Why can we control coughs and sneezes, but not hiccups?
In: Biology
Many of the muscles involved in a cough or a sneeze – and those you can use to suppress them – are under voluntary control of your brain.
The muscle spasm that is a “hiccup” is not a muscle we have voluntary control over, and there isn’t much other muscular structure around it that we might use to control it.
A hiccup is just an involuntary muscle spasm similar to the muscle spasms you get in tour arm, leg, or back. Only difference is that air is forced out of your lungs when the diaphragm muscle contracts so the spasm is audible.
Latest Answers