Former pro athlete Bo Jackson has revealed his nearly year-long battle with chronic hiccups, for which he will undergo surgery in an attempt to cure.
During a recent appearance on the McElroy and Cubelic in the Morning podcast, the former MLB and NFL player shared that he’s been suffering from a bout of hiccups since July 2022.
“I’ve had the hiccups since last July and I’m getting a medical procedure done the end of this week, I think, to try to remedy it," Jackson said on Wednesday 10 May. “I’ve been busy sitting at the hospital sitting up with the doctor’s poking me, shining lights down my throat, probing me every way they can to find out why I’ve got these hiccups."
Jackson, 60, explained the lengths he’s gone to try to remedy his condition, but doctors have been unable to find a cause for his incessant hiccups.
“I have done everything: scare me, hang upside down, drink water, smell the a** of a porcupine. It doesn’t work,” he said.
Hiccups are repeated spasms or uncontrollable movements of the diaphragm, according to the Mayo Clinic. Eating a large meal, drinking alcoholic or carbonated beverages, or getting excited suddenly may cause hiccups, but tend to only last a few minutes.
If hiccups continue for several months, it may be a sign of an underlying medical issue. Long-term hiccups can be linked to damage or irritation of the vagus nerves or phrenic nerves, which supply the diaphragm muscle. They also may result when the body’s metabolism doesn’t work properly.
While hiccups tend to go away on their own, medicines or certain procedures are available to treat chronic hiccups.
Vincent Edward “Bo” Jackson was a running back at Auburn University and won the Heisman Trophy in 1985. He played for the Los Angeles Raiders in the NFL for four years, as well as the Kansas City Royals, Chicago White Sox, and California Angels in the MLB throughout his eight-year baseball career.
He is the only professional athlete in history to be named an All-Star player in both baseball and football. In 1996, he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.
