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Comment by legrande | Hacker News Reader

Anecdotal and not guaranteed to work for everyone: I have found holding my breath for as long as possible stops hiccups. And you can't cheat with this, you literally have to hold your breath until you think you're going to die. Most people don't like unpleasant situations like that, so when I suggest it, they scoff, but for me it works most of the time.

I think the reason it works, is it dampens the power the spasms have, by doing a pattern interrupt. 'Oh looks like we can't do spasms anymore, this person is running out of oxygen, let's re-allocate resources to things like breathing properly'.

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From the article:

> SSMI (Supra-SupraMaximal Inspiration), as the medical profession’s predilection for abbreviations has it, boils down to a simple breathing exercise. First, exhale completely, then inhale a deep breath. Wait 10 seconds, then—without exhaling—inhale a little more. Wait another five seconds, then top up the breath again. Finally, exhale. Generally, you will find that your singultus is gone.

> ...the SSMI technique is just a more sophisticated take on the old folk remedy that poses that the cure for hiccups is simply to hold your breath.

that makes sense. I’ve always had the best results by slow controlled breathing. The control seems to interrupt the spasms of the hiccup.

I find that breathing out until completely out of air, holding that for 5-10 seconds, then breathing as deeply as possible and holding that for 5-10 seconds stops hiccups every time. Anecdotal of course but works for me.

For myself, I hold my breath and swallow twice. Never failed, and much less uncomfortable

The reason you give is also how I understand it to work. There usually comes a point where I would think I should have had another spasm but none came, and shortly after that is when I release my breath. It works very reliably; I cannot remember a time when it failed to get rid of hiccups.

Interesting! A technique I've used successfully in the past is the opposite, but with the same effect: breathing out completely and holding that. Comes with the "advantage" that you get to the point of thinking you're going to die much quicker.

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