Kids Corner: What every kid should know about hiccups

Hiccups can be funny, goofy, or frustrating. But have you ever wondered what makes you hiccup or why you get them at all? Here’s what you should know about hiccups.

What causes them
There’s a layer of muscle under your lungs called the diaphragm. When you breathe in, it stretches your lungs, so they can fill up with air. When you breathe out, the diaphragm relaxes and air flows out of your mouth and nose.

Hiccups are an involuntary jerking of the diaphragm, which makes you take in the air really fast. This speeding air then hits your voice box, which makes your vocal cords close and causes you to make a “hic” sound.

An irritated diaphragm is what causes hiccups. Some things that can irritate it are eating or drinking too fast and feeling nervous or excited. Sudden changes in temperature and an upset tummy can do it too.

Why we have them
We don’t know why people get hiccups — they serve no real purpose! However, some scientists think it’s possible that our evolutionary ancestors found hiccups useful in some way, and that we’ve simply inherited our jerky diaphragms. Tadpoles have a hiccup reflex, which helps keep their lungs safe until they become air-breathing adults. So, our hiccups might be leftover from our amphibian relatives.

Another theory about why people have hiccups is that they may help protect the lungs of babies while they’re still growing in the womb (all babies hiccup before they’re born). A further possibility is that hiccups help strengthen breathing muscles after the baby is born.

How to cure them
There are many stories about how to get rid of hiccups. Putting sugar under your tongue, holding your breath and counting to 10, and drinking from the wrong side of a cup are just some so-called cures. However, scientific studies that compared the different methods found that none of them really work.

No one knows for sure why people get hiccups, and there isn’t really a way to cure them. But there’s no need to worry. In most cases, hiccups go away on their own within a few minutes.