by Davina
"Hahaha *Hic!* haha *Hic!* haha *Hic! Hic! Hic!*
No, that's no the sound of a happy drunkard - that's what I sometimes sound like when I laugh too hard!
What is a hiccup?
A hiccup is a diaphragmatic contraction.
A what?!? The diaphragm is a strong, dome-shaped sheet of muscle that separates the thoracic cavity (where your lungs, heart etc. are) from the abdomen (where your guts are). A hiccup happens when the diaphragm suddenly tenses up (contracts), leading to a sharp intake of air. Almost at the same time, the flaps of the vocal chords close up. These two things happen in a fraction of a second, so the force of it all results in the distinct sound of the hiccup.
What causes hiccups?
No one knows for sure what exactly causes hiccups. What we do know is that hiccupping is occasionally linked to eating or drinking too fast or too much, or nervousness or anxiety. (In my case, it can be laughing too much.) In extremely rare cases, hiccups may be caused by illness, such as stomach, eosophagus, lung, liver, or kidney disorders. Cases have been reported of hiccups being associated with hepatitis, epilepsy, pneumonia, meningitis, tuberculosis and even skull fracture.
What can you do to get
rid of hiccups?There are many home remedies for hiccups, from the practical to the downright wacky.
These may include putting an ice cube on either side of your Adam's apple, breathing through a paper bag, getting a fright or drinking water with a pencil clenched in between your teeth. Although there has been no proven cure for hiccups, it's worth giving these many strange remedies a try.
Hard to believe, but...
There was once a 27-year-old guy who visited the doctor because he had been hiccupping for the past four days. The doctor examined the guy's ear to find a strand of hair tickling his eardrum. The guy had the hair washed out, and he stopped hiccupping!
Unborn babies can hiccup in their mothers' womb! Doctors believe that this is a good way for babies to strengthen their lungs in preparation for breathing air.
Charles Osborne of Iowa hiccupped every 1 ½ seconds for over 69 years. And without warning, he stopped hiccupping (dead) altogether after February 1969!