Yesterday’s post about family superstitions made me think of something else that involves a lot of traditional but not necessarily effective folk wisdom: hiccup remedies.
Everyone has the one Grandma recommended, the one Mom thought was better and the one picked up along the way that he or she thinks works best of all. I can think of several right off:
- My mother’s advice: "Hold your breath and count to 79," which seems a trifle excessive and still doesn’t always work.
- One I learned in school that strikes me as a little scary: close your eyes and press lightly on your eyelids.
- My husband’s favorite tip: swallow a spoonful of sugar.
- My personal favorite: drink a glass of water.
What hiccup cures do you know about that I didn’t list here? Do they work?
Comments
7 responses to “Average Jane Cures Hiccups”
Similar to the water drinking. Instead of drinking it, hold a full glass of water in your mouth. Be near the sink in case one escapes and you can’t hold the water in.
Here is a fool proof remedy, however, not the tastiest: take a wedge of lemon and put a few drops of Angostora Bitters on the lemon and chomp down…
Drink a glass of water backwards–that is, drink from the side of the glass farthest away from your mouth. It’s a bit tricky but can be done. You need to be bending over while you do it. It works.
Take 7 sips of water and make a wish between each sip. KP
hold your breath for 15 sec. with a full mouth of water
Take a mouthful of cold water. Pressing your fingers over your ears, swallow a small amount of the water and inhale slowly and deeply (usually six seconds). Swallow a small amount of water and exhale slowly (six seconds again). Repeat this process for eight inhale/exhales. My ballet teacher taught me this when I was a little kid and I thought she was nuts, but it actually does work.
Alternately, you can press down on your collarbones. This somehow interrupts the spasming of the vagus nerve.
OMG! Used a hiccup cure afer 48 hours of hiccups, 39 hours of sore abs!!! THANK YOU THAKN YOU THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!