Ever get hit with a bout of the hiccups only to feel embarrassed, like they should be a thing adults are over? After all, they don’t serve any purpose at all, other than seemingly to make social situations awkward.This theory isn’t far off from the truth — hiccups pretty much are just a physiological quirk.A hiccup is caused by a spasm of the diaphragm muscle, explains Eugene Chio, M.D., assistant professor of otolaryngology at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. That muscle is a large sheet that separates your chest from your abdominal cavities. When it contracts, the muscle presses down, leading to negative pressure (or, below regular atmosphere pressure) in your chest cavity. This allows air to flow into your lungs. When th… Click below to read the full story from Men’s Health
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