We’ve all been there. You’re sitting in your lecture hall. Everything is quiet except for your professor talking in the front of the class. Next thing you know, you let out a yip that seems to echo around the room. You’re fighting back the next one but you know it’s impossible. You’re stuck. For the next hour, you’ve got the hiccups, you poor soul.
Alright, so it’s not that dramatic. But still, no one actually likes when they have the hiccups.
Hiccups aren’t particularly scary, until you get down to what is actually happening. Hiccups are contractions of the diaphragm and the larynx, resulting in total closure of the glottis, in the middle of the larynx. All of this results in blocking your air take completely. Doctors don’t actually know why hiccups happen, but they have a huge list of ways you increase your risk hiccups, including eating too fast or too much or when food is still hot. Many people claim that booze or fizzy drinks give them the hiccups.
Whatever the reason is that you ended up with the hiccups, I have the solution. The first time my sister told me to do this hack, I didn’t even understand how it was possible. I tried and then gave up halfway through, then started again. And then it worked right away. Every time I’ve gotten hiccups ever since, I’ve used this trick and it’s gone away right after.
1. Hold your breath.
Pretty straightforward. Just hold your breath. Not for any particular amount of time. You also don’t want to hold it for too long before you move onto step two since the hiccups will try to fight to come out while you are holding your breath.
2. Swallow three times.
Actually, do swallow. Three times to be exact. This is the hard part. While not breathing, swallow three times. The first time isn’t that hard. The second time is usually a little harder. The third time feels impossible. But push through and make sure to swallow that final third time because that’s the one that makes the difference. If you stop at the second swallow, you will definitely still have the hiccups afterwards and it’ll feel a bit like this.
And that’s it. Follow this hack to the T and you will never have to fight off the hiccups again. You can go back to hiding in the back row and you don’t have to worry about your hiccups giving you away for your professor to call on you. You’re welcome.