Whether you spell them hiccups or hiccoughs, this method is the only one I’ve ever seen that works 100%, every time. It works for me, for my family, and for everyone I’ve ever shared it with, and it has never failed even once.
Since I’ve never seen this technique described anywhere, I’m sharing it here as a public service.
Follow these steps exactly and your hiccups will be cured (not permanently of course, but they’ll be gone until your next bout).
- Fill a glass with drinking water
- take a deep breath and hold it
- while holding your breath, take a very tiny sip of water and swallow it
- exhale fully
- while fully exhaled, take another tiny sip of water and swallow it
- repeat steps 2 through 5 until your glass is empty
In reality your hiccups will usually be cured within the first half of the glass, but occasionally you may need to finish the whole glass for this to work. It’s important to follow all of the steps above – this isn’t the usual simple advice to just drink a glass of water (a cure that does not work as reliably as this one does).
This method is well known inside my family, having come down from my grandfather, who I suppose brought it from Old World Vienna when he fled the Nazis in WWII. I suppose I’ll therefore refer to this as The Kast Cure for Hiccups, but I don’t know who truly invented it. If anyone reading this knows, do let me know. And if anyone ever tries this method without success, also please let me know about that too!