Necessity is the mother of invention. The father is unknown.
The following patent was issued by the US Patent and Trademark Office on June 13, 2006.

Device for the Treatment of Hiccups patent#: US 7062320 filed under Medicine view the full patent  | comments (8) posted on 8/24/2006, patent issued on 6/13/2006 Is there any cure for hiccups that is not patently silly? Some people breathe into paper bags, others like a good scare, and the more acrobatically inclined like to drink a glass of while standing on their heads. But the cures get even more extreme as the condition lingers. According to the inventor: "Hiccups lasting up to 48 hours are classified as 'bouts'. Hiccups lasting longer than 48 hours are called 'persistent.' Those lasting longer than a month are called 'intractable.' " Hiccups lasting longer than a month! I would call that a living nightmare! At this point sufferers may resort to more extreme measures such as "inducing vomiting, or applying traction on the tongue or pressure on the eyeballs." As always, if all else fails, try poking yourself about the face and see what happens. Faced with the above options, you can see the incentive to invent something new. This device (which peculiarly looks like a hands-free version of one of those "cup and string" phones) is a metallic cup with one electrode making contact with your cheek and another electrode making contact with the temple. When the cup is full of water and you begin to drink, an electrical circuit is created, thus stimulating the vagus and phrenic nerves and "reliably interrupting the Hiccup Reflexive Arc." Ions to the rescue! Check out the official website at Hic-Cups.com (Thanks, KB)!

Comments on Device for the Treatment of Hiccups

Penny | Jul 10, 2009 9:50 AM
One day while talking to my brother on the phone, I got the hiccups and he told me to eat a teaspoon of peanut-butter to get rid of them. I laughed about it, but got to the point where I was ready to try anything. I swear to you, before I even swallowed the peanut-butter the hiccups were gone. I know, with all the crazy ways people talk about getting rid of them, I laughed too, but next time you get the hiccups, try it. I really does work. Being a sceptic, I figured it was a coincidence, but it has worked many times, every time.

Joe | Jan 10, 2007 10:41 AM
Here is a 100% sure-fire cure for hiccups: swallow a heaping teaspoon (1 packet) of granulated sugar. This is almost instantly effective. I have no idea why, but it has never failed me and it has convinced a number of skeptics with whom I've shared this secret. Sorry Hic-Cups!

KB Raymond | Sep 21, 2006 8:33 AM
For people who are not prone to bouts of hiccups, this may seem silly. However, there is a large segment of the population who 1) suffers the distress of hiccups that won't easily go away 2) suffers the indignities of stupid, useless folk remedies 3) suffers from the ignorance and discounting attitudes of those who have not experienced singultus OR 4) uses their voice for their profession and CANNOT AFFORD to mess with hiccups. From what I have gathered broadcasters and reporters(covering the product launch) have been early adopters of the Hic-Cup. Website testimonials reflect a good result for those dealing with post-operative hiccups. Don't they finally deserve relief? I am a Performance and Speaking Coach and my clients (that have hiccup issues) and I think this portable, unbreakable cup is a god-send! Associated Content recently published an article by Nora Knowles naming the Hic-Cup "2006's Hottest New Gadget". Singers and sales reps think its too cool.

Daniel | Sep 14, 2006 1:46 AM
With my patented, silly invention divining rod!

R2K | Sep 13, 2006 10:15 AM
: ) How do you find all these?

Kay Richardson | Sep 8, 2006 2:57 PM
I hiccuped so much the other day, I killed my dog! How annoying to see that Dog's death might have been avoided if I'd bought this sodding invention. Oh well.

Paul Engle | Sep 7, 2006 11:48 AM
Yes, and the inventor is hiccuping all the way to the bank because hiccups are a very real problem for many thousanbds of people. What would the petty cynics say to the people this has helped?

quidnunct | Aug 27, 2006 4:21 PM
Someone has waaaaay too much time on their hands. Way too much. Next, an automatic computer-controlled burp reducer. Yay!

Post a Comment

Fill out form and click Submit only once.
Offensive and spam comments will be deleted

Comments are temporarily closed

© 2004-2009 Daniel Wright. All rights reserved. Reproduction of material from any patently silly pages without written permission is strictly prohibited.