How to stop hiccups instantly?
Hiccups are annoying. There, we said it. Everybody has experienced hiccups at least once in their life, and they can happen at the worst possible moment.
It’s hard not to feel embarrassed when you have a hiccup attack during an important meeting or while on a date. Fear no more, as we’ve compiled some of the most efficient (and funny) ways to stop your hiccups dead in their tracks!
But First: What Are Hiccups?
Before jumping into how to cure hiccups like a pro, let’s talk about what hiccups actually are.
Hiccup: A sudden involuntary contraction (spasm) of the diaphragm muscle followed by closing off of the vocal cords which produces sound.
In other words, when you get a hiccup attack, your body starts convulsing uncontrollably causing shortness of breath and frustrating sounds!
1. Hold Your Breath Until Your Face Turns Blue… Or Don’t!
We bet that everyone always tells you that holding your breath would help with your hiccups. And sure it could work sometimes if you hold for long enough! But why take this conventional route? Why not spice things up for funsies?
Instead of just holding our breath until our face turns blue (which will happen eventually anyway) let us try something new!
Sit down somewhere comfy and:
1- Close one nostril with your finger
2- Take a deep breath from the open nostril
3- Hold it there for 15 seconds
4- Repeat process by swapping fingers between nostrils
This method is way more effective than plain jane old breathing tactics because instead of depriving ourselves from oxygen all together like cavemen did back in prehistoric times; now we target each nosehole separately creating an equal distribution throughout the body.
2. Scare Yourself (Or Someone Else!)
Did you know that being scared actually makes your hiccups go away? But how can we creatively scare ourselves without going to the hospital with a heart attack?
Try jumping out of bed and scaring yourself that way, pretend spiders are crawling up your legs (but keep your eyes closed if there’s someone else in the room because otherwise it might look like you’re having an exorcism) or ask someone nearby to give you a proper handshake while pulling really hard…be careful not end up tearing each others arms off, just sayin’.
3. Drink Water Upside Down
This method is infamous for being like trying to drink water through your nose but this couldn’t be further from the truth! Drinking water upside down targets our esophagus muscles which helps break any misplaced contractions.
The best way do accomplish this:
1- Fill up glass with lukewarm water
2- Bend over until stomach touches knees
3- Put straw into mouth all the way back towards uvula
4- Suck in vigorously causing water and air bubbles enter at same time (small choking sounds means its working)
P.s Clean clothes have never been more important!
4. Pull Your Tongue Out As Far As Humanly Possible
Believe it or not: doing so actually relaxes spasming diaphragm muscle which causes said hiccuping actions.
Warning: If caught doing so mid dinner party or family reunion might cause severe unsolicited photo ops.
But hey desperate times call for desperate measures especially when embarrassing relatives near by!
5. Block Your Ears With Your Fingers and Hum Loudly
Similar to drinking water upside-down method; humming loudly forces us to take deep controlled breaths filled wih essential oxygen leading distract us from undesirable symptoms – HICCUPS!!
By blocking ear canals we are targeting our very own body’s echoesteric tendencies which converts unwelcoming and unpleasant sensations into sweet sweet melodramatic voices… or try convincing people nearby you’re a part of an experimental band?
6. Massage Your Diaphragm muscles
Think giving yourself diaphragm massage is too good to be true? Well think again my friend!
By doing so, the nerve that puts us in spasm will relax leading +voila – hiccups begone!
This technique might seem trickier than others but rest assured it is still very effective!
1- Relax
2- Get in comfortable position
3- Gently push your fingers just below ribcage whilst applying pressure
4- Move around slowly from side to side (same way as if telling somebody off)
BONUS TIP: Try sneezing aggressively after each hiccup making sure to lubricate nasal cavity beforehand.
Hic-closing Words
Hiccups can really bring down one’s mood especially when they happen unexpectedly/unavoidably; But who said we have to resort with plain old pedestrian methods for healing ourselves everytime?? (Not us!) So next time hiccups come knocking on the door causing ruckus feel free try any of these tips occassionaly looking ridiculous adds some spice into life.