why do we get hick ups?
480247
You've probably experienced a muscle spasm in your leg or arm where your muscle contracts and relaxes uncontrollably.\n\nThe diaphragm is a muscle that controls breathing. When the diaphragm spasms, the opening between your vocal cords snaps shut to check the inflow of air and makes the hiccup sound.\n\nThe exact cause of the spasms is not known.
37351
Hiccups are usually a reaction to your stomach and digestive system getting wonky. This happens when you eat too much, drink bubbly drinks like soda or swallow too much air. Some people get the hiccups for no reason at all. Other things that cause hiccups include skull fracture, epilepsy, tuberculosis and believe it or not, constipation (not being able to poop).
132256
ACTUALLLY, HICCUPS ARE CAUSED BY A SPASM OF YOUR DIAPHRAM. I HAVE NOTICED BEFORE THAT AFTER I DRINK A COKE THAT HICCUPS MAY START BECAUSE OF THE CARBONATION IN THE COKE, SO IT MAY BE A COINCEDENCE.
815061
"Hic!" You've just hiccuped for what seems like the tenth time since you finished your big dinner. Wonder where these funny noises are coming from? The part to blame is your diaphragm (say: die-uh-fram). This is a dome-shaped muscle at the bottom of your chest, and all hiccups start here.\n\nThe diaphragm almost always works perfectly. When you inhale, it pulls down to help pull air into the lungs. When you exhale, it pushes up to help push air out of the lungs. But sometimes the diaphragm becomes irritated. When this happens, it pulls down in a jerky way, which makes you suck air into your throat suddenly. When the air rushing in hits your voice box, you're left with a big hiccup.\n\nSome things that irritate the diaphragm are eating too quickly or too much, an irritation in the stomach or the throat, or feeling nervous or excited. Almost all cases of the hiccups last only a few minutes. Some cases of the hiccups can last for days or weeks, but this is very unusual, and it's usually a sign of another medical problem.\n\nYou've probably heard lots of suggestions for how to get rid of hiccups, and maybe you've even tried a few. Holding your breath and counting to 10 is one way some people can get rid of their hiccups. Other people say that drinking from the "wrong" side of a glass of water is the way to become hiccup-free.\n\nPutting sugar under your tongue might work, too. And maybe the most famous treatment - having someone jump out and scare you when you're not expecting it - helps some people wave good-bye to their hiccups. Boo!
201073
Hiccups are sudden, involuntary contractions of the diaphragm muscle. As the muscle contracts repeatedly, the opening between your vocal cords snaps shut to check the inflow of air and makes the hiccup sound. ... Irritation of the nerves that extend from the neck to the chest can cause hiccups ...Try these methods at home:\n\nHold your breath. \nDrink a glass of water quickly. \nBecome frightened. \nUse smelling salts. \nPull hard on your tongue. \nPlace one-half teaspoon of dry sugar on the back of your tongue. (You can repeat this process 3 times at 2-minute intervals. Use corn syrup, not sugar, in young children.) The reason that these remedies are thought to work is that carbon dioxide build-up in the blood will stop hiccups, which is what happens when you hold your breath.
659961
Its your nerves.it is very common,however,chech you stress level.This happens also when under stress
968236
Because our bodies wear out!  :D
261350
Hiccups are caused by an irritation of the phrenic nerve under the diaphragm.There is an Rx you can ask your doctor about if they are very bothersome.Xylocaine Viscous
365068
hiccups are caused when your body breathes and swallows at the same time causing  spasms (hiccups)
306581
a hiccup is caused by a spasm of the diaphragm. The diaphragm is the main muscle involved in breathing and the quick entry of air during a hiccup produces a sound as it passed through the pharynx.\n\nIt has nothing to do with the stomach
416025
maybe you're chronically dehydrated.  i believe that can cause hiccups.
472178
Drink water and when you do it bring the back of ur neck fwd...like a huge gulp.It usually cures my hiccups.
395369
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiccup
454186
A hiccup or hiccough (generally pronounced "HICK-up" (IPA: /ˈhɪ.kəp/) independent of the spelling) is an involuntary spasm of the diaphragm; typically this repeats several times a minute. The sudden rush of air into the lungs causes the glottis to close, creating the "hic" noise. A bout of hiccups generally resolves by itself, although many home remedies are in circulation to shorten the duration, and medication is occasionally necessary. By extension, the term "hiccup" is also used to describe a small and unrepeated aberration in an otherwise consistent pattern. The medical term is singultus.\n\n-Sudden shock or alarm. The resulting adrenaline rush will usually cure hiccups; a common cure is to suddenly startle or shout at the sufferer - this only works if they have no idea it's coming. \n-In babies, hiccups are usually immediately stopped by the suckling reflex, either by breastfeeding or simply by insertion of a finger, bottle teat or dummy into the baby's mouth. \n-For some, throwing up or vomiting the contents in one's stomach. \nA few people have the ability to stop hiccupping by simply choosing to do so. This brings forward interesting implications regarding voluntary control of various body functions.\n\nReferred to as singultus, hiccups are treated medically only in severe and persistent (termed "intractable") cases. Haloperidol (Haldol, an anti-psychotic and sedative), metoclopramide (Reglan, a GI stimulant), and chlorpromazine (Thorazine, an anti-psychotic with strong sedative effects) are used in cases of intractable hiccups. In severe or resistant cases, baclofen (an anti-spasmodic) is sometimes required to suppress hiccups. Effective treatment with sedatives often requires a dose that either renders the person unconscious or highly lethargic. Hence, medicating singultus is done short-term and is not a situation where the affected individual could continue with normal work and school activities while taking the medication.\n\nThe New York Times reports that Dr. Bryan R. Payne, a neurosurgeon at the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center in New Orleans, has had some success with an experimental new procedure in which a vagus nerve stimulator is implanted in the upper chest of patients with an intractable case of hiccups. "It sends rhythmic bursts of electricity to the brain by way of the vagus nerve, which passes through the neck. The Food and Drug Administration approved the vagus nerve stimulator in 1997 as a way to control seizures in some patients with epilepsy. Last year, the agency endorsed the use of the stimulator as a treatment of last resort for people with severe depression"
240462
There are mucous membranes in your lungs that produce the "snot" in the same way your saliva glands produce saliva. When you are sick, these membranes are inflammed and irritated and they produce more mucous than usual.\n\nThis is why we cough -- we cough because our body is trying to expel the excessive mucous from inside our lungs. It's that little tickling sensation you get right before you cough or sneeze.
25807
Hiccups occur when a spasm contracts the diaphragm, a large sheet of muscle that separates the chest cavity from the abdominal cavity. This spasm causes an intake of breath that is suddenly stopped by the closure of the vocal cords (glottis). This closure causes the characteristic "hiccup" sound. A very full stomach can cause bouts of hiccups that go away on their own. Full stomach can be caused by: eating too much too fast, drinking too much alcohol, swallowing too much air, smoking, sudden change in stomach temperature, such as drinking a hot beverage and then a cold beverage, and emotional stress or excitement. Hiccups that last longer than 48 hours are called persistent hiccups. Hiccups that last longer than a month are called intractable hiccups.  Both persistent and intractable hiccups may be a sign of a more serious health problem and require an exam by a health professional. There really is no way to prevent them.
535353
Oh sure, it happens all the time. I don't know why you've only heard of ONE person dying. It happens everyday. This is what happens. When you get the hiccups, your body has been tricked into thinking that it can't get air. Why does this happen you ask? It's because when you eat beef that was grown with steroids it creates a chemical that reactes with a chemical in your diaphragm and it makes your body think that it is suffocating. Well here's the deal with that. Most people's bodies don't create enough of this chemical to do them any harm. But 1 out of 10 people's bodies make 4 times as much of this chemical as needed, so it reacts 4 times as strong which in turn creates a vacuum inside your lungs each time you hiccup and it finally implodes on your lungs...and you die.