From Christine Hodgson
I am not surprised that a link has been discovered between the sucking mechanism and hiccups (8 February, p 16). What does surprise me is that no one seems to have thought that sucking may also be the cure.
Babies frequently get hiccups. When my children were younger I noticed that the quickest way to get rid of their hiccups was to suckle them. I wondered if sucking through a straw would have the same effect. It does – the hiccups disappear immediately.
Perhaps this is also why drinking from the wrong side of a glass is supposed to work. Presumably the only way to get the liquid into the mouth is to suck it in.
London, UK
