digestive disorders
Hiccups
Treatment of Hiccups
The best way to treat hiccups is to treat the underlying disorder. For example, doctors give people antibiotics for pneumonia and proton pump inhibitors for gastroesophageal reflux disease. Nearly all hiccups go away with or without treatment. Many home remedies have been used to treat brief hiccups. Most do not work or are only slightly effective. However, because these remedies typically are safe and simple to do, there is no harm in trying them. Many methods involve ways to raise the level of carbon dioxide in the blood, such as the following: Holding the breath Breathing deeply into a paper (not plastic) bag Other methods are done to try to stimulate the vagus nerve, which runs from the brain to the stomach. The following can stimulate this nerve: Drinking water quickly Swallowing dry bread, granulated sugar, or crushed ice Gently pulling on the tongue Stimulating gagging (such as by sticking a finger down the throat) Gently rubbing the eyeballs For persistent hiccups, treatment is needed, particularly when the cause cannot be easily corrected. Several drugs have been used with varying success. They include but are not limited tochlorpromazine,baclofen,metoclopramide, andgabapentin. If drugs do not work, doctors may block one of the phrenic nerves, which control the contractions of the diaphragm. Doctors block the nerve by injecting it with small amounts of a local anesthetic called procaine. If blocking the nerve works but hiccups return, doctors may surgically cut the nerve (phrenicotomy), but even this procedure does not cure all cases. 