The Why Series
Report by Gurpreet Kaur
Do you ever get irritated with that ‘HIC’? And you must have heard people saying that you’re getting hiccups because someone’s missing you? I have always wondered about the reason behind getting hiccups. Here’s the answer – A hiccup is a weird sound that comes when the diaphragm (a dome-shaped muscle under your chest) contracts. Usually, the diaphragm contracts as you inhale so that your lungs get space to let air into your lungs. As you exhale, the diaphragm relaxes. Irritation in the diaphragm causes it to contract with a jerk. It forces you to suck air into your throat. The rushing air hits your voice box (voice box known as larynx) This causes the vocal cords (two muscle bands found in the larynx, forming a ‘V’) to close, resulting in that ‘hic’ sound.
Many factors contribute to irritating your diaphragm. An important and common reason is, eating food too fast and eating a lot.
Few more reasons are:
- Irritation in the throat
- Irritation in stomach
- Stress
- Intense emotions
The actual irritation happens in the nerve connecting the brain to the diaphragm. In almost all cases, hiccups last for a few minutes, but sometimes hiccups last for a week or months. This is rather unusual and a sign of another medical issue. Building up carbon dioxide in your lungs by breathing into a paper bag might relax your diaphragm. Drinking a glass of water or gargling with it also helps.
The scientific name for hiccup is Singultus which is Latin for ‘to catch one’s breath while crying’.
Charles Osborne had hiccups from 1922 to 1990, which means it lasted for more than 60 years.
In 2007, Jennifer Mee from Florida hiccupped 50 times per minute, for 35 days.