Digestion & Nutrition
Hiccups
Sudden, repeated catches of breath that almost always stop on their own.
Also known as: Hiccoughs
📝 At a glance
Likely root causes: Eating or drinking too fast, or a large meal pressing on the diaphragm; Fizzy drinks or swallowed air; Sudden excitement, stress, or a quick temperature change.
First thing to try: Hold your breath gently for as long as is comfortable, then breathe out slowly — repeat a few times.
See a doctor if: Hiccups lasting more than 48 hours
🔎 Start with the cause
Lasting relief rarely comes from covering a symptom. First find what is feeding the problem, change what you can, and then help the body do what it was designed to do — heal.
Likely root causes
- Eating or drinking too fast, or a large meal pressing on the diaphragm
- Fizzy drinks or swallowed air
- Sudden excitement, stress, or a quick temperature change
- Very hot or very spicy food
- Rarely, irritation of the nerves that serve the diaphragm
Change what you can
- Hold your breath gently for as long as is comfortable, then breathe out slowly — repeat a few times.
- Take several quick swallows of water in a row (about ten small sips without a breath).
- Breathe in and out of a small paper bag for a few breaths to raise carbon dioxide (never use a plastic bag, and stop if you feel light-headed).
- Swallow a teaspoon of sugar dry, or chew a little crushed ice — both can interrupt the hiccup pattern.
- Hold a cool cloth or a little ice against the neck, or sip cold water slowly.
- Sit quietly, breathe slowly and steadily, and let the calm reset your diaphragm.
- For fast relief, combine: hold your breath, then take ten slow swallows of water.
🌿 Then assist nature: remedies & protocols
With the cause being addressed, these are the actual things people do for this — ranked by the community. Vote ▲ on what helped you and ▼ on what didn't, and open How to do it for the steps. Each shows two quick signals: Evidence (how much science backs it) and Gentleness (how safe and in keeping with whole, natural health).
★ Start here — our first-line pick, pinned for safety
The first thing to try — works for most simple hiccups.
How to do it ▾
Why it works: Holding the breath raises carbon dioxide, which calms the hiccup reflex, and repeated swallowing interrupts the diaphragm's spasm rhythm — together they reset the pattern.
- Take a comfortable breath and hold it.
- While holding, take about ten small swallows of water in a row without breathing.
- Breathe out slowly.
- If hiccups continue, repeat once or twice.
- Alternatively, just hold the breath as long as is comfortable, then exhale slowly, a few times.
A minute or two · As needed
Caution: Don't hold the breath to the point of dizziness. Hiccups lasting more than 48 hours, or that disrupt eating and sleep, should be seen by a doctor.
When to get help: Hiccups that last more than two days, or come with chest pain, trouble swallowing, or vomiting, need medical evaluation.
Source: Natural Remedies Encyclopedia 7th ed
Comments & experiences ▾
Also helps — ranked by the community (vote to reorder)
A simple, well-known interrupter.
How to do it ▾
Why it works: The grainy sweetness sends a burst of signals along the nerves serving the throat and diaphragm, distracting the hiccup reflex enough to reset it.
- Place a teaspoon of dry sugar on the back of the tongue.
- Let it sit a moment, then swallow it.
- Follow with a sip of water if needed.
- Repeat once if hiccups persist.
- Crushed ice chewed slowly works on the same principle.
A minute · As needed
Caution: Not suitable for very young children (choking risk) or where sugar must be limited, such as diabetes. Use a small amount.
Source: Natural Remedies Encyclopedia 7th ed
Comments & experiences ▾
A CO2-raising trick when breath-holding alone doesn't work.
How to do it ▾
Why it works: Rebreathing your own exhaled air raises blood carbon dioxide, which is known to quiet the hiccup reflex.
- Hold a small paper bag snugly around the mouth and nose, sealing the edges.
- Breathe in and out into the bag a handful of times.
- Stop as soon as the hiccups ease — or if you feel at all light-headed.
- Take a few normal breaths, then repeat once if needed.
- Never use a plastic bag or place it over the head.
Under a minute · As needed
Caution: NEVER use a plastic bag and never put any bag over the head — suffocation risk. Stop immediately if you feel dizzy or short of breath. Not for anyone with heart or lung disease without a doctor's okay.
Source: Natural Remedies Encyclopedia 7th ed
Comments & experiences ▾
A gentle option, good for children and most everyone.
How to do it ▾
Why it works: Cold to the throat and slow, steady breathing calm the irritated nerve that drives the diaphragm's spasm, easing hiccups gently.
- Chew and swallow small bits of crushed ice for a few minutes.
- Or sip cold water slowly and steadily.
- Sit quietly and breathe slowly and evenly.
- Hold a cool cloth against the neck if it helps.
- Let the calm reset the diaphragm.
A few minutes · As needed
Caution: Supervise children with ice to avoid choking.
Source: Natural Remedies Encyclopedia 7th ed
Comments & experiences ▾
How the numbers work: a weighted voting system — trusted published sources cast endorsement votes for each protocol, and your ▲/▼ adds to them. Not medical advice.
🩺 When to see a doctor
- Hiccups lasting more than 48 hours
- Hiccups that disturb eating, sleeping, or breathing
- Hiccups with belly pain, heartburn, or weight loss
- Hiccups after starting a new medicine
🌿 The seven pathways to health
Seven pathways for your hiccups — tap the circle to check one off (saved on your device), or ask Remy for help.
“Disease is an effort of nature to free the system from conditions that result from a violation of the laws of health... In case of sickness 1cause should be ascertained, 2go to work intelligently to remove the disease. 3Unhealthful conditions should be changed, 4wrong habits corrected. 5Then nature is to be assisted in her effort 6to expel impurities and 7to re-establish right conditions in the system.”
🌿 Overview
Hiccups happen when the breathing muscle below the lungs (the diaphragm) twitches. They often come from eating too fast, fizzy drinks, or excitement. Most stop within minutes. Slow sips of water and calm, steady breathing usually help them pass.
A hiccup is a quick, involuntary twitch of the diaphragm — the dome-shaped breathing muscle just below the lungs. The muscle jerks, you suck in a little air, and the top of the windpipe snaps shut, making the familiar 'hic.' Most often it follows eating or drinking too fast, fizzy drinks, a big meal that presses on the diaphragm, or simple excitement. Nearly every bout is harmless and passes within minutes. The old home tricks work by gently resetting the breathing rhythm — holding the breath, breathing into a paper bag, or taking several quick swallows of water all nudge the diaphragm back into its normal pattern. Rarely, hiccups drag on for many hours or days. Long-lasting hiccups that disturb eating, sleep, or breathing deserve a doctor's look, since they can point to something that needs attention.
Common signs
- A repeated 'hic' sound
- A quick catch in the breath
- Usually mild and short-lived
- Sometimes a mild tightness in the chest or throat
🍃 Supporting foods & habits
The gentle, everyday foods and supports that help in the background — secondary to the active remedies above. Vote on what helped you.
Slowly sip a glass of cold water, or take several small swallows in a row, to reset the diaphragm.1000
Hold a slow, full breath for a count of ten, then release — steadying the breath often stops hiccups.940
A brief cold sensation, like a cold cloth on the face, can interrupt the hiccup reflex.940
How the numbers work: this is a weighted voting system — every published book or article recommending a remedy counts as an endorsement vote, and your ▲/▼ counts too. Not medical advice. *Ties are broken by our editor score (sources, safety, simplicity, cost, lifestyle fit, eight-laws alignment).
🍽️ Eating to help
Food is one of the gentlest medicines — small, steady changes help most.
Favor these
- Cool water, sipped slowly
- Calm, unhurried meals chewed well
- A teaspoon of sugar or a little crushed ice to interrupt a bout
Go easy on
- Fizzy, carbonated drinks
- Eating or drinking too fast
- Very large meals that press on the diaphragm
- Very hot or very spicy foods if they tend to set you off
Slowing down at meals — chewing well and skipping fizzy drinks — prevents most hiccups before they start.
⚖️ Good to know
- Avoid eating or drinking too fast, a common trigger.
- Fizzy drinks can bring hiccups on.
- Most home tricks are gentle, but don't hold your breath to the point of dizziness.
⚕️ What a doctor may offerConventional treatments for this condition — for your information.Show ▾
RemedyRank's heart is natural healing — and honest information. Here is what conventional medical care commonly involves for this condition, listed to inform, never to promote. Decisions about treatment belong with you and your own physician.
Brief hiccups need no treatment; conventional care steps in only for hiccups that last more than 48 hours.
Commonly offered
- Simple physical maneuvers (breath-holding, sipping cold water)–
- Treating an underlying cause for persistent hiccups–
- Medications such as baclofen, gabapentin, or chlorpromazine for prolonged cases–
Worth knowing
- Hiccups lasting more than two days deserve medical evaluation
- Persistent hiccups occasionally signal nerve or abdominal problems
👍/👎 shares whether a treatment helped you — community experience, not medical advice. For full professional details, see the sources under “Learn more” below.
📜 A note from history
Slow water-sipping and steady breathing are among the oldest, simplest tricks for stubborn hiccups.
📚 Learn more
Sources for further reading. These open in a new tab.
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