Hold your breath for an hour. After you have turned blue, then ashen grey, the hiccups will have stopped. ?:-)


Hiccups are caused by involuntary spasms of the diaphragm.

Breathing into a paper bag increases the carbon dioxide in the blood. It is the carbon dioxide that triggers the breathing response so, presumably, the brain is asking the diaphragm to move in one direction thus overriding the spasm.

Holding your breath will also act in the same way but a second mechanism may be possible. Taking a deep breadth and holding it stretches the diaphragm, much in the same way as stretching a muscle helps to remove cramp.

I'm not sure about giving someone a fright but perhaps it caused a short, sharp intake of breath which could stretch the diaphragm, as above.

If I was eye to eye with an attractive female French teacher who was holding my finger, I am sure I would take a sharp intake of breath and would have difficulty in breathing out !

DC