I offer the following as a suggestion, and it might not be any
help for protracted hiccups. But give it a try.
There are several "wive's tale" treatments for hiccups. A few
years ago, a discovery was made that one of these consistently
worked, and this was reported in Newsweek, I believe. The wive's
tale is to take a teaspoon of sugar and swallow it, not allowing
it to dissolve. In other wards, try to swallow it in its dry
granulated form. If you are doing it right, you should have at
least some tendency to gag a little.
What researchers found was that there was a nerve patch
on the throat, which when brushed with granular substances,
interrupted the hiccups. Any granular substance will work, sand,
salt, or sugar, but obviously sugar is the least objectionable.
I don't get hiccups frequently, but when I do, I use this
technique successfully. So does my daughter, who gets them about
every time she laughs.
When I swallow the sugar, the sensation that I am going to
continue to hiccup remains at first. But, in my case, the next
hiccup never comes. Then the sensation gradually dissipates, and
after a few minutes, I'm back to normal, no hiccups, no sensation.
Give this a try, and let us know if it does anything. I've not
met anyone yet that has told me that it doesn't work, but my data
is limited.
--
Terry Quinn
Germantown Hills, IL
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