Today I'm a Bit under the weather. Got hiccups. Did not feel like getting out of bed to find a paper bag. ( Better now, thanks. ) So I tried two ways to change my breathing to increase the CO2 and stop the hiccups. Both work.

First method, blow your cheeks out like a trumpet player and breathe shallowly. letting just a tiny bit of new air in and out. Just as I started to feel light headed, the hiccups stopped.

Second method, stop breathing entirely until your body forces you to breath and than breath only very shallowly so most of the air in your lungs is the old stuff. This work twice as well.

Well this one is baked for me, but your mileage may vary. No doubt someone in France will post a backdated instructional video soon.

Will paper bag company stock prices fall steeply tomorrow?
-- popbottle, Feb 25 2014

Usually I rely on the "pop this bag near my head when I'm not expecting it" method.
-- WcW, Feb 26 2014


As a teenager I encountered a book on self- hypnosis, which was mostly about how you could communicate better with your subconscious mind, to improve various abilities that were luridly spelled out on the cover of the book.

Anyway, not too long after practicing some of the exercises in the book, I had a hiccup episode, and I realized that the subconscious mind has control over the spasms of the diaphragm, when hiccups are happening. So, I simply tried asking my subconscious to turn them off --and it worked! It also has worked every time in all the years since, and within seconds of asking. Cool!
-- Vernon, Feb 26 2014


I sort of do the same thing except I tell it to stop. It's a bit like having control of opening and closing your own eustchian tubes, or wiggling your ears. I don't think everyone can do it.
-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Feb 26 2014


I have never heard of a paper bag to stop hiccups! I put my forefinger sideways across my mouth and then (try to) drink a cup of water. It has always worked for me and other people that I told.
-- xandram, Feb 26 2014


I have a hiccup cure that seems to work for about 1 in 5 people I share it with:

1. Stand in an open doorway with your back pressed against the jamb and stick out your chest so that your shoulderblades touch the trim on each side. It also seems to help if you keep the back of your head in contact with the doorframe.

C. Lay your hands one over the other with your fingertips pressing against the lower sternum, just a hair below the CPR location.

2. Using you biceps but keeping your shoulders as relaxed as possible, press against your sternum and breathe slow, regular breaths. I find that using your shoulder muscles too much will prevent your diaphragm from relaxing, which of course is the objective.

4. Keep up the pressure and find your happy place. Your hiccups should go away in 1-2 minutes.

Goozfrabba, my brothers and sisters.
-- Alterother, Feb 26 2014


//I have a hiccup cure that seems to work for about 1 in 5 people I share it with: //

If you drink three very dry gin martinis in rapid succession, your hiccups will often stop within 1-2 hours.
-- MaxwellBuchanan, Feb 26 2014



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