What to do if you have hiccups in the middle of the night

Hiccups are a very common phenomenon. When hiccups occur, it will bring great discomfort to people. In order to alleviate this uncomfortable feeling, you can take certain methods to stop hiccups, such as drinking water and bending over, sticking out the tongue, deep breathing, holding the breath, massage, scaring, paper bag breathing, putting sugar under the tongue, etc., which can relieve the hiccups to a certain extent.

1. Bend over to drink water

Drink a few sips of warm water, swallow it slowly, and bend over 90 degrees 10 to 15 times.

Since the stomach is closer to the diaphragm, the diaphragm can be warmed from the inside. When you bend over, your internal organs will also massage the diaphragm, relieving diaphragm spasms and stopping hiccups.

2. Tongue stretching

When the hiccups continue, place a piece of clean gauze on your tongue and pinch your tongue with your fingers to stretch it outwards. At this time, you will feel gas rising in your abdomen and the hiccups will naturally disappear.

3. Take a deep breath

For example, if you have hiccups while eating, you can stop eating and take a few deep breaths, which will usually stop the hiccups in a short time.

When hiccups occur frequently, you can press the "Shao Shang" points on both sides with your fingers or ask someone else to do so. The "Shao Shang" point is located on the radial side of the root of the thumb nail, about 0.6 cm away from the edge of the nail, at the junction of the black and white flesh. When pressing, a certain amount of force should be used so that the patient feels obvious pain. The patient performs compression by himself, alternating between both hands.

4. Breath-holding

Simply hold your breath for 30 to 45 seconds, or take a clean chopstick and put it in your mouth, gently stimulate the back 1/3 of the upper palate, and the hiccups will stop immediately.

Because stimulating the upper palate with chopsticks can induce the pharyngeal reflex, which can cause the patient to hold his breath suddenly, increasing the carbon dioxide concentration in the airway, thereby interfering with the neural reflex activity of hiccups. However, people with poor cardiopulmonary function should use this method with caution.

5. Massage

Take a thin stick, wrap one end with cotton (if there is no stick at hand, you can use the thin end of a bamboo chopstick wrapped with cotton instead), put it into the patient's mouth, and use the soft end to press a point on the midline of the soft palate in front of the tip. This point is located just slightly behind the junction of the hard and soft palate. Generally, one minute of massage can effectively control hiccups.

6. Startle method

You can also stop the hiccups by patting the person on the back when they are not paying attention. Because fright, as a strong emotional stimulus, can be transmitted through the cortex to the subcutaneous center, inhibiting diaphragm spasm. However, people with high blood pressure or heart disease should use it with caution.

7. Paper bag breathing method

Cover your mouth and nose with a small plastic bag and take 3 to 5 deep breaths. Re-inhale the exhaled carbon dioxide to increase the concentration of carbon dioxide in the blood to regulate and suppress hiccups.

8. Sublingual sugar method

Take a spoonful of sugar and swallow it dry (without water), it can stop hiccups after a few minutes. Sugar in the mouth may alter the original nerve impulses to prevent the diaphragm muscles from making intermittent contractions.