• Question: Why do we get hiccups and what causes them?

    Asked by amyewing to Karen, Angela, Gabriele, Maria, Shane on 11 Nov 2013. This question was also asked by jessicag.
    • Photo: Karen McCarthy

      Karen McCarthy answered on 11 Nov 2013:

      A hiccup is a sudden, involuntary reflex of your diaphragm (the muscle which helps you to breath), and at the same time your voice box and throat also close, stopping air from coming down your throat and resulting in the classic hiccup noise.

      Scientists and doctors aren’t fully sure what causes, but it tends to have a connection with your stomach, so maybe after eating something very spicy or hot, or perhaps something with too much gas like a fizzy drink. They are actually more common in men than women!

    • Photo: Angela Stevenson

      Angela Stevenson answered on 15 Nov 2013:

      My dog gets them allll the time! It’s hilarious. So why do we (and my dog) get hiccups? A hiccup is a kind of forced intake of air, and these are caused by muscle spasms in your chest and throat. There are lots of things that cause hiccups (over 100 causes!), but the most common is irritation of the stomach or the oesophagus (the food tube that leads to your stomach). The “hic” part of the hiccup is a noise caused by the cut off of the breath when the glottis (that’s the fleshy lid that separates food and air tubes in your throat) snaps shut. Great question Amy!

Comments