Sunday, February 6, 2011

Cure for Hiccups

I was reading Plato's "Symposium" and came across a cure for Hiccups. In the dialogue it comes from the mouth of Eryximachus, a physician. This is from the 1993 Dover Thrift edition translation.
...let me recommend you to hold your breath, and if this fails, then to gargle with a little water; and if the hiccough still continues, tickle your nose with something and sneeze; and if you sneeze once or twice, even the most violent hiccough is sure to go.
I think I'll give it a shot next time I have hiccups. If you have a chance to try it, let me know how it works for you.

3 comments:

Joel A. Shaver said...

I've heard that the issue is something tickling around your diaphragm, just below the sternum. Sometimes I've been able to get them to stop by massaging that area while holding as much breath as I can get in... But sometimes that just hurts.

Anonymous said...

I usually just suck it up and wait for them to go away, too simplistic?

CE

Abungerism said...

If you can't find a reference for it in Plato then, yes, it's too simplistic...