For Most Of Us,

a bout of hiccups is a temporary minor annoyance,

but for some it is a repeated nightmare, weekly or even daily bouts affecting some of us, when we get the hiccups, our diaphragm and intercostal muscles suddenly contract, and the abrupt intake of air causes the opening between the vocal folds to produce that “hic” sounds every one of us has experienced at least once in our lives. enter Dr. Ali Seifi, a neurointensivist from the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, he came up with the design for the HiccAway after seeing his son’s McFlurry ice cream spoon, in fact, he says people can try to make one from a McFlurry spoon by sealing up most of the small hole at the top, to increase suction pressure. Or, you can just buy the real thing, for $14, “It works instantly and the effect stays for several hours,” Dr Seifi told The Guardian newspaper, adding that the HiccAway works by essentially making our brain forget to keep spasming that diaphragm, to evaluate the efficacy of his invention, Dr. Seifi co-authored a study published in the JAMA Network, which analysed responses from 249 volunteers – over two-thirds of whom said they had hiccups at least once a month – who used the HiccAway. Results showed that it stopped hiccups in 92% of cases, so hopefully for hiccup sufferers help is no available.