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.
How to Get Rid of Hiccups Quickly
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?
Two Step Hiccup Cure
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.
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. 🙂
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.
suck the juice of a lemon wedge. Works every time, have been doing this for years.
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. 🙂
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.
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!
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’ve done this trick for years and as crazy as it sounds….it works EVERY time!
That is so cool to hear that! Thanks.
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!
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.