The dreaded "brain freeze," also known as "ice cream headache," can
occur when something icy cold touches your palate (the roof of your
mouth). The most widely accepted explanation is that extreme coldness
may excite a group of nerves called the sphenopalatine ganglion, which
are involved in controlling bloodflow to the head. These nerves give
signals calling for more blood (in order to warm up), and blood
vessels in the head become swollen with blood. The result can resemble
a brief migraine, or vascular headache. There's typically no danger,
and the sensation fades rapidly (unlike a real migraine, which lasts
much longer).
No one knows for certain why some people experience "brain freeze,"
and some do not. Studies indicate that taking smaller bites of the
cold food, and being careful how you hold it in your mouth, can help
prevent the headache. Once the symptoms have appeared, a warm (not
hot) drink, or pressing your tongue up against your palate, can lessen
the pain and that uncomfortable cramping sensation in your head.
I've gathered some information from the Web for you. For reasons of
copyright, I am posting only small excerpts; for more detail, you may
want to read some of these articles in their entirety.
"The most common cause of head pain is ice cream, occurring in one
third of a randomly selected population. It occurs regardless of
whether someone suffers from other types of headache. Children know
all about ice cream headache, although I have found that they know it
best by the descriptive term 'brain freeze.'
...Ice cream headache has been studied as an example of referred pain.
Experimenting on himself, Smith characterised the features of the
headache. Applying crushed ice to the palate, he found that
ipsilateral temporal and orbital pain developed 20-30 seconds later.
Bilateral pain occurred when the stimulus was applied in the midline."
British Medical Journal: Ice cream headache
http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/314/7091/1364
"The cause of ice cream headache is far from clear. One plausible
explanation is that the cold causes constriction of blood vessels near
the point of contact, which in turn causes the blood to back up
painfully inside the head.
Ice cream headache occurs in maybe a third of the general population
but in over 90 percent of migraine sufferers, who feel it in the same
place they get migraines. (Many migraine victims take precautions with
frozen desserts for just that reason.) Researchers believe migraine
and ice cream headache are physiologically similar, the difference
being that migraine sufferers are abnormally sensitive to stimuli the
rest of us ignore."
Straight Dope Archives: What causes "ice cream headache"?
http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a4_126.html
"On a hot day when you eat a snow cone, the cold crushed ice that
touches the top of your mouth initiates a nerve reaction that swells
blood vessels in your head. The nerve center on the roof of your mouth
overreacts to the cold temperature of the snow cone and tries to heat
your brain. This swelling of blood vessels is what causes an ice cream
headache, or what is more commonly known as 'brain freeze' or 'frozen
brain syndrome.'
...30% of the human population suffers from these excruciating
headaches. The best way to avoid getting an ice cream headache is keep
the chilled foods or beverages you eat on the side of your mouth, away
from the roof of your mouth."
Cool Quiz: What causes an "ice cream headache"?
http://www.coolquiz.com/trivia/explain/docs/ice_headache.asp
"The scoop is that when you eat or drink something very cold, and it
touches your palate, the nerves send a signal to your body telling it
that your brain is too cold. Your body reacts by sending extra blood
to the blood vessels in your head. Extra blood means more warmth.
These blood vessels in your head expand quickly to hold the extra
blood. It is this quick swelling of the blood vessels in your head
that cause your head to hurt.
If you experience this headache, it will only last a short time and
will eventually go away by itself. Generally they only last for a
minute. But, there are ways to try to avoid these brain pains or fight
them once you get them. First, you can try eating your cold treat more
slowly. You can also try warming the food in the front part of your
palate (where the bumpy ridge is), before letting it touch your back
palate. If these don't work and you feel that headache creeping up on
you, press your tongue against the smooth back part of your palate.
This will act as a blanket and warm your palate quickly. The nerves
will think the brain is warming up and won't send blood to the blood
vessels."
Chevron Cars: What Causes "Ice Cream Headache"
http://www.chevroncars.com/wocc/lrn/artcl/printArtcl.jhtml?id=/content/Wondrous_World/Human_Beings/a1806.xml
Google search strategy:
Google Web Search: "ice cream headache" OR "brain freeze"
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&q=%22ice+cream+headache%22+OR+%22brain+freeze
Thanks for a cool question!
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pinkfreud |
