I’ve tried many things before, but in the past couple days I’ve found that eating a packet or two of mustard tends to get rid of hiccups.

What sort of tricks do you folks have?

  • Brkdncr@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    5
    ·
    1 month ago

    Hiccups come from a part of our brain that’s much less evolved. It’s the same thing that fish use to push water through their gills.

    And just like breathing, it’s involuntary.

    You just have to wait it out until that part of your brain stem remembers it doesn’t need to do that anymore.

    • over_clox@lemmy.worldOP
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      2
      ·
      1 month ago

      Breathing is a little weird in that regard. It’s a natural instinct that you don’t have to think about, but when you do think about it, you can control it more or less voluntarily.

      Hiccups are often way more annoying and way more on the involuntary side of reflexes.

      I’ve researched hiccups before, and experts say that it’s basically the reflex that’s meant to start newborn babies breathing. After that though, it’s basically an unnecessary vestigial reflex.

      I’m no expert though, I just know hiccups are fucking annoying as hell!

  • BonesOfTheMoon@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    2
    ·
    1 month ago

    I actually learned this from an oncology nurse whose patients sometimes get chronic hiccups from certain chemo; the thing to do is have someone pull down on your earlobes while slightly cupping your ears forward, and then you drink water slowly while they hold your earlobes. Works every time. I taught this to a friend who had trouble with hiccups after surgery and she says it saved her life.

      • over_clox@lemmy.worldOP
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        1 month ago

        It ain’t all that serious yo, I ain’t about to die. Hiccups are a thing we can all relate to occasionally, just figured I’d ask what random tricks people have found useful.

        For me, half the time a teaspoon of sugar does the trick, other times a glob of mustard does the trick. If my hiccups were chronic enough, of course I’d seek medical attention.

  • Beneath_the_storm@fedia.io
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    2
    ·
    1 month ago

    Quick sips of water works for me.

    Another technique that works only once when someone else is having a hiccup is to offer them a glass of water with a knife inside. The moment they see it, hiccup is gone.

    • LifeInMultipleChoice@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      3
      ·
      1 month ago

      That second one sounds fun. We used to do a lemon/lime slice dunked in sugar at a bar I went to years ago. The sweet/sour difference used to confuse the brain for just long enough for most people it seemed

  • LovingHippieCat@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    2
    ·
    1 month ago

    I get terrible hiccups. Painful terrible. Have since i was a kid. And they make a weirder sound than usual, if I’m in public people always whip their heads around to look at me. Anyway, pickles. When I’m hiccuping nothing has ever worked but then, once I started making my own pickles, I can now just eat a single pickle and be good. They’ll be gone. I’m just glad I like pickles now.

  • swampwitch@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    6
    ·
    1 month ago

    I usually just breathe in as much as I can and hold my breath until I need another gasp of air. It usually goes away after two or three times.

    Lying on your back and pressing your knees to your chest is another way to get them to stop that works for me.

    • OceanSoap@lemmy.ml
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      1 month ago

      The holding your breath thing works. You inhale as much as you can, which stretches your diaphragm out, and hold it as long as you can, even through the next few hiccups. Works like a charm.

  • astrsk@kbin.run
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    4
    ·
    1 month ago

    All the mythological cures rely on one specific thing: focusing on a task or overriding your brain’s autonomic systems with adrenaline (get scared). Don’t think about it and do something else with as much concentration as you can will. Sorry if you’re ADHD.

    • over_clox@lemmy.worldOP
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      2
      ·
      1 month ago

      Yeah, I’m probably ADHD, and not easily scared. Hell, I handle snakes and spiders and shit sometimes. Good luck scaring me…

      • CarbonatedPastaSauce@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        2
        ·
        1 month ago

        You’ll never own a home or save enough for retirement. The entire planet is under incredible stress and we’re literally making it uninhabitable for ourselves. Your tax dollars often go towards killing innocent people in other countries. You may have left the oven on.

        If that didn’t do it, I’m out of ideas.

        • over_clox@lemmy.worldOP
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          2
          ·
          1 month ago

          Trying that fear factor approach I see. Well thank you for the thought, but I’m not easily scared, and that trick doesn’t seem to work for me anyways.

  • Doubletwist@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    3
    ·
    1 month ago

    When someone else has the hiccups, cup your hands together (like you’re about to pour water in them), hold them in front of them and excitedly tell them repeatedly (in a loud-ish, hurried voice like you’re about to miss out on the chance of a lifetime):

    " Quick! Hiccup in my hands! Hurry up! Do it! Hiccup in my hands!"

    Gotta do it quickly and unexpectedly enough to surprise them. They’ll either be so surprised that they forget the hiccup, or they will actually try to do it but be so focused on it that they won’t be able to.

    It’s got a pretty high success rate for when I’ve tried it.

  • BowserBasher@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    2
    ·
    1 month ago

    The only trick that worked for me was this.

    Had been hiccuping for probably 5 minutes. Nothing working. Someone came up to me and just said “hiccup for me now” just waited for that hiccup. Kept asking for me to hiccup for maybe 30 seconds to a minute. Gone. No more hiccups.

  • Zarxrax@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    3
    ·
    1 month ago

    Swallow a teaspoon of sugar. I read this when I was a kid, and it has always done the trick for me EVERY TIME I’ve done it.

    • over_clox@lemmy.worldOP
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      1 month ago

      This is actually what I was taught as a kid as well, somewhere around age 7. For me it only works around half the time though.

      I figured I’d try something random when that didn’t work. Honestly I hate mustard, but it does seem to help get rid of hiccups sometimes.

    • Vector@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      2
      ·
      1 month ago

      My partner suggested this to me once and I thought, “nothing to lose” so I gave it a go.

      Correlation does not imply causation, so I can’t guarantee that the sugar is doing anything at all, but every time except once I’ve had a teaspoon of sugar with hiccups, they have stopped.

      To that end, I’ll be doing it as long as it keeps on seeming to have an effect.

  • Today@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    4
    ·
    1 month ago

    Tablespoon of pickle juice. You’re then going to have the urge to eat a pickle. Don’t do it - they’ll come back.