It’s known that sneezing is a reflex to prevent dust or nose hairs or whatever from getting down into the lungs, but why do people and animals sometimes get hiccups? What function does that serve, and what causes them?
Also, bonus points for any random useful tips on how to make hiccups go away…
Probably echoing what others have said, but here’s an article with a salient section:
With all these disadvantages, and hardly any advantages to speak of, you might be wondering if hiccups serve a purpose at all. Well, some scientists have argued in the affirmative.
They point to the fact that even human fetuses hiccup, long before they’re born. In fact, the diaphragmatic spasms are more common in infants than in adults. It’s possible that this reflex helps prevent fetuses from breathing in amniotic fluid while still in the womb; likewise, it could prevent newborns from choking on milk while breastfeeding.
And still others have proposed that hiccuping in the womb trains a fetus’ respiratory muscles for all the breathing they will have to do after birth.
But humans aren’t the only animals that hiccup; pretty much any species that breathes exclusively air — including all mammals — can suffer the same fate. (Birds and reptiles, on the other hand, get a free pass.)
In fact, that’s the reasoning behind another theory, which posits that hiccups are merely an evolutionary “leftover” in mammals, dating all the way back to our fishy ancestors. When these species transitioned from gill-based breathing in the water to lung-based breathing on land, while still possessing both organs, a breathing system that allowed them to quickly close the glottis and direct water only to the gills was beneficial.
We see a similar process play out on a smaller scale when tadpoles grow up and transition into frog-hood. And that may not be a coincidence; believe it or not, the neural patterning that generates a hiccup in humans is almost identical to the neural patterning involved in respiration in amphibians.
Very interesting! 👍
When did we stop spelling it hiccough, though?
Hiccough is a mistaken newer spelling based on the association with coughing, hiccup is the original.
When did we ever start?
That sounds like a combo reflex if you ask me, which actually does happen to me around 20 minutes after I take a vitamin B12 pill. I’ll get like all the reflexes all at once, sneeze, hiccups, coughing, urge to vomit, all at once. All from a vitamin B12 pill. Never again!
I believe I read that it helps with lung development when the fetus is swimming in the water in the womb or something like that. But otherwise not really useful.
Just saw our baby on the ultrasound do them. Doc said it was getting their lungs ready as well. Now when he does them my wife’s belly moves like jello.
Interesting!
If I may ask, how far along is she?
You may!
LOL, it’s not important either way, was just curious like around what point of development can a fetus start having the hiccup reflex…
13 or 14 months now.
… and still in the womb?
Have you SEEN the cost of housing right now?
Haha sorry, yeah 35 weeks is when it picked up. 32 weeks is when they started a little.
My baby’s hiccups were visable from the outside at week 32 and before that you could feel them from the outside for a week or two. Very neat! (Not as neat while I’m trying to sleep lol)
I read (this morning) that there’s a theory that hiccups are a reflex to pump air across one’s gills, and are more common in foetuses & premature babies as their lungs aren’t fully developed…
So I guess if that is the case (as it’s a theory) then yes, just not in humans - they’re remnants of over 300 million years ago
There was an explanation for it in The Inner Fish book. I’m fuzzy about the details, it’s been a while since I read this but essentially it is to prevent drowning when critters switch from gills to lungs like tadpoles.
For me, it’s always swallowed air or food that hasn’t cleared my esophagus, and I can fix it by drinking water. burping and swallowing carefully.
A few things. First, the only tip I’ve even been given about getting rid of hiccups is drinking a glass of water upside down. As in, lips to the backside of the glass then leaning forward so far you can drink it. And you must drink quite a bit, maybe 300ml. Is this purely anecdotal? For me and those around me, yes, but maybe there is research about it. But it works for us, without fail, and it seems unbelievable even to me.
Regarding sneezing, I am currently discovering it has another feature where after having a few prosthetic discs inserted into your lower back via your abdomen, a sneeze also doubles as the world’s fastest impetus for suicidal ideation.
Holding in a very deep breathe for as long as you can can also get rid of hiccups. Works for me at least, and no need to look silly leaned over with a glass of water.
A lime wedge with sugar on it. 100% has never not cured hiccups on me or anyone I’ve ever suggested it to- and I’ve worked in bars for a long, LONG time.
I’ve found that usually eating just a spoonful of sugar tends to do the trick for me, but not always.
Luckily I don’t have hiccups today, I just posted the question out of curiosity really.
You don’t think that person that had hiccoughs for like, 30 years ever tried that?
Damn, I remember hearing about that case as well, that would have to be an absolute nightmare!
I read an explanation for that, which was that hiccupping is the default mode for the muscles involved, and there’s a part of the brain that suppresses it. The 30-year hiccupper had damage to that part of the brain, so they started and never stopped.
I’ve also successfully used this trick several times
I heard that works because you have to concentrate on it so much, you forget to have hiccups. Holding your breath and then swallowing 5 times without breathing can also help.
The cure I’ve always used is to suck water through a restricted straw. I take a plastic straw, pinch it in the middle with a paperclip, and drink a small glass of water through it.
The science is still out on what causes hiccups, why we get them, and how exactly to stop them.
I read once that your body does it when your blood is low in oxygen, but I have no idea if that’s true or not.
From my understanding, that’s actually what causes mammals to yawn. No idea why it seems ‘contagious’ though, obviously yawning is more of a voluntary reflex. So why is it that if you see someone else yawn, you’re likely to also yawn? 🤷♂️
Maybe your brain is like “oh shit, maybe I need some oxygen too!”
From what I understand: We don’t know! Science hasnt actually figured it out yet and I haven’t even read or heard about theories as to why we do it in regards to an evolutionary trait.
As for making them stop, there are several possible solutions:
- hold your breath
- gulp down some water
- smoke a cigarette
- Have the pants scared off you
smoke a cigarette
Funny anecdote, there is a brand of cigarettes that used to often give me hiccoughs, really weird.
That just means you lit the wrong end silly. 😂
Hiccups, I was always told, are when the gases in something release out of it during digestion, like how a hollow carcass in the sea dissolves releases all its bubbles, which if correct, means it’s less a biological function and more a biological response, one that can be avoided by not eating anything hollow or that which contains a mixed chemical content capable of varying forms of interaction, hence the hiccups you might get after drinking certain beverages.
You never heard of burping? Come on. This is clearly bollocks.
Actually, usually when I get hiccups, I can also feel and hear fluids and gasses sloshing around somewhere inside me, and part of me absolutely wishes I could burp during those times.
Keep in mind, they say the human intestines are something like 27 feet long, and are packed in there as mostly a random mess of a ‘knot’, so to speak. So just because you happen to have gasses somewhere in your belly doesn’t always mean the gas is immediately in a spot ready to go either way up or down.
Burping is for gas in your stomach and oesophagus, nothing to do with your intestines. How would hiccoughs help in any way with gases in the intestines?
I never said it helped in any way, as a matter of fact the experience is absolutely miserable and painful when it happens that way. Not like hiccupping is a voluntary reflex ya know, just saying that having trapped gasses in my belly tends to trigger it sometimes.
When that happens to me, the best thing I can do to try to help is to lay down, and occasionally roll over on my left and right sides, until the gas finally finds it’s way out, usually via burping.
But yeah, these reflexes aren’t exactly voluntary.
Anecdotally, I’ve noticed that I very consistently (as in, nearly 100% of the time) get hiccups while shaving, almost always whenever I get to the parts under my chin or the sides of my neck, with the severity getting worse the longer it takes me to do those areas. I’m kinda curious why that might happen, especially if hiccups have to do with food (I obviously don’t eat anything while shaving). Every time I’ve asked someone about this when the topic of hiccups comes up somewhere, they’ve told me this doesn’t happen to them and have never heard of it being a thing, so maybe I’m just weird that way? Kinda frustrating tbh as I’ve yet to find a way to prevent it.
Now that does sound rather unusual and annoying. I’ve never experienced or heard of that happening either, but I don’t doubt you.
Have you tried testing between handheld razors vs motorized beard trimmers? Maybe one or the other might be less likely to cause you that… 🤷♂️
I’ve always used electric shavers, as I greatly prefer not having to deal with constantly buying replacement blades for the more traditional kind. I’ve had my suspicions that maybe the vibration has something to do with it, but I’ve no idea how it would do so.
I hear you there about having to regularly purchase blades for the more modern razors, but have you considered trying a safety razor? I use one regularly, and not only are the blades super cheap, they’ll also last you quite a long time if properly cleaned and dried off right after each use.
I’ve vaguely heard of them but not really looked into what makes them different from any other conventional razor. I might consider trying one I suppose.
Well, although the safety razor mechanism itself tends to cost quite a bit more than conventional modern razors, the blades for safety razors are far cheaper, last a lot longer, and are easy to clean and take care of.
Modern razor cartridges are more expensive, clog up with hair a lot faster, and are actually designed to be thrown away after just a use or two. That’s where they’re making their money these days, selling disposable cartridges.
On the other hand, I can get a pack of 5 double edge safety blades from Dollar Tree, and as long as I keep it clean and dry after each use, just one blade can last me a whole year or even more!
But anyways, that’s been my experience with them anyways. I’ll admit that I don’t shave every day though, so here’s a review video about safety razors…
