weekly Blog Hop this week. We hope to see you drop by our neck of the woods next week!
This is too cool! I can’t wait to someone in my house hiccups!
Thanks for linking up at Tell Me About It Tuesday. We hope you hop over and share with us again this week. (Sorry for the late comment!)
Not suitable for kids and not always convenient, but french kissing has always worked for me.
Thank you for sharing this! It totally worked.
I am going to try this at the next opportunity – I have heard every cure for hiccups and this is a brand new one to me! Love it when wisdom hands down something really useful.
The whole hiccup thing has to do with spasms. When I was a kid I would drink from a drinking fountain or glass of water upside-down and drink 10 sips while holding my breath (full lungs). Then instead of gasping for air I would breath slowly in and slowly out. This worked 99% of the time. 100% on the second time. Never took more than two times. As an adult with kids I started to think about this…and it is all in the spasms. Now I do hold my breath and drink 10 swallows but not upside-down. The IMPORTANT THING to stop the spasms is after you finish not to gasp for hair. I think holding your breath stops the spasms, the drinking of the water perhaps is what pulling on the ear lobe does – BUT DO NOT GASP FOR BREATH….it will start the spasms again. Let the air out slowly and the next breath in slowly. It works every time. Why am I telling you this – there will be time no one will be there to help you pull your ear lobe. Plus it doesn’t seem as silly!
From where I come from, the old belief is to tear and lick a small piece of paper/newspaper (probably about the size of a finger tip) and paste it on the hiccuping baby’s forehead. We laughed when we first tried it when my boy was an infant, but were surprised that the hiccups stopped after a while. Not sure if it’ll work on 10 year olds and don’t think it’ll be on their foreheads for long!
So… I don’t think anyone mentioned this… A teaspoon of Pickle Juice works. Every time. And you can do it all by yourself 🙂
I tried this and IT WORKED!!! I’ve had the hiccups for over thirty minutes and it was driving me crazy. My ear lobes being pulled down while I drank my tea cured them INSTANTLY!!! Thank you sooooo much 🙂
Ok- so I had the hiccups and looked it up on pinterest. I was soooo skeptical. I just used a straw so I could pull on my own ear lobes and after two sips they stopped, like instantly. I am BLOWN AWAY
Was super skeptical. I had a terrible case of the hiccups this morning, I just tried this, only pulling on one ear lobe while taking a drink with the other and it worked….Hahaha! 🙂 Thanks for the tip!
I’ve tried it. I swear it works!
Works like a charm.
If you are reluctant to pull earlobes, use this trick. It also works for the hiccupper to drink a drink every time another person says a number, counting from one to ten. This give the diaphragm time to “relax” and the hiccups will disappear instantly!! Never has failed me yet.
I think that as long as your concentrating on or trying to do two things at the same time it usually works for me, some people like to have a drink whilst doing so but all works fine.
I get rid of hiccups by placing a pencil between my teeth and then drinking a glass a water. By gulping water and air at the same time, that seems to do the trick.
My cousin had me repeat this (and it worked)
Hiccups, hiccups I have got,
To my love I give them
Hiccups, hiccups I have not,
To my love I gave them!
This works so well-and amazes my kids! Thanks so much for sharing! 🙂
Just concentrate on relaxing your diaphragm; it’s mind over matter, people! Works every time and since I was a little kid.
Actually I have the best way to get rid of hiccups without drinking, eating moving around, or holding your breath.
You have to understand that a hiccup is a spasm… Do you ever get a muscle spasm in your arm or leg and go to feel it and then it goes away?
Well what you want to do is be in tune with your body and try and “feel” your hiccup before it happens. If you give it all your thought and undivided attention the spasm will stop because you are incoherently taking control over what is spasming.
If someone is hiccuping try telling them “here lets get rid of them… I need you to pay close attention to your hiccups and try and tell me when you are going to hiccup next.”
I just tried it with my baby -19moths old- and Hiccup disappeared!! It was like magic!!! 🙂 🙂
Thank you for sharing this..
I will say that I’ve tried this multiple times since you posted it and it has worked every time, on children and adults alike. The peanut butter sounds good, but the last person I tried it on, we were at the zoo, and obviously didn’t have a jar of peanut butter handy!
Tried this tonight with my 6 year old who would not fall asleep due to hiccups. Worked instantly! Thank you !
I have never heard this one when I was a child i was told to put a piece of paper towel over a cup of water and drink out of it that way…never failed.
It totally worked on my 6 year old!!! Thank you so much ?
It totally worked on my 6 year old!!! Thank you so much ?
Just tried this on my son and it worked right away! Thank you.
So happy to hear it! You are so welcome!
It works even if you are alone. I just got rid of my hiccups by drinking through a straw while tugging on my ear lobes! Thank you so much for this cure. I’m so happy it worked. I usually get hiccups for about 30 minutes. Not anymore.
I am so glad you were able to get some relief! 🙂
As a retired teacher, I have found the most full-proof method to eliminate hiccups is to tell the person to stand on his head. Never had it fail.
I have never tried that hiccup cure! Thanks for the advice.
Fracking STOP…. WHY and also HOW. I no word of a lie I have had the most aggressive hiccups since 8;17pm the day before yesterday. It is 1:38am. I was sincerely wondering if I was going to have to call my doctor about hiccups. I have a method that has worked almost my whole life, but it has let me down. Then I read this, found myself a drinking straw, sat down, literally said out loud to my dog Rally, “Bro, whatch this, no way this actually works… No way…” Tryied it….. Hiccups stopped straight away. You and the buffet couple are legends. Thank you.
LOL! So glad that you found some relief!
A very strange one that works if you are on your own and have no water or anyone to pull your ears down is swallow your saliva twice , sometimes you need to repeat it , but can easily be done if you are in a crowded place , public transport , etc without anyone knowing , trust me it works every time
Ha! Good to know! Thanks, Steve 🙂
A simpler, less conspicuous cure you can do by yourself: Within the first two hiccups, grab your right earlobe. Works instantly every time for me. If I forget, however, and grab it after the third hiccup, it might not work. So maybe it would work with the glass of water at that point.
Ha! I will have to try this! Thank you, Val!
It works great thank you so much!!
Yay! So glad to hear it!