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10+ Quick Home Remedies for Hiccups Using Familiar Foods

Say goodbye to those annoying hiccups with these quick and easy home remedies! A nifty trick with common ingredients like sugar, ice, and honey can be your savior. Try these simple yet effective remedies and bid farewell to those pesky hiccups instantly!

Administrator

14 July, 2024

Hiccuping is a common occurrence, caused by an involuntary contraction of the diaphragm, the muscle between the chest and abdomen. When the diaphragm spasms, your vocal cords snap shut, producing the distinctive “hic” sound.

Here are some quick remedies for hiccups, according to doctors from MEDLATEC General Hospital:

1 Swallow a Teaspoon of Sugar

One effective remedy for hiccups is to place a teaspoon of sugar in your mouth and slowly swallow it. The sweetness of the sugar will mildly irritate your esophagus, causing your body’s nerves to reset and stopping the spasms.

2 Suck on an Ice Cube

If you’re suffering from hiccups, try sucking on an ice cube from the freezer or rubbing it on your cheeks. The cold temperature will soothe the irritated nerves and help stop the hiccups.
Surprising your body can also be an effective way to stop hiccups, so you could ask a friend to rub the ice on your face unexpectedly.

3 Close Your Eyes and Press

You might be wondering how closing your eyes can stop hiccups, but it’s actually an effective method. When you get the hiccups, gently close your eyes and use your index fingers to press lightly but deeply into your eyeballs for 1-2 seconds, then release. Repeat this motion 5-20 times, and the hiccups should stop.

4 Sip Water Slowly

You can stop hiccups in their tracks by slowly sipping water. Simply take a sip of water, bend forward, and swallow. This simple action relaxes the nerves and effectively stops the hiccups.

5 Drink Honey Water

If you’re hiccuping, quickly mix a teaspoon of honey into a glass of warm water and drink it slowly. This stimulates the vagus nerve, which runs directly from the brain to the stomach, and repeating this a few times can help stop the hiccups.

6 Take Deep Breaths

When you get the hiccups, take a deep breath and hold it for as long as you can. Deep breathing stretches the diaphragm and prevents it from spasming, which stops the hiccups.

7 Stick Out Your Tongue

Sticking out your tongue may seem odd, but it’s an effective way to treat hiccups. Doing so stimulates the vagus nerve and relaxes the vocal cords, reducing the spasms that cause hiccups. Try this for 5-6 seconds, and your hiccups should disappear.

8 Plug Your Ears

Using your fingers to plug your ears sends a “relax” signal through the vagus nerve, which is connected to the diaphragm, quickly stopping the hiccups.

9 Breathe into a Paper Bag

Hold a paper bag tightly around your mouth and breathe slowly. This increases the carbon dioxide in your blood, creating pressure that forces the diaphragm to contract more strongly and for longer to bring in more oxygen, effectively stopping the hiccups.

10 Press Your Palm

When hiccuping, use your thumb to press firmly into the palm of your other hand. This creates a distraction that affects your nervous system and stops the hiccups.

11 Peppermint Leaf Remedy

Peppermint oil soothes and relaxes the diaphragm, helping to ease hiccups. To treat hiccups, mix a warm cup of lemon water with a pinch of salt and a few peppermint leaves, and drink up. This can quickly reduce hiccup symptoms.

Using peppermint leaves to cure hiccups

Reference:

The above are some effective remedies for hiccups that you can try. To prevent hiccups, eat slowly and chew your food thoroughly to reduce the amount of air entering your stomach. Avoid alcoholic beverages, and if you experience frequent hiccups, consult a doctor as it could be a sign of gastroesophageal reflux disease.

Source: MEDLATEC General Hospital

Frequently asked questions

There are several quick home remedies for hiccups that use familiar foods and ingredients. These include: drinking a glass of water slowly, breathing into a paper bag, sipping apple cider vinegar, gargling ice water, eating a teaspoon of peanut butter, sucking on a lemon wedge, consuming ginger in tea or raw form, taking a teaspoon of honey, pulling your knees to your chest and leaning forward, or using acupressure techniques on your face and body.

Drinking a glass of water slowly helps to stimulate the vagus nerve, which runs from the brain to the stomach and can help to reset the diaphragm, stopping hiccups.

Breathing into a paper bag helps to increase carbon dioxide levels in the blood, which can help to relax the diaphragm and stop hiccup spasms.

Apple cider vinegar has an astringent taste that can help to stimulate the nerves in the throat and mouth, interrupting the hiccup reflex.

Gargling ice water can help to stimulate the vagus nerve and also has a cooling effect that may help to calm the spasms associated with hiccups.

Peanut butter is thick and sticky, which requires more chewing and slows down eating. This process can help to regulate breathing and relax the diaphragm, stopping hiccups.

Sucking on a lemon wedge stimulates the nerves in the tongue and mouth, interrupting the hiccup reflex. The sour taste can also help to relax the diaphragm.

Ginger has anti-inflammatory and soothing properties that can help to calm the diaphragm and relieve hiccups. It can be consumed in tea or raw form.

Honey has a soothing effect on the throat and can help to relax the muscles involved in hiccupping. It also has natural sweetening properties that can counteract the sour or bitter tastes of other remedies.

Pulling your knees to your chest and leaning forward helps to apply pressure on the diaphragm and can assist in relaxing it, thereby stopping hiccups.

Applying pressure to specific points on the face and body, such as the webbing between your thumb and index finger, the upper lip, or the diaphragm area, can help to relieve hiccups by stimulating various nerves and promoting relaxation.