Why do people hickup?

Question

im very confused.

i just got the kickups out of nowhere.

and they are all super high pitched

:-/

Answer 1

spasm of the diaphragm

Answer 2

Hiccups are caused by a muscle spasm in the diaphragm.It helps sometimes to sit, and with the knees together put your arms around them and pull them as close to the chest as possible.Hold the position.This stretches the diaphragm.It is the same principal as standing or walking out a leg cramp.

Answer 3

I had the hiccups for 7 days (this happened 10 years ago)! It was crazy and very annoying! I continued on with my normal daily life - went to school, played sports, went out.

To this day I still get scared if I get them because I never know how long they are going to stay.

Spent the night in the hospital to get my oxygen levels back up to normal!

Answer 4

i don't know.... good question...

Answer 5

Yeah, they are really uncomfortable. Some people are so prone to getting regular long episodes that there is actually a medication to treat the hiccups. Crazy huh?

Hiccups are a sudden involuntary and often sharp contraction of the diaphragm (which is a muscle that looks like the mouth part of a happy face that runs just under your chest and above your intestines)

As this muscle contracts the opening between your vocal cords snap shut which suddenly stops the influx of air, and makes that silly sound you're hearing.

Unfortunately, there is no known cause of hiccups.

Many theories, however, include an irritation of the diaphragm when a person eats or drinks too quickly or swallows air while eating, some people believe babies hiccup to strengthen their diaphragm, and some people believe that the hiccup is a reaction to prevent you from choking.

FYI-when you eat or drink or swallow air quickly it can cause a sudden distension of the stomach which sits under and next to the diaphragm. This might irritate the diaphragm into hiccups.

Some even can link the occurrence of hiccups to some dangerous diseases like pneumonia!

Not to worry, you most likely swallowed some air and irritated your diaphragm.

Try holding your breath. This causes a build up of carbon dioxide in the blood, which can stop your hiccups.

You can also try swallowing water, pulling on your tongue, or forcing yourself to burp. All of these methods stimulate a very large nerve in your body, which can also stop the hiccups.

Answer 6

Hiccups are caused by uncontrolled spasms of the diaphragm. Each spasm causes a quick intake of breath, which makes a 'hiccup'. The nerve which controls the diaphragm is called the phrenic nerve, it's directly responsible for the spasms. Here are some things that cause these spasms... Eating or drinking too quickly, too hot, cold or spicy food, drinking alcohol, quick intake of breath, sneezing, laughing or coughing. Sometimes though, there isn't any identifiable reason. Those are the physical reasons why people get hiccups, they haven't found any physiological reason for getting the hiccups. It's funny, even unborn babies get hiccups in the womb.Now THAT is a strange feeling all it's own, and a whole other question. I don't know exactly why babies in the womb get the hiccups, except for may be to strengthen their diaphragm.  One more thing, Doctors agree that hiccups do not seem to serve any useful purpose.