What causes hiccups?
It is normally nothing serious, i.e. there is no underlying medical cause. Fizzy drinks, eating a large meal or swallowing too much air, can do it. Or they just happen.
Rarely there can be an underlying medical cause. There are more than 100 known medical causes. Some of them are shown in this diagram.
You should only contact your GP or NHS111 about hiccups if they go on for over 48 hours.
Medical treatment of hiccups is rarely needed. If there is an underlying medical cause, the treatment of hiccups is to get rid of that cause. If no cause can be found, the most commonly prescribed medicine for prolonged hiccups is chlorpromazine. It can be used either in tablet form or in severe cases, intravenously.
Summary
We have gone through what causes hiccups. If you have hiccups, by the time you have read this, they will have probably gone!
