Hiccups, Hiccups causes, How to get rid of hiccups, Frequent hiccups, Hiccups after eating

Hiccups: reasons

What Happens During Hiccups? Hiccups are caused by irritation of the diaphragm. Most of the time, our diaphragm works quietly, dropping down when inhaling to let air into the lungs, and rising again to push air out of the lungs when the person exhales. If the diaphragm is irritated, it starts to move in jerks, resulting in a sharp stream of air entering the throat. When this happens, air enters the vocal cords, which causes the characteristic sound.

Common causes of hiccups are carbonated drinks, too heavy a lunch or dinner (that is, eating too much in general), excessive alcohol consumption, emotional stress, excitement, and sudden changes in temperature. Ordinary hiccups go away very quickly – within five to twenty minutes.

How are the causes of prolonged hiccups diagnosed?

If the hiccups continue for several days, you need to see a doctor to rule out the possibility of damage to the body due to serious diseases. The doctor will order a series of tests for the patient. For example, laboratory tests check a patient’s blood for kidney disease, infection, or diabetes. Endoscopic tests look for problems in the windpipe or esophagus, using a special camera at the end of a flexible, thin tube that goes down the throat into the esophagus. Fluoroscopy can detect possible problems in the diaphragm, as well as damage to the vagus and phrenic nerves. These tests include computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, and chest x-rays.

Frequent hiccups

As we mentioned, frequent hiccups can result from damage or irritation to the nerves that affect the muscles in the diaphragm. Nerve damage can occur as a result of pleurisy or pneumonia. Pleurisy is a condition in which the lining of the lungs and chest becomes infected and inflamed, making breathing very difficult. And pneumonia develops when bacteria and viruses enter the lungs through the nose or mouth. Symptoms of pneumonia include fever, chills, and a cough that produces green or yellow mucus that sometimes contains droplets of blood.

Frequent hiccups can occur as a result of a malfunction of the central nervous system. When the central nervous system is damaged by a tumor, infection, or injury, our hiccup reflex also fails. What diseases can affect the nervous system so much that it will cause chronic hiccups?

• Stroke;

• Multiple sclerosis;

• Meningitis;

• Encephalitis,

• Traumatic brain injury and some others.

Familiar names, nothing exotic. Meningitis, for example, also called spinal meningitis, causes inflammation of the brain and spinal cord. Symptoms of meningitis include mostly severe headaches, neck pain, and fever. And encephalitis causes swelling of the brain, and its symptoms are similar to those of a cold or flu.

Frequent hiccups can, among other things, be caused by chemotherapy. Cancer patients who have gone through several stages of chemotherapy often begin to hiccup due to the fact that their body is exposed to several powerful drugs at once. More than 30 percent of cancer patients experience frequent hiccups during chemotherapy. One of the causes of hiccups during chemotherapy is the action of the drug dexamethasone. In addition to frequent hiccups, dexamethasone also causes nausea, vomiting, and muscle weakness.

Surgery and the effects of anesthesia also increase the risk of frequent hiccups. After the surgeon inserts breathing tubes into the trachea to perform procedures on the abdominal cavity, and also displaces internal organs during the operation, the risk of frequent hiccups increases significantly. Hiccups overtake a person after abdominal surgery due to the accumulation of air and gases in the internal cavities.

How to get rid of hiccups

There are some very effective home remedies that can help get rid of hiccups for both children and adults.

The first remedy to get rid of hiccups is to swallow a tablespoon of sugar. This remedy was popular in the mid-XNUMXth century and is often used to treat hiccups in children. It is not yet known why sugar helps in treating hiccups, but it does.

Another popular remedy for hiccups is holding your breath. Holding your breath, you need to try to squeeze the diaphragm as much as possible with the chest muscles. The longer you can hold the diaphragm in this position, the more likely you will be to stop the hiccups. When you squeeze it in this way, it relaxes and stops contracting.

Another tip is to drink the water in small sips while your nose heals. You should sip over and over again, without interruption, until you feel like water may soon start coming out of your nose. After about 25 sips, the hiccups usually stop.

This tip is not for everyone – try standing on your hands. Or just lie on the bed with your head very low. The idea is to get your head below the diaphragm. This often stops hiccups.

Finally, another popular remedy to help get rid of hiccups is chamomile tea. The drink should be brewed for at least half an hour. The substances contained in chamomile have muscle relaxant properties, they can also stop the contractions of the diaphragm that cause hiccups.

Hiccups after eating

There are two reasons why we have hiccups after eating. We are either eating too fast or too much.

When we eat in a hurry, the diaphragm becomes irritated and we start to hiccup. Hiccups often occur after meals, when we eat dry foods quickly – bread, bagels and buns.

By overeating, we also earn ourselves hiccups. The fact is that when we eat too much, the swollen stomach touches the diaphragm, causing it to irritate. Therefore, in order not to hiccup, as soon as we feel that the stomach is full, we need to stop eating.