Information On Hiccups With Treatment

By: User name - Peter Hutch

A hiccup is an unintentional movement (spasm) of the diaphragm, the muscle at the base of the lungs. The spasm is followed by quick closure of the vocal cords, which produces a distinctive sound.

Hiccups (sometimes spelled hiccoughs) are caused by a sudden contraction of your diaphragm. This is the muscle under your lungs that helps you breathe in. Your glottis (the top of your windpipe) closes immediately after your diaphragm contracts which makes the typical ‘hic’ sound. A hiccup is a reflex that you cannot stop. However, unlike other reflexes such as coughing and sneezing, hiccups do not seem to have any useful purpose.

Hiccups start from the diaphragm, a dome shaped muscle in the chest. Diaphragm’s function is to pull and push air in and out of the lungs while inhaling and exhaling respectively. Hiccups are caused when the diaphragm is irritated. Generally hiccups last for a few minutes but sometimes they may last for days or weeks. This may be a sign of some other medical problems in the body.

It is thought that a number of specific nerves in the spinal cord at the back of the neck control hiccups. When something triggers these nerves - eating too quickly, for example - a signal is sent to the phrenic nerve, which controls the diaphragm. The diaphragm signals back to the hiccup center and hiccups begin. Within a split second, a structure called the glottis closes off the windpipe, producing the characteristic sound of a hiccup.

While many cases develop spontaneously, hiccups are known to be triggered by specific events, such as eating too quickly, being hungry for long, taking a cold drink while eating a hot meal, belching, eating very hot or spicy food, laughing vigorously or coughing, drinking alcoholic beverages in excess, crying out loud (sobbing causes air to enter the stomach), some smoking situations where abnormal inhalation can occur (in tobacco or other smoke like cannabis, perhaps triggered by precursors to coughing), electrolyte imbalance, talking too long, clearing the throat, or from lack of vitamins.

A hiccup is an unintentional contraction of your diaphragm - the muscle that separates your chest from your abdomen and plays an important role in breathing. This contraction makes your vocal cords close very briefly, which produces the sound of a hiccup.

In these instances, your stomach, which sits underneath and adjacent to the diaphragm, is distended or stretched. Because they occur in relation to eating and drinking, hiccups are sometimes thought to be a reflex to protect you from choking.

Treatment

A number of simple remedies may be helpful in patients with acute benign hiccups. (1) Irritation of the nasopharynx by tongue traction, lifting the uvula with a spoon, catheter stimulation of the nasopharynx, or eating 1 tsp of dry granulated sugar. (2) Interruption of the respiratory cycle by breath holding. Valsalva’s manoeuvre, sneezing, gasping, (fright stimulus), or re-breathing into a bag. (3) Stimulation of the vagus, carotid massage. (4) Irritation of the diaphragm by holding knees to chest or by continuous positive airway pressure during mechanical ventilation. (5) Relief of gastric distention by belching or insertion of a nasogastric tube.

A hiccup is an unintentional movement (spasm) of the diaphragm, the muscle at the base of the lungs. The spasm is followed by quick closure of the vocal cords, which produces a distinctive sound.

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