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Best Cures for How to Stop the Worst Hiccups | The Old Farmer's Almanac

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How to Stop the Hiccups

Catherine Boeckmann
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Read on for a surefire remedy for getting rid of hiccups that can strike a person anytime, anywhere!  

It’s hard to forget the embarrassment of being attacked by hiccups in a library.

From that moment, I vowed to share my no-fail, portable hiccup antidote with everyone I met.

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Best Cure for Hiccups

Some hiccups just can’t be stopped by breathing into a paper bag, drinking water fast while holding your nose, or having someone suddenly scare you. 

Fortunately, you can find the ultimate cure for hiccups in a simple bowl of sugar. This remedy has always won many anti-hiccup battles with immediate results:

  • Use your tongue to massage about a teaspoonful of sugar across the roof of your mouth for several seconds (the sugar will start melting).  In a moment you’ll have relief from your hiccups. Repeat just once if necessary.

Another nice thing about this cure aside from how quickly it works is that it’s portable. You can carry a small, inexpensive packet of sugar almost anywhere to treat hiccups.

Other Cures

If you’d rather avoid sugar, here are some other options folks have suggested:

  • Massage ice cubes against the roof of your mouth.
  • Eat a spoonful of peanut butter.
  • Breathe deeply into a small pillow filled with fragrant pine needles and think peaceful thoughts. 
  • Rub one earlobe between your thumb and forefinger.
  • Bite your thumbs and then blow on them.
  • Swallow a spoonful of vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, or something spicy hot.

Do you know of another reliable cure for the hiccups?  Please share it below!

What Causes Hiccups

Hiccups are spasms of the diaphragm that can be brought on by gulping down your food or carbonated beverages, eating or drinking too much or too quickly, or experiencing strong emotions.

(Usually, hiccups last only a few minutes. If they last for days, see your doctor.)

Although hiccups tend to make a person more tense, it’s really important to try to calm yourself to help them go away. Visualizing the most tranquil place you know of or somewhere from your childhood may help you to relax. Our thoughts often have a powerful effect on our bodies.

Combining the healing power of your mind with your hiccup cure of choice, you can rejoice with, “H’up h’up away… hip hip hooray!”

Natural Remedies
About The Author

Catherine Boeckmann

Catherine Boeckmann loves nature, stargazing, and gardening so it’s not surprising that she and The Old Farmer’s Almanac found each other. She leads digital content for the Almanac website, and is also a certified master gardener in the state of Indiana. Read More from Catherine Boeckmann

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Comments

Julie Rhees (not verified)

3 years 2 months ago

I usually hold the person's ears shut and have them drink a glass of water. Works everytime.
Or if I'm alone, drink water through a straw while holding my ears shut.

Mrs. Gingerich (not verified)

3 years 7 months ago

As a teacher, sometimes my students would get hiccups. I would always tell them that if they hiccupped one more time, I'd tell them a story. They never got to hear that story!!! They would even try calling me when they weren't at school because they had the hiccups! The story always chased the hiccups away!

chip (not verified)

3 years 7 months ago

i find if i just control my breathing with slow moderate deep breaths works for me...

Jon (not verified)

3 years 7 months ago

Try Cinnamon. Just place a tiny pinch of cinnamon powder under your tongue. Cinnamon is an anti-spasmodic, in other words, it relaxes the muscle -- in this case, the diaphragm.

Lorie C (not verified)

3 years 7 months ago

I have always gotten hiccups that last and last. I tried every remedy I could to no avail, until I was told to put my first two fingers over my pulse at the wrist and breathe in time with it. It works every time and I no longer get the hiccups for hours and hours.

Liz (not verified)

3 years 7 months ago

I found years ago that you can stop the diaphragm spasm by simply sipping water but it’s all about the timing! Raise a glass of water to your mouth and without removing it inhale normally, sip, exhale, sip, inhale, sip and repeat until you feel the tightness go away. Do it slow and methodical so as not to let a hiccup sneak through ! I find It may take a couple of try’s and about 10 swallows before you get it right but it has even worked for my grandkids!

Sandy (not verified)

3 years 8 months ago

Green olives will cure them every time for me. I usually take 2 or 3, and hiccups are gone instantly. I suspect it has something to do with the salt content, but I don't really know for sure. I only know it never has failed for me.

Kathleen Carroll (not verified)

3 years 8 months ago

. . . is the only thing that will get rid of my hiccups! How nice to see this remedy vindicated, as most people look at like I'm crazy when I suggest it.

Cynthia coronado (not verified)

3 years 8 months ago

Pressing on your closed eyelids gives almost immediate relief! I walked into a small bookstore one day and the clerk had loud hiccups that had been driving her crazy for an hour. I told her to press her eyelids and went about my shopping. I realized when I went back to the counter, she hadn’t had a single hiccup after she did that. I experience the same thing every time.

M G (not verified)

3 years 8 months ago

As a teacher when a child comes to me asking to go get a drink for hiccups Ijust keep looking into their eyes, not answering. After a short staring session, the hiccups usually disappear and the mystified child walks away and gets back to work.