At some point in my youth I had the hiccups often enough and severe enough to annoy me. So I got rid of them. Permanently.
It wasn’t ’til much later in life that I realized that other people didn’t know how to get rid of the hiccups. When I was around folks that had the hiccups, I wondered why they kept on doing that. I could only figure it was attention seeking behavior, so it irritated me. When it finally dawned on me that most folks really didn’t know how to get rid of their hiccups, I started showing some sufferers how to kick the hiccup habit. It worked, of course, for those who really wanted to get rid of their hiccups. But there were enough people out there who got some sort of sick kick out of the attention their hiccups received, and so wouldn’t really try, that I gave up trying to coach people in the process.
I’m still in the no coaching mode, but under Linda’s encouragement I’ve decided to write it down – in case someone might be interested in the process.
The first thing is: it’s a matter of concentration. You’ve got to really focus on the process or you might as well not even start.
Here’s the process: inhale, exhale – repeat. Well that’s the basic process, but it’s a little more complex that just that, hence the concentration.
Here’s the full monte…
Inhale. Focus on sucking air into your chest. When your chest is as full as you can get it, make a strong effort to suck in a little more air. Then exhale. Exhale all the air out of your lungs. When all the air is gone, make a strong effort to exhale just a little more. Repeat 3 times. Your inhalations and exhalations should be slow and steady. When you inhale, it should be a slow steady intake until your lungs are completely full – then try to gasp a little more in. Exhaling should be the same way – slow and steady ’til all the air is gone, then a little snort to try and get rid of more. You shouldn’t pause between breaths.
If you hiccup during the process, start over again. If you hiccup after the 3 deep breaths, do it again – concentrating more on the peaks and valleys; that is, try a little harder to suck in that little extra bit of air, or exhale that last little bit.
For me and most folks who’ve tried it, 3 deep breaths seems to be enough. But you might be different… If the hiccups return after the 3 deep breaths, try 4 – or 5. Whatever it takes.
The funny thing about this is that once you are confident you can rid yourself of the hiccups, they don’t seem to come back. I can’t remember the last time I had the hiccups.
Why does it work? I haven’t a clue. My guess would be that it’s a combination of the concentration you need to do it right and the extra oxygen in your system working together to remove whatever triggered the hiccups in the first place. Or maybe getting the hiccups is Mother Nature’s way of telling you that you’re not expanding your lungs enough – or collapsing them enough to get rid of all that crud down there in the bottom. I dunno. It works, and that’s always been enough for me.