Back to the HomepageA stupendous, or stupid depending upon your sense of humor, idea hit me. My friend William Batey said it and it hit me like a punch of genius. During my fourth period class, the kid next to me hicupped. It was totally out of the blue and pretty loud. About a minute later, I hiccuped. Now, he was drinking soda so his was explainable, but I don't drink soda and hadn't eaten or drank anything for about 20 minutes to a half-hour. So why did I hiccup? I believe that it confirms my theory that hiccups are contagious. That's right--CONTAGIOUS!
Hiccups are merely a release of gas from the stomach at a sudden time. Now, just like a yawn, I believe that would change the nearby air pressure. That is also why I believe yawning is contagious. One person changes the extremely local air pressure and so others must compensate for the change. The same thing happens with hiccups.
About a week ago, a similar situation occured. Another friend of mine had a hiccup attack and then I started to hiccup with him. The only problem was that I was in pain because I was laughing at the same time! I couldn't believe that we were both hiccupping at the same time. Everyone else was laughing at us. But the point is that hiccups are contagious. Soda may cause them or may not, but they are definately contagious.
For all of you worry-worts out there, you need not fret. There are multiple cures for hiccups. However, only one of them has ever worked for me. That is to hold my breath. Not for the measly 10 or 20 seconds like some people say, but for as long as you possibly can. DO NOT QUIT EARLY! The key is to go as long as you can. As far as I can tell, when pain begins to build in your chest, you should stop. I know it sounds crazy but it doesn't hurt, it's cheap and it works. There are other ways of course. You can try to drink gallons of water, a spoonful of suger (helps the medicine go down!), getting the crap scared out of you, getting unbelievably dizzy, or eating a pickle (my friend told me this). If one doesn't work, try another. But keep in mind, if someone very close to you starts to hiccup---RUN AWAY!!!