This is something I taught myself to do when I was a kid. It occured to me that it may be relevant on here.

If the hiccups have just started and are real angry it wont work and you have to let them clam down a little.

You have to focus on the hiccup sensation and shut out everyone and everything around you. Stare at a point on the wall or shut your eyes.

Now concentrate on that little tug sensation you get in your throat with every hiccup. Imagine it is there and imagine what it feels like. Keep holding that thought over and over for a minute or so and the hiccups will go. You don't have to imagine it gone or tell yourself it will go, just imagine what the feeling feels like and concentrate on that thought. If it doesnt work, try again, then try again. By the third time if you have focussed properly it will work, I promise.

Now the fun part. When one of your kids gets hiccups, take them to a quiet corner and talk to them in a quiet voice, keep telling them over and over to imagine that sensation in their throat, just keep saying the same words over and over. Make them look you in the eye while you do it and with no distraction it will work every time. It takes about a minute. You can then tell them how to do it themselves. All 4 of my kids are self hiccup curer's.

WHen I was a kid we just used to ask each other something like, "Who do you want to marry when you grow up?" That distracted our thoughts, and usually ended the hiccup. Which makes no sense, but works. It's the same principle with drinking from a glass backwards. You're concentrating on doing it, and not spilling (aka distracted).

BTW, moved this to the lounge for you since it's not a surgery topic. :smile:

Thanks, I wasn't sure where to put it.

No problem. Just didn't want you wondering why it was suddenly missing. :smile:

My four year old swears he has the cure. Everytime someone starts to hiccup he tells them to say "Allacadabra Allacapoof!" he keeps telling them over and over until the relent and do it. Surprisingly it seems to work most of the time. Maybe its because all his incessant pleading has distracted us and then the concentration it takes for us to say it just the way he wants us to.

My DH does something like this I think, but he was never able to explain it. He'll say "Just will them away" as if that means anything, lol.

My DH does something like this I think, but he was never able to explain it. He'll say "Just will them away" as if that means anything, lol.

That's exactly it. I often wonder if you can do the same with pain.

GREEN OLIVES!!!!. Absolutely THE BEST cure for hiccups. Works for me every time. Hard boots the vagus nerve. Something about the vinegary briney taste of the green (not black) olives stimulates the vagus nerve that is spazzing out the diaphram. (like turning off the computer and turning it back on when it freezes) I keep a jar at home and a jar at work. Cured several office mates. Try it next time you start hiccuping. :tt2:

kefirchick

My dad always cured our hiccups with concentration. He'd talk us through deep breathing and then take a pen or pencil and move it slowly in front of our faces as if he were tracing curvy lines. We had to follow the pencil with our eyes, all the while breathing slowly.

You can do the same thing yourself if you breathe deeply and pick an object to focus on. It works almost 100% of the time.

The olive thing is intriguing. I'll have to see what that does next time. (once I can actually eat an olive.)

I sure don't like hiccuping during my healing-from-surgery phase. Ouch!

Hiccups can drive you insane if they last a long time, not to mention the pain! I will try the concentration trick if I get them somewhere away from green olives. What do you do if you are alone when you start hiccuping? Does it work if you try to do it yourself?

kefirchick

Hiccups can drive you insane if they last a long time, not to mention the pain! I will try the concentration trick if I get them somewhere away from green olives. What do you do if you are alone when you start hiccuping? Does it work if you try to do it yourself?

kefirchick

I promise it works 100% of the time. Sometimes not straight away, but don't dismiss it if you can't do it immediately keep trying once you get the knack its easy.

I am surprised that there are so many people who have discovered it.

That's very interesting!! I will try that next time!

I've always used a teaspoon of sugar and that works 100% of the time for me....but not for everyone.

Ya know- I used to do sugar too. It worked about 75% of the time for me. But the green olive thing has never failed. At least olives are lo carb ha ha!

kefirchick

That's exactly it. I often wonder if you can do the same with pain.

Some people (based largely on self-report or observed reaction, but also backed up with brain activity scans) can focus away from the pain so that while the source of the pain is still there, they are not effected by it or are able to trivialize it (think of some of the meditationists who are able to do amazing things with little/no pain as well as little/no bleeding).

Think of how easily the brain can create the perception of pain. I won't get into the "is it a real diagnosis or not" debate that you see with things like fibromyalgia, but lots and lots of medical conditions are being cured with mindstate treatments, which makes you at least consider how physical they were to begin with. And LOTS of physical conditions are caused by mental abnormalities, and can likewise be fixed.

When I was a kid, I would imagine myself shrinking down until I was the size of a tiny bug, kind of like in Innerspace. Then I would imagine myself going down my own throat, into my stomach, and pulling out a laser gun and shooting myself in the stomach with it, and no kidding - I would begin to have a very small burning sensation in my stomach. I could do something similar to alleviate small pains, but not major ones. Really it's no different from controlling any other body output. Most people can fluctuate their body temperatures about 3 degrees just by thinking of either a very hot or very cold climate.