What causes hiccups and how can you get rid of them?

By Vincent Ho, Associate Professor and clinical academic gastroenterologist, Western Sydney University

We all get hiccups from time to time, and sometimes they just won’t seem to go away.

Hiccups are involuntary contractions of the diaphragm – the muscle separating your chest from your abdomen, which plays a key role in breathing – followed by a sudden closure of the vocal cords.

The medical term for hiccups is singultus. This derives from the Latin word singult which means “to catch ones breath while sobbing”.…

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