A Case of Severe Hiccups
Hiccups or Singultus in medical terms and “sinok” in Filipino, is a sound produced by unintentional movement of the muscle at the base of the lungs (diaphragm) followed by rapid closure of the vocal cords. Medically speaking, hiccups often start for no apparent reason and usually disappear after a few minutes. Rarely, hiccups can persist for days, weeks, or months. Although There may be no obvious cause for hiccups the following may cause or trigger someone to have hiccups, such as: Noxious fumes, Hot and spicy foods or liquids, Any disease or disorder that irritates the nerves that control the diaphragm (such as pleurisy or pneumonia), Stroke or tumor affecting the "hiccup center" in the brain, Abdominal surgery. I’m sure you are wondering why I am writing about “hiccups”. Well, I myself haven’t had hiccups for as long as I can remember, so why make a fuss about it. I guess something insignificant or trivial as hiccups becomes of importance once it involves someone you love. My husband has been having hiccups since Saturday night. What started as harmless hiccups now has become a total discomfort to my him. Just imagine having it every 5-15 minutes interval the whole day. It doesn’t matter where you are and what time of the day. The whole day, yesterday, he was pestered by while at work. During his sleep I could hear him snore and have hiccups at the same time. It is making him very tired and causing his whole body, especially the throat, chest, tummy and the back ache. What’s worse is not knowing what to do, to really make it stop completely and not knowing what caused it. According to medical books there is no sure way to stop hiccups, but there are a number of common suggestions that may be effective: · Hold your breath (This one, my husband tried and only worked on him for a few times.) · Breathe repeatedly into a paper bag. (My husband also did this but only worked for a while.) · Drink a glass of cold water. (He even tried drinking water upside-down after being recommended by the cleaner in their office. I guess you’d do anything and everything when you are that desperate. Amazingly though, it worked once. · Eat a teaspoon of sugar. (This, he hasn’t tried. I guess when all else fails he will try this one). But finding it, having hiccups for 3 days now, so weird and most of discomforting, he finally decided to see a doctor this morning. The doctor examined him and even had him undergo “ECG” just to make sure that his heart is functioning well. Thank God it is! For extreme cases of persistent hiccups, gastric lavage or massage of the carotid sinus in the neck. THIS MUST BE DONE BY THE HEALTH CARE PROFESSIONAL AND SHOULDN’T BE ATTEMPTED AT HOME. If hiccups continue, a phenothiazine (especially chlorpromazine) or nasogastric intubation (tube insertion) may provide relief. Very rarely, medical methods fail to treat persistent hiccups. Further treatment may include a phrenic nerve block. But this time he was only given this medicine which I’m not sure whether it suppresses hiccups while it’s happening or whether it prevents hiccups from recurring. According to my husband, the medicine has made the recurrence less frequent, his last “attack” was after we had lunch. Now he’s sleeping soundly and I’m happy that I can only hear snoring this time. I hope and pray that he’s had his last “hiccup attack”. I just want my husband to be well and comfortable again. Source: http://health.allrefer.com
