this post was submitted on 14 Feb 2026
117 points (99.2% liked)

Ask Lemmy

37764 readers
1859 users here now

A Fediverse community for open-ended, thought provoking questions


Rules: (interactive)


1) Be nice and; have funDoxxing, trolling, sealioning, racism, and toxicity are not welcomed in AskLemmy. Remember what your mother said: if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. In addition, the site-wide Lemmy.world terms of service also apply here. Please familiarize yourself with them


2) All posts must end with a '?'This is sort of like Jeopardy. Please phrase all post titles in the form of a proper question ending with ?


3) No spamPlease do not flood the community with nonsense. Actual suspected spammers will be banned on site. No astroturfing.


4) NSFW is okay, within reasonJust remember to tag posts with either a content warning or a [NSFW] tag. Overtly sexual posts are not allowed, please direct them to either !asklemmyafterdark@lemmy.world or !asklemmynsfw@lemmynsfw.com. NSFW comments should be restricted to posts tagged [NSFW].


5) This is not a support community.
It is not a place for 'how do I?', type questions. If you have any questions regarding the site itself or would like to report a community, please direct them to Lemmy.world Support or email info@lemmy.world. For other questions check our partnered communities list, or use the search function.


6) No US Politics.
Please don't post about current US Politics. If you need to do this, try !politicaldiscussion@lemmy.world or !askusa@discuss.online


Reminder: The terms of service apply here too.

Partnered Communities:

Tech Support

No Stupid Questions

You Should Know

Reddit

Jokes

Ask Ouija


Logo design credit goes to: tubbadu


founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
 

When I can't sleep, I turn around and sleep "upside down" - moving my pillows to where my feet were beforehand, and my feet to where my head was beforehand - and I stick with that for a week or so. It gives me a week or so without insomnia and then wears off, so I have to turn myself back around for the next 7-12 day period.

Admittedly this could just be a me thing, but let's put our faith in this method and let the power of placebo effect take hold. Boom, minor bouts of sleeplessness are cured.

What are your own examples of this?

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] village604@adultswim.fan 10 points 12 hours ago* (last edited 12 hours ago) (6 children)

If you have the hiccups, putting a facial tissue over a glass of water and drinking through it will fix them.

I thought it was the stupidest thing I'd ever heard, but I tried it and it works pretty much every time. Paper towels can work, but aren't as effective

[–] EtherWhack@lemmy.world 3 points 9 hours ago

Breathing in as much as possible and holding it for as long as possible usually works. S

It's sorta like allowing the diaphragm to fully relax, with the expanded lungs helping to lightening the tension from the ribs.

[–] Sergio@piefed.social 4 points 11 hours ago

Yeah, apparently something along those lines has been shown to work:

Drinking through a straw with the ears plugged is a folk remedy that can be successful.[34] In 2021, a scientific tool with a similar basis was tested on 249 hiccups subjects; the results were published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).[35][34] This device is named FISST (Forced Inspiratory Suction and Swallow Tool) and branded as "HiccAway". This study supports the use of FISST as an option to stop transient hiccups, with more than 90% of participants reporting better results than home remedies. A non-commercial resource describing a similar suction-based technique using a regular straw and water bottle has also been published online.[36] HiccAway stops hiccups by forceful suction that is being generated by diaphragm contraction (phrenic nerve activity), followed by swallowing the water, which requires epiglottis closure.[37]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiccup#Folk_remedies the "non-commercial resource" referenced: https://hicfix.com/

Another approach that worked for me once:

A breathing exercise called supra-supramaximal inspiration (SSMI) has been shown to stop persistent hiccups. It combines the three principles of hypercapnia, diaphragm immobilization, and positive airway pressure. First, the subject must exhale completely, then take a deep breath. Then, they must hold their breath for ten seconds. After ten seconds, they must take another small breath without exhaling, then hold their breath for five seconds. Again, without exhaling, they must take another small breath and hold their breath for five seconds. Upon exhaling, the hiccups should be gone.[33]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiccup#Folk_remedies

[–] ivanafterall@lemmy.world 5 points 12 hours ago (1 children)

I take 10 sips of water while holding my breath. Works.

[–] village604@adultswim.fan 6 points 12 hours ago* (last edited 12 hours ago) (1 children)

The tissue basically forces you to take those sips very slowly, which I think is what helps. The holding my breath trick almost never works the first time for me.

[–] emmanuel_car@fedia.io 3 points 11 hours ago (1 children)

For me it’s not holding my breath, but pushing as much air into my diaphragm as possible, kind of like swallowing air and pushing it down until it hurts.

[–] Klear@quokk.au 3 points 10 hours ago

Yeah, this works for me 100%. Just holding breath isn't enough, though.

[–] Schal330@lemmy.world 2 points 10 hours ago

May have to try this next time! Normally I gulp lots of air until I can't anymore, then hold my breath until I can't, and breath out really slowly. It works but can be uncomfortable to do at times.

[–] MajorMajormajormajor@lemmy.ca 2 points 12 hours ago

Lightly waterboard self? I think I'll take the hiccups.

[–] avg@lemmy.zip 1 points 12 hours ago (2 children)

I bought a straw off of Amazon that helps, I imagine that it takes advantage of the same mechanism.

[–] proudblond@lemmy.world 2 points 10 hours ago (1 children)

My husband and son get the worst, most painful full-body hiccups so when I heard about the straw I thought, why not? It does work. However, it’s stupid expensive for a plastic straw so it stays at home all the time and sometimes they get hiccups when we’re out. We’ve found that jamming a regular straw flat against the bottom of a cup and then sucking really hard will pretty much work. The trick is making it hard to suck the liquid up the straw, so that your diaphragm is really working for it, and it’ll help reset things.

[–] ButteryMonkey@piefed.social 4 points 10 hours ago

So the cure for hiccups is milkshakes..

Who knew?