The main culprit for hiccups is the diaphragm, a muscle at the bottom of the chest meant to help push air out of the lungs. When the diaphragm chooses to do its own thing, a hiccup pops out of your mouth as your chest heaves in response. Sometimes hiccups last for seconds, but seconds can turn into minutes, days, months and years. Charles Osborne holds the record for the longest hiccup bout: 68 years and 480 million spasms from 1922 to 1990.
How Hiccups Occur
The diaphragm works all day long, pushing air up and down, in and out of your lungs. But when it gets irritated, the diaphragms jerks down, causing you to suck air back into your lungs at a fast rate. The hiccup noise comes from the air touching your voice box.
Eating Too Quickly or Too Much
If you eat too quickly, your breathing pattern can be thrown off. This confuses your hard-working diaphragm, irritating it and causing it to run off balance.
Nervous Feelings
Having nervous feelings can be a cause of hiccups, as normal brain functions that control the diaphragm can be thrown off by anxiety. This causes the diaphragm to "forget" its main duty (pushing air up and down) and cause the random spasms that make hiccups.
Being Scared
If someone jumps out and frightens you, this can be a cause for hiccups--and a cause for stopping hiccups, too. Breathing in quickly and uncontrolled when frightened throws off the flow of air into the lungs, causing the diaphragm to again be confused and spasm. Being scared again can throw the diaphragm back on course.
Damaged Nerves
Being unable to stop the hiccuping for a long period can prove to be a hint that something more serious is wrong. The nerves that control the diaphragm may be damaged, making it impossible for the diaphragm to stop its spasms. If hiccups go on for longer than a few minutes, speak with or see a doctor.
Nerve Irritations
Sometimes an irritation is affecting the nerves that serve the diaphragm. This could be an obstruction in the ear that touches these nerves near the eardrum.
Illness
Illness--such as a sore throat, tumor, cyst, goiter or even laryngitis--can affect the nerves that serve the diaphragm, throwing it off balance and causing hiccups. Be sure to speak with a doctor if diagnosed with an illness that's followed by prolonged hiccups.
