The 2006 Ig Nobel Prize in Medicine was awarded to Dr. Francis M. Fesmire in the United States and Dr. Majed Odeh in Israel for inventing a [rectal massage to stop hiccups], which is enough to show how many people have been troubled by hiccups.
The operation steps of this strange hiccup stopping method are as follows:
The index finger extends into the patient’s anus and massages the rectum with slow circular movement. The frequency of hiccups in the patient will immediately slow down and stop completely within 30 seconds.
Those who are deeply troubled by hiccups can try and watch me talk about the hiccups slowly.
Hiccup is what?
The medical name hiccup is [hiccup], which comes from Latin Singultus and means holding your breath when sobbing.
You can imagine: when crying, forcibly stop crying, will there be a big gasp? Is it like hiccups?
Hiccup is actually a kind of nerve reflex, which is dominated by a [hiccup reflex arc].
Under normal circumstances, this reflex arc is silent and does not work.
In some cases, when the diaphragm part (the muscle separating the thoracic cavity and abdominal cavity of the human body), phrenic nerve, vagus nerve or part of the central nerve that make up the reflex arc is stimulated, the normally silent hiccup reflex arc suddenly awakens, which will cause a series of reactions:
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Paroxysmal spasm occurs in unilateral or bilateral diaphragm, i.e. A burst of unconscious strong contraction.
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When the diaphragm contracts, the chest cavity suddenly expands, negative pressure forms in the lungs, and air is sucked in from the mouth and nose.
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The glottis suddenly closed, the inhaled air flow was interrupted, and a short hiccup was made.
Causes of hiccups
Any action that stimulates the hiccup reflex arc can cause hiccups, such as eating a lot, coughing, emotional excitement, drinking carbonated drinks, laughing, taking drugs, etc.
The most common behavior is to wolf down after wolf down, which will make us swallow a lot of air while swallowing food and accumulate on the top of the stomach. This part can easily stimulate the diaphragm and initiate hiccup reflex.
Hiccup is not only a pastime after drinking and eating, but also a harbinger of some diseases.
Cervical spine and craniocerebral injury, nerve tumor, cerebrovascular disease, infection and other diseases will also cause pathological hiccups once they invade the hiccup reflex center.
How to stop hiccups?
Although most hiccups will stop automatically after a period of time, its physical and mental torture is absolutely maddening. Artificially stopping hiccups can not only relieve discomfort as early as possible, but also give people a pleasant sensation of victory.
If you want to say what to do with hiccups, there are countless local and foreign methods. The purpose of searching the Internet is to interfere with the nerve signal transmission of hiccups reflex arc.
Everyone has his own method, but no method is suitable for everyone.
Here are some methods with high success rate:
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The upper body should lean forward as far as possible to the head low and the waist high. In this state, drink a lot of water and be careful not to choke.
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Put a paper bag over your mouth and breathe several times. This method also relieves emotional excitement.
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Swallow bread or steamed bread. Do what you can and don’t choke.
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Pull out your tongue until the next hiccup disappears.
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Handstand, as long as you can.
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Caution should be exercised for people who are frightened and suffer from cardiovascular diseases.
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Massage rectum, the specific steps as mentioned at the beginning of the article, may need other people’s help to operate.
If the hiccups cannot stop… … …
Hiccups that have not stopped for more than 48 hours are called [intractable hiccups]. Hiccups for such a long time will not only affect work and rest, but also lead to abnormal digestive and respiratory functions.
The vast majority of intractable hiccup is induced by diseases, such as reflux esophagitis, hiatal hernia, subphrenic abscess, pericarditis, electrolyte disorders and various neurological diseases that stimulate hiccup reflex arc.
At this time, in addition to stopping hiccups, it is more important to treat the primary disease.
Charles Osborne, the most famous patient with intractable hiccups, started hiccups in 1922 until his death in 1990. He is currently the Guinness Book of Records holder for the most hiccups in the world, with about 430 million hiccups.
Of course, I’m afraid no one will challenge this record again. Although the understanding of hiccups is not thorough enough, there are many solutions, such as taking medicine, injections, nerve block, surgery, etc. There is always one suitable for you.
In case of hiccups that cannot be handled in any case, go to the digestive department of the hospital as soon as possible.