Ongoing hiccups can be a warning sign of cancer, tumors, or stroke
Almost everyone has hiccupped at least once in their life. The frequency of hiccups becomes rarer as you age, and men are more likely to hiccup than women. Hiccups have been found to start when you are a baby and occur to allow air that becomes trapped in your stomach while you suck to escape and allow more milk to be swallowed.
Some of the common causes of hiccups are eating too fast or too much; drinking too much alcohol; tuxedo; laughter; sudden change in temperature in your stomach (drink something hot and then drink something cold immediately). Carbonated drinks, including beer, can also cause hiccups. There are also medical reasons that can cause hiccups: certain medications (opiates and benzodiazepines); have a metabolic disease; diabetes; renal insufficiency; an electrolyte imbalance; or deviated septum.
Hiccups can diagnose serious illnesses
The medical term for hiccups is synchronous diaphragmatic flutter. The muscle between the chest and abdomen is essential for breathing. When you hiccup, they will cause this muscle to contract involuntarily. Contracting it will affect your vocal cords and you will hear the “hic” sound. Therefore, Hiccup’s name became the terminology of the layman.
People seem to view hiccups more as an annoyance than a symptom of a more serious illness. There are different and more threatening causes that a doctor must consider. If your episode of hiccups lasts more than 48 hours, they are called persistent hiccups. If they last at least a month or more, they are called intractable hiccups. These types have more serious diagnosed causes, such as tumors; Cancer; stroke, infection or injury and a doctor should be consulted.
If you have damage or irritation to the nerves that travel from the brain to the diaphragm, this can be a possible long-term cause of hiccups. These nerves may be irritated by a hair or other object in your ear that is touching your eardrum. Damage can occur from a sore throat, laryngitis, acid reflux, or a cyst, goiter, or tumor in the neck.
Home remedies for common hiccups
There are many simple home remedies for hiccups.
- Drink a full glass of water, this will calm the nerves that irritate the muscle. Gargling will also help.
- Hold your breath, pinch your nose, and close your mouth. Hold your breath for as long as you can.
- Breathe into a paper bag; This works just as well as holding your breath. Both increase the amount of carbon monoxide in the bloodstream.
- Put a teaspoon of sugar or honey on the back of the tongue; the back of the tongue is where it tastes “bitter.” Putting the sugar in there will give you an overload of sweetness that will help curb the hiccups.
The usual duration of having common hiccups is just a few minutes to a few hours. If they don’t go away within that time, try some of the remedies above. If you still have the hiccups after 48 hours, it might be a good time to contact your doctor’s office and get their assessment of the situation.
