#1309 – Oppose
Posted on June 24, 2011 at 12:00 am by Chris
Chapter: Comics
When I was a kid hiccups were a hilarious thing to get. It really annoyed the adults when you stood next to them with your mouth wide open so that the next one would be as loud as possible. The “cures” that I would see in cartoons (breathe in a paper bag, have someone scare you, anvil dropped on your head) never seemed to work in real life. The last time I got them I asked the internet how to get rid of hiccups and I was quite surprised that the first thing I tried actually worked.
Today’s Maximumble answers the call.
Tags: hiccup, pepper, sneeze
The one thing I’ve never had fail: Pouring sugar on my tongue and drinking water. Nothing else has ever worked for me. And when I’m standing at a register with a long line of customers, hiccups are the worst torment ever.
Spoonful of sugar has never worked for me, but I find wrapping myself up in blankets or sitting near a heater has always worked. I usually get hiccups if I’m cold.
One thing I have never seen is someone hiccuping while drunk. I have never seen that happen. (I have seen hiccups result from eating too fast though.)
Weird; I’ve always found holding my breath and swallowing repeatedly to be moderately effective, though not instantaneously.
Drinking water and swallowing HARD. It forces the hiccuping muscles to back off.
And then you duct-tape the back of your skull together, and you’re good.
My brother has real bad allergies. When he has to sneeze, he holds his nose so that there is no flood of snot. The only problem is that it sounds like there is a mini explosion inside. Now, I know what his head will look like when he finally erupts.
Hold your breath for 10 minutes, and you’re guaranteed never to get hiccups ever again. 🙂
Who are you, Guybrush Threepwood?
Someone won an Ignobel for publishing a paper on a hiccup cure. But I’m very happy to have not required it. Google will tell you all you want to know (and quite possibly more).
According to the program QI, the only thing that really works without fail, is digital rectal massage. 🙂
My hiccupping can always be stoppped by a burp of any size.
Sven – that only works if you can count to 10 without another hiccup!
For the love of pesto pizzas, what’s the cure?!?!?!?
Well (hic) don’t lea-(hic)-ve me hangin-(hic)-ing, Tell me (hic) already!
(hic)
Shout out to Baughbe
Distraction. (It only works if someone else is around.) Ask the afflicted person random questions and keep them occupied. Unless it’s reflux or some other gastronomic irritation at the base of the esophagus, they should go away. Once the micro-sensation that causes most hiccups has been ignored/stopped long enough, the body will think that everything’s normal again. If you’re good at distracting yourself without thinking about distracting yourself from hiccups, you can try this on your own. If there’s some other irritation like reflux from an upset stomach, this method will likely not work but with good reason.
@Baughbe – This worked for me:
1. Fill a glass with water
2. Hold your breath for 10-20 seconds
3. Without exhaling – drink the glass of water
When it’s me, I can get rid of them just by holding my breath for a bit. But when someone else is hiccuping, one thing I’ve seen to work is have everyone in the room stare at them. Don’t say anything or laugh. Just stare.
In my native country of Russia, we had to BURN the hiccups out. KILL IT WITH FIRE was pretty much the cure for anything back then.
In the Soviet Union, you didn’t get hiccups. Hiccups got you.
My favorite remedy is to drink from the far side of a glass of water. It doesn’t actually work, but it’s hilarious to watch the person try.
I lay down, flat on my back, exhale every last cubic centimeter of breath (then even more breath), relax every muscle I have control of, be still, don’t breathe, stay relaxed, and pretend I’m dead. The hiccups leave like rats from the bilge of a sinking ship. After that, the first breath is very vitalizing! (Or the easier method that usually works for me, is, yes, drinking water from the far side of the cup! It does work, usually.
For whatever reason, publicly announcing that I have the hiccups had a 100% success rate of immediately ending my hiccups for roughly a 5 year stretch. I have no idea why. Then one day it suddenly didn’t work anymore. I was devastated.
Thanks for this great comic!
@Jesso
Drinking from the opposite end of the glass has always worked for me, but probably because it simulates the cure that Chris mentioned.
I have a friend who pinches his nose closed when he sneezes. I always expect his eyes to shoot out, or for this to happen.
What I’m really trying to say is, thanks for the visual. His sneezes will be even more traumatic for me now…
Exhaling and then taking a long, slow drink of water tends to work for me. Most of the effective tricks seem to involve forcing your diaphragm to be still for as long as you can.
Re. sneezing, I know a guy who can sneeze while peeing without spilling a drop.