Hypnosis in the Termination of Hiccups Unresponsive to Conventional Treatment

Hiccups: a common problem with some unusual causes and cures

“…When hiccups fail to respond to the above therapies, other treatment options can be tried, including surgery, hypnosis, 9 acupuncture, 10 rectal massage, 11 sexual stimulation, 12 ejaculation 13 (possibly as a result of the sympathetic stimulus stemming from ejaculation, which may terminate the reflex arc causing the hiccups), and even smoking marijuana.…”

Hiccup in adults: an overview

“…Touch soft palate with tip of the tongue then swallow•, posterior pharyngeal wall stimulation [10}, massage of hard/soft palate junction [63] Miscellaneous vagal stimulation Ocular compression [43], carotid massage [34,42], digital rectal massage (64,65] Psychiatric treatments Behavioural therapy [11,6CH58], hypnosis [69][70][71][72] Gastric distension relief Fasting for 24 h [1,58], gas tic aspiration [ 42], or lavage [20,36,43,46], vomiting [11,34,36,43,46] Other remedies Bilateral compression of radical arteries, while gazing into the subject's eyes [73], rest in bed [74] fright [34,42,43,75], acupuncture [76,77] prayers [78], wrap patients in wet, cold sheets [50], hydrotherapy [79], relaxation•, concentration •, bilateral pressure on external auditory meatus [80], homeopathy•, mesotherapy•, pinching the external side of the wrist• 2) Phrenic nerve disruption Transient disruption:…”

“…Hiccup did not influence breathing frequency in intubated babies, but resulted in mild hyperventilation. Numerous cases of hiccup spells after myocardial infarction have been reported [8,17,69,75,83,91,[94][95][96][97], and treatment should be applied as soon as possible if spontaneous resolution does not take place.…”

Interactional Treatment of Intractable Hiccups

“…It is also likely that the hiccups were a chance occurrence that had nothing to do directly with the surgery or Mr. Garcia's emotional distress, but they did complicate postoperative recuperation. The origin of the hiccups may have been related to the surgical procedures, but it has been suggested that even in cases where hiccups are related to disease processes or organic involvement, psychogenic approaches should be considered (1). It is also entirely possible that the hiccups originated as a result of gastric distress (4, 23, 24, 30).…”

“…There are a number of cases reported in the literature attesting to the effectiveness of hypnotherapy in treating intractable hiccups, although, prior to 1950, there were no reports of any psychiatric treatment of this condition (7). Some authors reported the effective use of hypnosis in post‐surgical hiccups after other methods had failed to bring relief (1, 2, 5, 7, 10, 14, 15, 16, 27). A number of investigators also reported the use of hypnosis when the origin of the hiccups was less clearly related to impaired physiological functioning (7, 15, 16, 18, 31).…”