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Grades 3–5 · Organisms

What happens inside your body during a hiccup?

A hiccup is a quick action of your breathing system that happens without you deciding to make it. One important part is the diaphragm, a broad muscle below the lungs. This muscle helps you breathe. During a hiccup, it contracts suddenly and produces a brief inward breath.

O101 visual explanationA hiccup involves sudden involuntary diaphragm contraction, a brief inward breath and rapid vocal-fold closure producing the hic sound. Highlighted part 2 of 3 has 1 later parts in the simplified sequence. Diagram coordinates and airway gaps are invented drawing units. The trigger and exact coordinating neural mechanism are not determined, and the illustration gives no remedies or diagnosis.A hiccup pairs a sudden muscle pull with closure1. Sudden pullDiaphragm pulls2. Air entersDiaphragm pulls3. Quick closure“Hic” soundVocal folds close after the brief inward breath.Sequence is enlarged; causes are not always clear.

In the diagramA hiccup pairs a sudden muscle pull with closure1. Sudden pullDiaphragm pulls2. Air enters3. Quick closure“Hic” soundVocal folds close after the brief inward breath.Sequence is enlarged; causes are not always clear.

A sudden diaphragm contraction draws air inward, followed by rapid vocal-fold closure and the hic sound.

Another quick action follows in your throat. The vocal folds, also called vocal cords, close rapidly. Their closure interrupts the inward breath and makes the familiar “hic” sound. The muscle movement and the closure belong to one short sequence, with the sudden inward breath coming before the quick closure.

Nerves connect the breathing muscles and the parts that coordinate this sequence. Irritation along these pathways can help trigger hiccups, but a particular hiccup can start or stop without an obvious reason. Scientists have not settled every detail of how the sequence is coordinated or what purpose it serves. The drawing explains what happens, without identifying why one person hiccupped at one moment.

About this explanation

Starting knowledge: Know that air moves through the throat toward the lungs.

Sources

  • National Library of Medicine, MedlinePlus — Hiccups
  • National Library of Medicine — Hiccup — MeSH
  • National Library of Medicine, StatPearls — Singultus
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