Hiccups: What Helps?
Hiccups are usually harmless, but often simply unpleasant. How it develops and what helps against the little nuisance.
How do hiccups develop?
In short, hiccups (singultus) occur when the diaphragm becomes cramped. The diaphragm is a muscle that separates the chest from the abdomen and is very important for breathing. The diaphragm contracts when you breathe in. The resulting negative pressure ensures that air enters the lungs through the glottis.
When breathing out, the breathing muscle relaxes and the air flows out of the lungs again. If the diaphragm becomes cramped, hiccups develop. The glottis closes reflexively, the air cannot flow out of the lungs, new air hits the glottis from outside. This causes the hiccups.
What are the causes of hiccups?
Irritation of the phrenic nerve (nervus phrenicus) or the tenth cranial nerve (nervus vagus) can cause hiccups. This is because the phrenic nerve controls the movements of the diaphragm and the tenth cranial nerve controls the movements in the area of the larynx and pharynx. Causes of hiccups can be:
- Hasty swallowing
- Gulping down too much air when speaking
- Very cold or hot dishes
- Nicotine
- Drinking alcohol or carbonated beverages
- Stress
What helps against hiccups?
Most tips are based on distracting the person with hiccups or relaxing their breathing and thus also their diaphragm. These tricks promise to help with singultus:
- Drink a glass of water in small sips.
- Sprinkle a little vinegar or lemon juice on a piece of sugar and let it melt slowly on your tongue. Stimulating the nerves of the palate works against hiccups.
- Hold your breath.
- Breathe in and out in a bag. Used air contains less oxygen and more carbon dioxide (CO2), which increases the concentration of carbon dioxide in the blood. This can lead to the interruption of hiccups.
- Lie on your back, pull your knees towards your stomach and push your arms to the side. This will straighten the diaphragm.
- Walk along the neck with an ice cube or gargle with cold water. The cold irritates the vagus nerve and can interrupt the hiccup reflex.
Baby hiccups
The singultus often occurs in babies. Possible explanations are that the hiccups train the respiratory system before and after birth. Maybe it’s also to prevent amniotic fluid or food from entering the lungs. Or to transport the air that enters the stomach through sucking during breastfeeding back out again.
Is hiccups dangerous?
Hiccups are usually harmless and go away after a few minutes. Sometimes medication can cause a singultus. These can be drugs like neuroleptics, chemotherapeutics or cortisone preparations. But also drugs for epilepsy or Parkinson’s disease. In rare cases there is a disease behind it, such as reflux disease (chronic heartburn). In this case, the contents flow from the stomach back into the oesophagus.
Apart from hiccups, symptoms can include pain behind the breastbone and belching of stomach acid. An inflammation of the esophagus or gastrointestinal tract may also cause hiccups. If the hiccups last longer than 48 hours or recur frequently, it is advisable to consult a doctor.