Hiccoughs or hiccups are caused when the chest cavity gets suddenly contracted due to the irritation of the diaphragm. The diaphragm is the muscular partition that divides the chest and the abdomen. Its contraction leads to the sound box (larynx) to shut temporarily, producing the characteristic hic sound of the hiccough.

A bout of the hiccups at the very least can be downright annoying. In the extreme the hiccups can be life altering. They are seldom thought about until they strike and the extremes some people will go to in order to cure their hiccups is amazing.

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The immediate cause of the hiccup spasm is rooted in the Vagus and Phrenic nerves and their influence on the diaphragm. The best hiccup cures attempt to influence and regulate these nerves to relieve the distressing spasms.

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Hiccups occur when your diaphragm convulses, causing you to involuntarily gulp air. When your body senses the unexpected intake of air, it says "no, no!" and snaps shut your throat at the glottis. The whole process takes about 1/30 of a second, just long enough for you to emit the ever so popular "hic" sound.

There are many methods of getting rid of your own hiccups. You can hold your breath, which doesn't work most of the time, or you can let all the breath out of your lungs and wait for as long as you can before you inhale. Usually, you will hiccup one time and then no more. But sometimes, even this method does not work. You may have heard that taking nine small sips of water is how to get rid of hiccups, or that drinking water from the opposite side of the cup is.

Hiccups, also called hiccoughs, result when the diaphragm suddenly contracts. The diaphragm is the thin muscle located under the heart and lungs that separates the chest from the abdomen and assists with inhaling. After the diaphragm contracts, the top portion of the windpipe known as the glottis, immediately closes which creates the characteristic "hic" sound of hiccups.

There are many ways by which the diaphragm can be irritated. The above stated ones are the most common ways of irritating the diaphragm ultimately resulting in hiccups. Mostly they will last for a few minutes or in some cases for seconds. But when they last for hours or days, there can be a serious medical problem.

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