What Makes Us Hiccup?

Question

What actually makes us hiccup?? I've had the hiccups for hours now and it's started me thinking!!

Answer 1

Intoxication!!!

Or it could be something else as simple as diaphragm spasms...

Although how someone slipped that large of a contraception device in my cereal bowl without my knowing remains a mystery.

Answer 2

"Hic!" You've just hiccuped for what seems like the tenth time since you finished your big dinner. Wonder where these funny noises are coming from? The part to blame is your diaphragm (say: die-uh-fram). This is a dome-shaped muscle at the bottom of your chest, and all hiccups start here.

The diaphragm almost always works perfectly. When you inhale, it pulls down to help pull air into the lungs. When you exhale, it pushes up to help push air out of the lungs. But sometimes the diaphragm becomes irritated. When this happens, it pulls down in a jerky way, which makes you suck air into your throat suddenly. When the air rushing in hits your voice box, you're left with a big hiccup.

Some things that irritate the diaphragm are eating too quickly or too much, an irritation in the stomach or the throat, or feeling nervous or excited. Almost all cases of the hiccups last only a few minutes. Some cases of the hiccups can last for days or weeks, but this is very unusual, and it's usually a sign of another medical problem.

You've probably heard lots of suggestions for how to get rid of hiccups, and maybe you've even tried a few. Holding your breath and counting to 10 is one way some people can get rid of their hiccups. Other people say that drinking from the "wrong" side of a glass of water is the way to become hiccup-free.

Putting sugar under your tongue might work, too. And maybe the most famous treatment - having someone jump out and scare you when you're not expecting it - helps some people wave good-bye to their hiccups. Boo!

Answer 3

One possible beneficial effect of hiccups is to dislodge large chunks of food, which have become stuck in the esophagus, or which are traveling too slowly. When a large piece of food is swallowed, which the natural peristalsis of the esophagus is unable to move quickly into the stomach, it applies pressure on the hebephrenic nerve, invoking the hiccup reflex. This causes the diaphragm to contract, creating a vacuum in the thoracic cavity, which creates a region of low pressure on the side of the lump of food nearest the stomach, and a region of high pressure on the side of the lump of food nearest the mouth. This pressure differential across the food creates a force, which assists peristalsis. In humans, gravity partially assists peristalsis, but in quadrupeds and many marine vertebrates, their oesophagi run roughly perpendicular to the force of gravity, so that gravity provides little assistance. The hiccup mechanism likely evolved as an aid to peristalsis in our ancestors. It only now appears to offer little benefit, because humans are upright, so that gravity assists peristalsis, making it very unlikely for food to become lodged in the esophagus.

Ultrasounds have also shown that unborn children experience hiccups. Some suggested hypotheses include hiccups as a possible muscle exercise for the child's respiratory system prior to birth or as a preventive measure to keep amniotic fluid from entering the lungs. More research is required to ascertain their true nature, origins, and purpose, if any

Answer 4

While many cases develop spontaneously, hiccups are known to develop often in specific situations, such as eating too quickly, taking a cold drink while eating a hot meal, eating very hot or spicy food, laughing vigorously or coughing, drinking an excess of an alcoholic beverage, or electrolyte imbalance. Hiccups may be caused by pressure to the phrenic nerve by other anatomical structures, or rarely by tumors and certain kidney disease. It is reported that 30% of chemotherapy patients suffer singultus as a side effect to treatment. (American Cancer Society)

Answer 5

hiccups are usually caused by eating your food hastily where it causes air to be swallowed with the food and gets trapped in your diaphragm. Drinking in the same manner will sometimes produce the same thing. It is sometimes thought that hiccups protect you from choking.

Answer 6

A hiccup occurs when a long, smooth muscle underneath your lungs called the "Diaphragm" (pronounced Dia-fram) Contracts. It pushes your lungs up with a sudden movement and "Hiccup". See?

Answer 7

I'm not sure why we get them but I have a cure. Get a glass, pour milk into it about a fourth of the way. Add pepsi or coke (has to be dark cola) til it looks like cocoa. Drink it really fast and they will go away. I know it sounds gross but I have been pregnant seven times and I got hiccups alot. It works wonders!

Answer 8

when i eat to fast i get the hiccups

Answer 9

Swallowing to much air causeing spasms in the diaphram.

Answer 10

Hick ups are caused by contractions of the diaphragm.

Normally it's not something to be alarmed about, but if it goes on for the rest of the day and night, I would contact my GP and ask for his/her advice.