What’s in a rolled thread?
September 4, 2008chrissaire 4 Comments »When I first started blogging, I had the idea structured in my head as to the subjects my blogs would contain. I have been trying to be consistent on that goal, and that is to share to everyone my experiences here (in the United States) and synthesize it with the life that I once had in the Philippines. And though there maybe times when my association with these two different worlds have been obscure, I assure you that I tried to at least find the perfect set of words to grasp my goal.
Minute things happen to me day by day. And I am fully aware that it is in those small details of my experience that gave me deep appreciation of life.
Last night, after finishing a glass of water I started to have hiccups. Until then I could not really explain why it occurred. I was just reminded that during those times when my siblings and I were growing up and one of us had it, our Nanay (Mother) would roll a loose thread from her clothes, moisten it and put it on our forehead. As a child I thought it was the real cure. But as I grew older I began to appreciate it to be just a superstition.
And when Dad noticed my hiccups last night, he suggested that I should take the deepest breath that I could make and hold it for as long as I can. And true enough, hiccups were gone. But when I asked him where he learned the technique, he told me he just learned it along the way as he at some point tried to get rid of such an annoying occurrence.
In the eMedical Health website it explained that hiccups occur in relation to eating and drinking. It is sometimes thought to be a reflex to protect one from choking. When you eat too much (especially fatty foods) or drink too much, you will get hiccups. If you eat too fast, you can swallow air along with your food and end up with a case of the hiccups too.
See, with just a simple subject on hiccups science is shattered with superstition on the other hand, and an effective practice on the other. As much as I was really impressed at how effective Dad’s advice was, I still am fascinated with the superstition that Nanay applied on us. Maybe I should call her today and ask her. Maybe by now she can already explain where that rolled thread came from.
Tags: Dad, hiccups, Nanay, science, superstition
Posted on September 5th, 2008 at 8:14 am
ror i do remember the thread,lol..i even told my MIL about it and husband.I tried it on kaitlyn but to no avail.She gets the hiccups whenever she laughs to much.but ill try that breathing technique enxt time.
thanks ror
Posted on September 7th, 2008 at 9:50 pm
i remember those times when we would run to nanay to have get relief from the annoying hiccups. i learned from manang rema though that it was caused by the abrupt rush of air to the lungs that causes the epiglottis to close that’s why we generate the “hic”. she taught me that to be able to ease it is simply to breath in a paper bag slowly for the epiglottis to relax and open once again.
Posted on September 8th, 2008 at 6:21 pm
your baby girl is still too young to actually be asked to take a deep breath and hold it. we will have to wait til she is big enough. for now, mantiner lang sa sa hilo for her lods. heheheh!
Posted on September 8th, 2008 at 6:22 pm
good thing that you shared this other technique mita. I will also try that…but so far, Dad’s advice really worked..especially in the occurrence when we don’t have any paper bag within our reach.