Hiccups......What really is a Hiccup??

You've just hiccupped for  like the tenth time since you finished your big dinner. Wonder where these funny noises are coming from? It’s your diaphragm . 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, the diaphragm relaxes and air flows out of the lungs back out through the nose and mouth.

But sometimes the diaphragm becomes irritated. When this happens, it pulls down with a jerk, which makes you suck air into your throat suddenly. When the air rushing in hits your voice box, a sound comes out Which is nothing but a HICCUP.

If you eat something that irritate the diaphragm too quickly or too much, an irritation in the stomach or the throat leads to what you call hiccuping.....

For how much time does it lasts?   

✗  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.

✗ Well, the world record stands at 68 years, with a guy called Charles Osbourne (from the USA), who hiccupped continuously from 1922 to 1990. The poor guy basically had hiccups for life.

How to cure them????

You've probably heard lots of suggestions for how to get rid of hiccups, and maybe you've even tried      

a few.  But the trick is to interrupt your breathing pattern.

✔   Holding your breath and counting to 10 is one way some people can get rid of their hiccups.

✔  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 say goodby to their hiccups.

 Bhawna Mulani