Hiccups are a rather unpleasant phenomenon. Especially if she finds us in a public place, in an environment where you need to be serious or keep quiet. Hiccups can be dangerous - at the time of eating or drinking you can choke during the next "IR". And the sensations in the continuation of this physiological process are far from the most pleasant. How to deal with it? We’ll show you how to remove hiccups quickly - at home and in a public place.
Why am I hiccuping?
Hiccups are a temporary physiological syndrome, the cause of which is an increase in vagus nerve activity. In turn, it causes the diaphragm to contract significantly. The result - air abruptly exits the lungs through the vocal cords. A person experiences an unpleasant sensation and at the same time involuntarily makes sounds.
The reasons that cause this whole complex of reactions are several:
- Haste while eating, eating dry food, swallowing too large pieces of food. It accumulates in the upper part of the stomach, the organ begins to put pressure on the diaphragm - as a result, the person suffers from hiccups.
- Binge eating. Stuffed "to the eyeballs" stomach strongly presses on the diaphragm, interfering with its normal movement.
- Air in the stomach. The use of carbonated drinks, champagne, laughter, talking during meals, which cause involuntary swallowing of air. When inhaling, the diaphragm cannot lower fully - the stomach, which is inflated by air, prevents it. The body reacts to the stimulus with hiccups.
- Great shock. There are frequent cases when a person begins to hiccup from fear, nervous strain, stress. Hiccups here will be one of the consequences of a malfunction of the nervous system.
- Hypothermia. Trying to keep warm, the body makes all its muscles contract. The diaphragm is no exception.
How to remove hiccups? It is necessary to neutralize, eliminate these causes.
Caution - pathological hiccups!
A long attack of hiccups. How to remove it? Note that hiccups go away on their own in 20-30 minutes. In rare cases, the attack can last an hour. But if hiccups torment you for a day or two, you often suffer from a similar condition, this is an occasion for urgent medical attention!
The pathological causes of hiccups can be as follows:
- Hormonal malfunction or dysfunction of the thyroid gland.
- Impaired functioning of the central nervous system.
- Infectious diseases.
- Diabetes.
- An allergic reaction to certain foods, drinks, drugs.
- Ulcer, gastritis, other diseases affecting the stomach.
- The development of a tumor in the abdominal region. The neoplasm begins to put pressure on the diaphragm, causing it to contract.
We eliminate in a public place
Probably everyone wants to know how to remove hiccups in a public place quickly and invisibly to others. We will present a number of effective tips:
- Take a few deep exhalations / breaths. After that, hold your breath for a short time (10-15 seconds). Repeat these steps until the hiccups release you.
- Lightly press the fingertips over both eyeballs. As an alternative, press on the supraclavicular area.
- How to relieve an attack of hiccups yet? If you are sitting, then lean forward slightly - so as to create some pressure on the stomach. If you were in a constrained, compressed pose, then, on the contrary, it will be effective to straighten sharply, stretch.
- Drink some water while taking small sips. The drink, of course, must be non-carbonated. Lollipop, lozenges or chewing gum may also help.
- Try to switch your attention from hiccups to something external - start looking at the details of the building, an advertising picture, counting passing cars. You can contact your smartphone if the situation allows. The main thing is to remove attention from hiccups on something external, not to allow yourself to concentrate on this syndrome.
We eliminate at home
How to remove hiccups at home? There will be your own methods that it is much more convenient to undertake in a cozy atmosphere, alone or in the company of loved ones than in a crowded place:
- Similar is treated like. Ask someone close to scare you. For example, run around the corner with a loud "boo". Sometimes a reaction to something unexpected helps eliminate an unpleasant hiccup.
- Type in a basin of water, dip your face into the liquid for a few seconds.
- Turn to breathing exercises or just take a series of deep breaths.
- Stretch, start doing exercises, run, jump on the spot.
- You can, on the contrary, lie a little on your side.
- Eat something that has a sharp, unusual, eye-catching taste - salty, spicy, sweet.
- Press gently on the root of the tongue. But do not overdo it so as not to induce vomiting.
Traditional ways
How to quickly remove hiccups? Here are ways proven over the years:
- Eat something with a sharp taste. The product will make the stomach secrete gastric juice, which distracts the body from hiccups. This is lemon, salt or sugar.
- With your thumbs, plug your ears, with your little fingers squeeze your nostrils. Close your eyes. Take a deep breath and hold your breath for as long as possible.
- Pour cold water into a glass, immerse a straw in it. Pinch your ears with your fingers, then slowly drink liquid through the tube. I must say that this method is already 40 years old, and even practicing doctors confirm its effectiveness.
Fancy ways
We continue to talk about how to remove hiccups at home. Now there are ways that will help not only to remove an unpleasant symptom, but also to surprise and amuse you:
- Remember the children's saying "Hiccup, go to Fedota." Recite the poem several times with feeling. Experiment - switch from a dramatic tone to a tongue twister, from heavy bass to falsetto. All this will help you escape from hiccups.
- Take a tight bag, cover them with nose and mouth. Start breathing. When you feel a lack of oxygen, remove the bag. Why is this action? Excess carbon dioxide causes the diaphragm to relax. However, this method is categorically not suitable for children.
- Stick your tongue out as far as possible. Make a face in front of the mirror - and you won’t notice how the hiccups go!
Hiccup in a young child
Hiccups in infants are not a sign of any disturbances in the respiratory system. As in adults, the attack is caused by involuntary contractions of the diaphragm.
In newborns and young children, the causes of the syndrome are as follows:
- Trapping excess air. Often this occurs when the baby is breast-fed. In this case, in addition to hiccups, he is tormented by gas and belching. Older children can swallow air, laughing or talking while eating.
- Binge eating. The stomach increases in size, begins to put pressure on the diaphragm, irritate it. Therefore, parents should control their child’s diet.
- Surprise or fear. A newborn, a small child is very sensitive to external stimuli. Loud sound, bright light can scare him. Abrupt compression of the diaphragm at this moment (CNS reaction to the stimulus) causes hiccups.
- Hypothermia. If the baby begins to hiccup, then the probable reason is that the baby is very cold.
Note that in infants up to 2 months old, hiccups can appear completely without reason. The child’s life systems are not yet adapted to the outside world, so for the first time he suffers from such dysfunctions.
How to remove hiccups in a child?
If the child is already big - he can hold his breath, drink the water himself, then the methods that we recommended for adults will help him. But how to remove hiccups in a newborn? There are several methods:
- Calm the baby - talk to him, sing a song. Distract him with new toys, rattles, show an interesting subject.
- When breast-feeding a mother, her mother needs to find a suitable position in which the baby will not take in air with milk. As a rule, the baby should be in a vertical rather than horizontal position.
- If the child often hiccups, perhaps he gets too large portions of milk, complementary foods. Make the right diet with your pediatrician.
- Touch the arms and legs. If they are cold, warm the baby by wrapping it in a warm blanket, pressing it to you.
- Eliminate the source of irritation - turn off unpleasant light, loud music. If the baby is frightened by something on the street, calm him down with a conversation, try to return home faster or go to a quiet and calm place. Often a stranger can be very scared even by a stranger.
- Re-attach the baby to the breast after feeding - swallowing movements sometimes calm the diaphragm.
- Drop a few drops of a solution of lemon juice or a decoction of chamomile under your tongue. The liquid should be at room temperature.
- Prolonged (more than 15 minutes) hiccups that torment the child every day may be the result of pathologies that affect the stomach, respiratory system, and peritoneal organs. In this case, there is only one advice - contact your pediatrician as soon as possible!
Alcoholic hiccups - what is it?
A separate topic is the “drunk” hiccups. The condition is caused by excessive consumption of alcoholic beverages. It has its own name - alcoholic polyneuritis.
I must say, such a hiccup rarely makes itself felt if a person once "went through". Most often manifests itself already with alcohol addiction. The duration of alcoholic hiccups is from several minutes to several days. It all depends on how much the body is poisoned by toxins.
How to deal with a "drunk" hiccups?
How to remove hiccups in this case? The usual tips that we have listed above, of course, will be powerless. Here's how to remove an adult hiccup:
- Artificially induce vomiting. So the body will quickly get rid of the elements that poison it, causing hiccups. First you need to drink the proper amount of activated carbon (1 tablet per 10 kg of a person’s weight) or a weak solution of potassium permanganate. Then push your finger on the base of the tongue.
- If the hiccup attack of alcohol poisoning is protracted and painful, then you need to seek qualified medical help - washing the stomach and intestines.
Now the reader knows how to quickly remove hiccups. In most cases, in children and adults it is a harmless syndrome. However, frequent and systematically recurring hiccups can indicate a serious illness.