The Science of Hiccups

The Science of Hiccups

Hiccup Help You just finished lunch and-hic! - uh-oh. You drank a fizzy drink, and now-hic! -you have the hiccups! Your friends try to help. " Hold your breath! " says one. " Drink a glass of water upside down! " suggests another. " We have a spelling quiz today! " shouts a third.

" What?" you ask. “ Not really, " your friend tells you. “ I was just trying to scare the hiccups away! " You try a few tricks, but nothing works. Eventually, the hiccups go away on their own. Usually, hiccups are no big deal, and they come and go quickly. However, many people are curious about hiccups. Some have been trying for years to understand hiccups. They want to know what hiccups are, where they come from, and how to get rid of them.

What Are Hiccups? A hiccup is a muscle spasm, or twitch. The muscle that twitches is called the diaphragm. You use your diaphragm to breathe. Your diaphragm sits below your lungs and stretches across the bottom of your rib cage. Nerves carry signals from your brain to your diaphragm. To breathe in, your brain tells the diaphragm to tighten. When your diaphragm tightens, it moves downward, which pulls air into your lungs. When your brain tells your diaphragm to relax again, the muscle moves up to push air back out of your lungs.

During a hiccup, your brain sends a signal to your diaphragm to suddenly jerk downward. Your diaphragm pulls a quick gasp of air into your lungs, and flaps in your throat slam shut. That is why you make a sudden “ hic! " sound. Hiccups get their name from this sound.

The spasm can be strong enough to make your whole body jerk. Sometimes, if you have a full stomach, it can even be painful. However, hiccups are not harmful.