How to get rid of hiccups

The best way to get rid of hiccups is preventing them altogether. This can be easily done by keeping certain things in mind. Some of which can include:

• Don't Eat too fast: When you eat or drink too fast, you swallow air along with your food. This makes your stomach swell, disturbing the diaphragm. The disturbed diaphragm then creates hiccups.
• Don't Eat too much: When you eat more than your consumption limit, your stomach size increases rapidly and disturbs your diaphragm. This is quite a similar disturbance like when you eat too fast.
• Avoid Smoking and chewing gum: While smoking cigarette or hookah, people deliberately inhale and exhale continuously. This forceful contraction and expansion of lungs can sometimes irritate the diaphragm and induce hiccups, especially if you are smoking for the first time or not a frequent smoker. Similarly, a lot of air is ingested while chewing gum. This causes bloating in the stomach. The expanded size of stomach troubles the diaphragm, resulting in hiccups.
• Stay away from drinking too much alcohol or carbonated drinks: These drinks may cause gastritis, which disturbs the stomach and eventually irritates the diaphragm leading to hiccups.

Now that you are aware of the causes of hiccups, let us discuss some of the well-known remedies to get rid of them.

Eating and drinking techniques
There are many ways you can treat hiccups with different eating and drinking techniques. Some of them include: 

• Drinking a whole glass of water in one go or eating some ice.
• You can drink a whole glass of chilled water with a straw. Hold your breath while you are drinking.
• Swallow some sugar or just keep some sugar at the back of your tongue. Repeat this process a few more times if hiccups still persist. Use sugar syrup in case of children.
• Bite a lemon. If you don't have a lemon then you can go for vinegar
• You can also eat some peanut butter. Though, it is best not to eat it immediately, allow it to dissolve itself.
• You can also go for a gargle. Take some ice water and gargle properly. Repeat this few times. 

Breathing exercises
The main trick behind these techniques is to increase the carbon dioxide level in your blood so as to bring your diaphragm back to normal state. Breathing exercises work on most people.

• Hold your breath: The best way to increase carbon dioxide levels in your body is holding your breath. However, don’t hold your breath for more than a few seconds. You can repeat this few times until the hiccups persist.
• Breath into a paper bag: Breathing into paperwork on the same principle as holding your breath. You just need to put your nose and mouth into the bag and try breathing through it. Within a few seconds, it will lead to carbon dioxide accumulation in the bag so all you’ll be inhaling is CO₂.

Distract/shock your brain
Shocking or distracting your brain is one of the best tricks to get rid of a hiccup. It reactivates your certain nerves (vagus), which in turn help relieve hiccups.

• Have someone frighten you. This trick often works for relieving hiccups by distracting your brain for a few seconds.
• You can also ask your friend to tickle you. Tickling will distract you from hiccups and laughter will readjust your breathing.

Diaphragm exercises 
Another way to stop hiccups is a sudden contraction of the diaphragm. This can be done with some simple exercises.

• Sit on a chair and pull your knees up to your head so it puts pressure on your diaphragm.
• You can also lean forward to your knees. Exhale while you are bending forward. Repeat this for a few minutes.

When hiccups last for more than 48 hrs they are called chronic hiccups. In some rare conditions, chronic hiccups can last for months. These may be an indication of an underlying medical condition such as brain damage (injury or stroke or a tumour), kidney disorders, pneumonia (inflammation in lungs), pleurisy and oesophagitis. Chronic hiccups may also occur as a side effect of some medications such as epilepsy medicines or an after-effect of surgery like abdominal and chest surgery.

If left untreated, long term hiccups can lead to exhaustion, dehydration and weight loss. And eventually, other problems like irregular heartbeat and gastroesophageal disorders can also manifest. So, it is best that you visit a doctor immediately if your hiccups don't go soon. 

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Unlike most other disorders, hiccups can be treated by doctors specialized in various fields like otolaryngologist (ENT), gastroenterologist (specialized in the digestive tract) or even a neurologist (brain and nervous system specialist).

Apart from these, if you know the causative disorder, go to that specialist doctor.