Everyone’s familiar with that high-pitched, abrupt inhale we know as a hiccup. Whether it’s right before a Communications 101 presentation or during a Calculus midterm, hiccups seem to catch us at the worst times. While they may start off as fun and games, it doesn’t take long for hiccups to become annoying nuisances.

Dr. Ali Shaibani, associate professor at Northwestern University, took a look behind the cause of these embarrassing annoyances.

“Hiccups are caused by irritations on the phrenic nerve which supplies the diaphragm,” Shaibani said. “Irritations are triggered if food goes down the wrong tube (aspiration), or if you drink something really cold or hot, or by problems in the central nervous system.”

Not only do people hiccup after eating too quickly, but also when too much alcohol is consumed.

“Drinking alcohol induces hiccups, since alcohol is a depressant and affects the brain,” Shaibani said.

The greater question though is not what causes hiccups, but how to get rid of them. Like most people, Beth Dixon, sophomore in DGS, normally holds her breath for a minute or drinks water.

“I usually get hiccups after I drink something carbonated or when I eat too fast,” Dixon said.

“But if I hold my breath for 60 seconds, they normally go away,” she added.

Other students take different approaches to relieving their hiccups.

“Just think of cows in a meadow,” said James Poulos, freshman in Business. “It works for me every time.”

Though Poulos’s method may work for him, another way of easing hiccups is using a fear tactic. Dr. Shaibani recalls a time he scared his hiccups away.

“When I was 14, my family and I visited some family friends and my dad accused me of stealing something from their house,” Shaibani said. “I knew I didn’t but since he scared me, my hiccups went away.”

Although there is not one specific way to cure the hiccups, most people are able to relieve their hiccups in a matter of minutes. Others, though, are not as fortunate. Hiccups that last longer than a month are called intractable hiccups.

“Intractable hiccups are caused by problems in the central nervous system or brain, more specifically in the medulla,” Shaibani said.

Though intractable hiccups are very rare, patients normally take medicine or even partake in acupuncture or hypnosis as treatment.

So next time you find yourself battling a fit of hiccups, keep these remedies in mind. Whether you resort to eating a spoonful of sugar or standing on your head, feel free to customize your own way to relieve these obnoxious burdens.