What is the best way to stop hiccups? – MRC Festival Zone 2018

Question: What is the best way to stop hiccups?
- Keywords:
  hiccups
Asked by anon-181148 on 12 Jun 2018.
- Alex Haragan answered on 12 Jun 2018:
  
  Well it depends.
  Most hiccups (or “singultus” if I feel like being fancy) are benign (not bad for you) and self-limiting. Which means most of the time they will stop by themselves .
  For these sorts of hiccups people suggest everything from being scared to drinking water on your head, holding your breath, eating lemons, biting your tongue….
  I don’t think any of these real have any benefit beyond a placebo – but if it works for you and makes you feel like they stop sooner go for it!
  (I personally hold my breath and tense my abdomen – I know there is no evidence for this but I still do it anyway).
  >
  There are other, slightly more unusual cases of hiccups, where the underlying causes are varied and many, but the hiccups persist for weeks, months, in some rare cases even years. In these cases the cause must be identified and removed (there are dozens if not more reasons for these types of hiccups, and can include infections, nerve irritation, tumours etc etc).
  >
  However even if you feel like your hiccups are going on forever, the first group rarely go on for much beyond 15-20 minutes,.
- Liza Selley answered on 12 Jun 2018:
  
  My Grandad used to say ‘hold your breath for half an hour’….it took many years for me to figure out why that would stop the hiccups! I don’t think anyone can survive holding their breath for that long!
- Hannah Farley answered on 13 Jun 2018:
  
  I was once told to eat a spoonful of sugar and I reckon this works. Or at least it gives you a reason to eat sugar.
- Claire Donald answered on 15 Jun 2018:
  
  I was always told you needed to drink water upside down (from the opposite side of the glass) was the best way to do it. But I like the idea of eating sugar instead! Much less messy..

Question: What is the best way to stop hiccups?

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