91É«ÇéƬ

Holding your breath while pinching your nose is supposed to stop hiccups, but does anything actually cure hiccups?

Liz Reuben Canberra, Australia

As a child, I was taught that hiccups were an effect of the diaphragm being in spasm. I find swallowing multiple small sips of water usually brings hiccups to an end within a few minutes.

I have no idea if this is because of some effect I am creating or some kind of learned response, but it consistently works.

Martin van Raay Culemborg, The Netherlands

A hiccup is an involuntary contraction of the diaphragm. As the diaphragm is a muscle, and a voluntary one at that, the cure I have found that works best, if you have a bout of the hiccups, is to take a deep breath and hold it for as long as you can, while tensioning your diaphragm.

To put it simply: show your diaphragm who is in charge. In my experience, you have to do this twice at most and the hiccups will be over.

Martin Andrews Dundee, UK

A nun in the convent school my mother attended used to stop hiccups very quickly by applying finger pressure to the phrenic nerve, which controls the diaphragm, where it crosses the collarbone.

My mother used to perform this technique on me and my siblings when we were young too. The only problem is locating the exact spot to press.

Pete Champ Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire, UK

Fill a pint glass to the brim with water. Drink continuously from the far side of the rim (so the glass tips away from you as you drink) until about three-quarters of the water is gone. I have no idea why, but it always works for me!

Leda Schubert Plainfield, Vermont, US

The following technique has never failed me. Have someone stand behind you and place their hands over your ears. Simultaneously, both of you take a deep breath and hold it as long as you can. Release breath and ears. Hiccups gone!

Allison Swales Chippenham, Wiltshire, UK

A tot of Benedictine liqueur sipped slowly always cures my chronic hiccups.

Greg Harris Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

I came across the following hiccup cure about 30 years ago in a newspaper. In the intervening decades, I have never seen it fail. Take the deepest breath you possibly can, and hold it for around 10 seconds. Without exhaling, drink a full 12 ounce (about 350 millilitres) glass of water, then exhale and breathe normally. May it serve you as well as it has me. I would love to know why it works – can that be next week’s question?

[Ed: Thank you to the many readers who sent in their variations of these hiccup cures]

To answer this question – or ask a new one – email lastword@newscientist.com.

Questions should be scientific enquiries about everyday phenomena, and both questions and answers should be concise. We reserve the right to edit items for clarity and style. Please include a postal address, daytime telephone number and email address.

91É«ÇéƬ retains total editorial control over the published content and reserves all rights to reuse question and answer material that has been submitted by readers in any medium or in any format.

Terms and conditions apply.

Ìý