Prevention of Hiccups

• Although there is not a certain activity that can bring on hiccups 100 percent of the time for all people, there are certain activities that make getting hiccups more likely, such as eating a spicy meal, drinking carbonated soda, drinking alcohol, smoking and feeling stress. Avoid these activities, if you know that doing something makes you more prone to get hiccups.
  
  

Ingestion of Sugar

• Eating a teaspoon of granulated sugar could provide a remedy for hiccups, according to a study published in the 1971 New England Journal of Medicine. Some suggest that it is better to quickly drink a glass of water immediately after eating the sugar.
  
  

Cotton Swab Method

• One suggestion published in the Journal of Clinical Gastroenterology includes taking a swab of cotton and tickling the roof of your mouth at the point where the soft palette and the hard palette meet. It is thought that this causes something to happen in the diaphragm that gets rid of hiccups.
  
  

Breathing

• A commonly recommended remedy is to gargle with cold water or hold your breath. For some, holding their breath is only half of the remedy. Others advise holding your breath and then swallowing at the time when you think you feel a hiccup sensation coming to you.
  
  

Compressing the Chest

• Compressing your chest is thought to assist in curing hiccups as well. One of the best ways to compress a chest is to sit down straight and then bring your knees up to meet your chest. You can also compress the chest by simply leaning forward for a few seconds before straightening out your body again.
  
  

Burping

• Some find that burping is an effective cure for hiccups. Although drinking soda can give a person hiccups, it can also help cure hiccups. When you have hiccups, open a bottle or a can of soda and begin drinking big gulps of it as quickly as possible. Try to take at least 6 to 8 chugs. Your body's natural reaction is to burp. Once you burp, the air that was trapped will escape and the hiccups will disappear.