By Priyanka Singh
The Why Series!
Vishesh, it’s a great question. We all get hiccups from time to time, babies are most susceptible to getting them frequently and adults get them when they eat too fast or too much. But why do we get them? Let’s first understand what happens to our body when we get a hiccup.
There is a dome shaped sheet of muscle under our lungs called diaphragm. It is responsible for our breathing. It pulls down to expand our lungs for the influx of the air when we inhale and relaxes when we exhale. Notice how your lungs and chest go up and down while breathing, know that it’s happening due to the diaphragm. But this important muscle is also the one that causes hiccups.
Have you noticed how our eye twitch sometimes, there is no underlying reason for it. It’s just a result of muscular contractions. Similarly, diaphragm too experience an involuntary spasm (muscular contraction) which results in hiccups. Sometimes, when the diaphragm becomes irritated, it suddenly pulls down, making us take in air at a fast speed, like a super breath. When the influx of air hits our voice box, our vocal cords shut down to protect itself and thus comes the big ‘HIC’.
Usually, hiccups occur without any reason, but eating too much or too fast can also result in it. Also irritation of the stomach or throat, and getting too excited or anxious can also cause you to hiccup. Hiccups usually go away within a few minutes, but sometimes they stay for days, weeks, or years. Charles Osborne holds the Guinness Book of World Record for the longest bout of hiccup – 68 years.
Some say, drinking a glass of water, eating hot chillies, holding breath and counting till 10, and getting scared helps in getting rid of hiccups. I say forget all that. It will go when it wants to go. Just keep breathing till then!