A boy was referred to me because he had been having non-stop hiccups for the better part of six months. (For full story, read The Cockroach Catcher - Chapter 13: Hiccup Boy)
Now hiccups may seem a simple enough problem, but the BBC reported in July 2007 that a man in Belfast had it for 5 years:
“An east Belfast man who has suffered from hiccups for five years is hoping a new surgical technique pioneered in the US will give him his life back.
David Willis, who suffers from an incurable condition known as intractable hiccups, hopes a £9,000 operation will end his misery.
The operation involves implanting a vagus nerve stimulator into his upper chest cavity.
He has also tried acupuncture, hypnotherapy as well as numerous other remedies such as drinking water from the wrong side of a glass to blowing into a paper bag, but all to no avail.”
extracted from BBC website: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/6907540.stm
No, David Willis was not one of my patients.
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3 comments:
Hiccups can be really bad and intractable in some patients that they actually have to undergo even surgery after failing other therapies.
I am in the US NAVY. While on deployment my wife sends me out goodies to snack on because ship food isn't all that great. Anyways I had the Hiccups one day and felt like having a PixyStix. After that PixyStix I no longer had the hiccups. Tonight I had a case of the Hiccups and I couldn't find my Pixies so I looked in the pantry and found some Crystal Light Powder drink mix. I took a spoon full. My toung and my teeth felt like they were going to fall out but the hiccups are no longer there! It worked for me!!
Thanks. If it works for you.
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