• Question: Why do we hicup?

    Asked by alice123 to Leo, Mariam, Iain, Gioia, Jo on 15 Jun 2010 in Categories: . This question was also asked by anon-2874, bobo.
    • Photo: Mariam Orme

      Mariam Orme answered on 15 Jun 2010:

      A hiccup is caused by a contraction of the diaphragm, which is a sheet of muscle across the bottom of your rib cage, just below your lungs. When it contracts, it suddenly pushes air into your lungs and that makes your epiglottis (a flap of tissue covering your voice box) close, making a hiccupping sound.

      As to WHY the diaphragm sometimes starts contracting to give us hiccups, I don’t think anyone really knows.

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