Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1906-03-14
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Home Health
Club
La Porte, Ind.
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HICCoUGH.
I have recently been called upon to
relieve a severe case of hiccough which
has lasted several days. Although great
deal of medicine has been used, the case
was growing steadily worse. Five min
utes' treatment with my two hands ef:.
fected a complete cure, and there has
been no return of the trouble.
Hiccough, being simultaneous spas
modic contraction of the diaphragm
and the CLOTHS. it is only natural to
suplsc4se that the proper way to over
come che difficulty is to remove the
contractions. But, before proceeding
further, the correct thing to do is to
learn just what this diaphragm is. First.
it is muscle; it is the partition be-
tween the f1rebox and ash pan of the
body. Above this partition are the
organs which receive the fuel and
convert it into power, and below it
matter from which all useful proper
ties have been extracted are to be elm
mated.
1t occupies an oblique position just
between the lungs and the stomach,
separating the two and forming what
is often termed the floor OF the for
mer aud the roof of the latter. But, as
said before, it separates the fire box
or thoracic cavity, and the ash pan, or
abdominal cavity; the two particular
organs which it lies Immediately be-
tween, however, are the stomach and
lungs.
The diaphragm is concave in form, the
concave side being toward the abdomen.
You have doubtless frequently seen a
little hollow rubber ball, such as chill
dren play with. Well, if you were to
cut one OF those balls in two through
the center, the shape of either side would
very much resemble that of the .diaph-
ragm, excepting that the hollow is not
quite so prOnOunced-the diaphragm is
as large as hat crown. Then if this
half-ball were placed in an oblique po-
sitiOn between the stomach and lungs,
it would represent the diaphragm very
we'll.
The prime use of this muscle is in
respiration. The fibers of the muscle
contract, causing it to become nearly
straight; instead of concave, thus max
ing the cavity in the chest larger and
tending to produce vacuum. The
air rushes in to fill this space, and
thus the air cells of the lungs are
filled; the diaphragm again resumes
it's natural shape, thereby forcing the
air out again, completing respira-
ton.
Has not everyone observed that
full breath is always taken just be-
fore coughing, sneezing, or, in fact,
any act causing a violent expulsion OF
air from the lungs? This explains
why good laugh" or "good cry" is
beneficial. both requiring deep inspira-
tons. And in all of these the diaph-
ragm is, of course, brought into active
service.
Now that it has been explained that
hiccough is a spasmodic contraction
of, the diaphragm, just what this
diaphragm is, what it does, and how it
does it, the next thing is to determine
how this condition (spasmodic con-
traction) is to be overcome.
The technical term of hiccOugh is
singulatus; but that does not in the
least change the impression upon the
mind of the suffering individual, un-
less by soberly announcing it to him
the effect is to cause profound fright,
In which case the trouble is likely to
disappear, for the nerves controlling
the action Of the diaphragm are init
mately associated with the emotional
or abdominal brain. That is the rea-
son why some experimenters have adj
vised people to place the elbows far
apart and slowly bring the points of
the index fingers together. This fixes
the attention closely upon the points
of the fingers, the breath is usually
held, while, the arms being away from
the sides, give freedom to the muscles
in expanding, and the combination ef-
1eCLS q cure.
But this is only in instances caused
by simple and harmless things There
are cases caused by fatigue, nervous
debility, low fevers, an excess of food
or liquids in the stomach, or inflamma-
ton or irritation of an obscure nature,
and these will not readily yield to
such treatment.
One noted writer tells of case in
which all of the remedies prescribed
by the authorities were used success
lively, each in turn failing to bring
relief, and finally the attending physi-
clan gave up the case in desperation
1t was speedily cured, however, by
motherly neighbor woman, with tea
spoonful doses of onion juice. An
other successful home remedy is
very few drops of oil of cloves on a
spoonful of sugar. Bits of ice swal-
lowed has also been found useful, as
we'll as hot lamentations to the alb
domen. At the best, all of these reme~
dies are uncertain and unreliable.
Therefore. it becomes the duty of the
Home Health club to teach the members