It’s a Fun Fact Friday! If you think your hiccups last too long, meet Charles Osborne of Iowa — the man who hiccuped for an astonishing 68 years straight. His hiccups began in 1922 after a farm accident and didn’t stop until 1990, just a year before his death. During that time, he experienced an estimated 430 million hiccups, sometimes averaging 20 to 40 per minute in the early years!
Despite living with this nonstop reflex, Osborne led a full and determined life. He married twice, raised eight children, and even learned to adapt — blending his food and developing special breathing techniques to make the hiccups quieter.
Hiccups themselves are fascinating. They’re involuntary contractions of the diaphragm, the muscle that separates your chest from your abdomen. Each sudden contraction causes a quick intake of air, which is then cut off by the closing of your vocal cords — creating that familiar “hic!” sound.
So what actually causes them? Scientists still aren’t entirely sure. Hiccups occur when something irritates the vagus or phrenic nerves, which control your diaphragm and other involuntary functions like breathing and digestion. Common triggers include eating too fast, drinking carbonated beverages, swallowing excess air, spicy foods, or sudden temperature changes in your stomach (like alternating hot soup and cold water).
Interestingly, hiccups affect people of all ages — even unborn babies have been observed hiccuping in the womb. They tend to become less frequent with age, and while both men and women get them, men are more prone to long-lasting cases. Hiccups have also been studied in cats, dogs, rats, rabbits, and horses, showing that we’re not the only ones dealing with this quirky reflex!
Most hiccup episodes last less than half an hour, but for those who get stuck in an endless loop, there’s good news. In 2021, researchers tested a new device called HiccAway, a reusable, L-shaped straw that stops hiccups by creating pressure to stimulate the diaphragm and vagus nerve. In trials published in The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), more than 90% of participants found it worked better than home remedies. The invention even appeared on Shark Tank, where Mark Cuban struck a deal — and it went on to sell over $11 million worth of products on Amazon and Walmart.
So next time you get the hiccups, be thankful they’ll likely pass in a few minutes — and maybe raise a glass (of water, slowly sipped!) to Charles Osborne, the man who hiccuped his way into history.