A scientific cure for hiccups exists and reportedly has a '100 percent success rate'

Hiccups can be quite annoying and happen for various reasons. According to the Mayo Clinic, common triggers include overeating, sudden temperature changes, emotional stress, excitement, or swallowing air while chewing gum or smoking. People try all sorts of tricks to stop hiccups, like drinking water or holding their breath. However, career coach Kat Woods, known as @Kat__Woods on X, shared a method she claims has a "100% cure rate."

She wrote in her post, "Fun fact: They have actually scientifically cured hiccups." Woods added that she has been using it for years and has worked "100% of the time" for her. She then mentioned the steps to follow to cure the hiccups. The first step she wrote was to breathe completely out and "empty your lungs." Then, she asked people to take a deep breath and hold it for a few seconds. After this, she said that without letting any air out, "breathe in a little more air, then hold for a few seconds." Then, Woods recommends repeating the last step. "And then you're done," the career coach concluded.  

In the comments, Woods wrote that there were some cases where it didn't work. "For example, some participants could not tolerate the inspired volumes or the duration of breath holding, and it didn't work for them." She said, "I don't know why they didn't just breathe in a little less air instead. I don't know. And this was just one study and one anecdotal report. (I've got hiccups maybe 20 times since I learned the technique). Who knows if it'll replicate. More research is needed."

After this, Woods stated that this was the single most effective method she had ever experienced. People in the comments shared what they thought of the technique. @raveeshbhalla commented, "Quite literally something I've been doing since my tweens. I tend to get really strong hiccups occasionally and I've been following this ever since I learned that they're basically 'involuntary diaphragm movements,' so I thought, 'let me try to control my diaphragm.'" @_Desmoden wrote, "I do this with my daughter all the time and it has saved me so many tears and so much frustration, it's crazy. I can't even tell you." @jonahlupton said, "I just hold my breath until I almost pass out. 100% success rate."

The technique that Woods used is called "supra-supramaximal inspiration," according to The Atlantic. Luc Morris, a surgeon at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, who specializes in tumors of the head and neck, conducted a study of 19 patients in which 12 were male and seven were female and aged between 10 and 51. According to the research, this SSMI technique helped get rid of hiccups in 16 of the 19 patients. He added that three of the patients were not able to hold their breath for the given duration. 

Ali Seifi, a neurointensivist at the University of Texas at San Antonio and an expert on hiccups, told the outlet more about this subject. He said, "They can have different frequencies, but 10 times per minute is most common. I don't know how God created that, but most of the time they're equally spaced." Seifi shared that the current home remedies have science behind them. He also spoke about how these remedies work. Seifi said that each of the remedies works by generating the required pressure in the diaphragm. However, they are a hit or miss because they don't always reach the threshold. 

This article originally appeared 3 months ago.