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WHY DO WE HICCUP?

What is a HICCUP? (HICCOUGH)

WHY DO WE HICCUP? is something that every mother should know about. It's a condition affecting predominantly infants. In adults it usually passes in a few minutes of its own accord, but in infants it is particularly exhausting and upsetting.

The DIAPHRAGM is a very large muscle that separates the chest from the abdominal cavities. Its function is, by contracting, to lower the pressure in the lungs causing an intake of breath.

The diaphragm is innervated by the
PHRENIC NERVE which arises from the C3-C4-C5 nerve roots. Students remember it by

"C3-4-5 keeps the diaphragm alive."

Should the Diaphragm abruptly contract, unlike its usual smooth pattern, a sudden inrush of air snaps the epiglottis (a little valve in the throat that protects the lungs from food and drink) closed, creating the hic.

What causes this abrupt contraction?

There are many causes. In the adult, it's usually over indulgence in food or drink. Putting it simply, gulping your food and drink down. It's a protective mechanism, so your dinner doesn't end up in your lungs!

The Phrenic nerve is not only motor to the Diaphragm. It's also sensory to structures in the chest cavity and the upper part of the abdomen. Why do we hiccup? Swallowing too fast may irritate the tissues supplied by the Phrenic nerve, resulting in a sensory bombardment of the motor nuclei of the Phrenic nerve, thus causing the hiccup reflex and the spasmodic contraction of the diaphragm. A hiccup.

In babies?

It is well accepted by anatomists that many parts of our primitive nervous system belong to what is known as the 'Reptilian and Amphibian' brain and spinal cord. They say that the hiccuping of infants, with their immature 'human' nervous system, but an intact Amphibian brain, mimics the way frogs gulp reflexly for air. A certain amount of why do we hiccup is in babies quite normal.

FROM THE COAL FACE

WHY DO WE HICCUP?
Baby Thijs starting hiccuping one week after he was born. About 50-60 times a minute during virtually all his only waking hours. Exhausted and miserable as her child, Mrs Hoekstra brought her two and half month old son to me three weeks ago. Could Chiropractic help?
Perhaps, Mrs Hoekstra. If he has a fixation in his lower neck. Lo and behold ...
Thijs was slighly better after the first treatment. After the second, he completely stopped hiccuping for six days, beginning again on the seventh day.
I'm as curious as you must be, to know how he is progressing after his third treatment. Complete hiccup cure or not, Thijs is dramatically better. Subluxations of C3-4-5 undoubtedly have a profound effect on the Phrenic nerve, and thus on the diaphragm, and chiropractic is one factor that should be taken into consideration when we are looking for hiccup relief of babies and in fact hiccup remedies in adults.
Update: Mrs Hoekstra noted that Thijs hiccupped only three times in a whole week! She says he much happier, moving far more, but continues to wake sometimes at 10pm and 2am for a good cry. The C5 fixation is almost normal, but a little stubborn guy at L5 is hanging in. I have discharged him for a month.

It's interesting that children respond so much more quickly to treatment. How is it possible that a two-and-a-half month condition can respond so quickly?

Chiropractic and babies

The thought of a chiropractic manipulation of a tiny child's spine, and especially of his or her fragile neck, horrifies those who know nothing of how we adjust babies. There is no manipulation as we would normally understand it, and the treatment is very, VERY, VERY.... gentle. I have yet to see a parent shocked. Mostly they don't even know it's happening. They think we are just touching their child.

Why do we hiccup? Can Chiropractic help? Just ask Mrs Hoekstra. She's just had the first normal night's sleep in two months. She'll tell you.

Research

There are many conditions for which there is some circumstantial and anecdotal evidence that Chiropractic may help. Researchers are busy testing these theories to see if they will stand up to the test of solid research.

Very rarely tumours and kidney disease may be the cause of why do we hiccup.

COLIC CHIROPRACTIC

Infantile Colic is a condition seen more and more frequently in Chiropractic clinics since research confirmed that Chiropractic care was more effective than medication in the treatment of Infantile Colic. Chiropractic Colic addresses the treatment of babies. Do you know what the "Rule of Three" is? It could well be connected to why do we hiccup. Colic Chiropractic, Colic affects 15% of babies.