What causes “Brain Freeze”?

Brain freeze: it’s a phenomenon a lot of us are familiar with. It’s that feeling you get when you take a super big bite of ice cream, or drink a slurpee too fast, and you get a freezing headache for about 30 seconds. Well, here’s everything you ever wanted to know about it:

First, the general definition:

Brain freeze, ice cream headache, freezie Frozen Brain Syndrome or it’s given scientific name Spheno Palatine Gangleoneuralgia are terms used to describe a form of cranial pain or headache which people are known to sometimes experience after consuming cold beverages or foods such as ice cream or slurpees, often as a result of rapid consumption.

And the cause:

The reaction can be sometimes triggered within a few seconds after a very cold substance consumed comes into contact with the roof of the mouth. The body’s response to cold environments is to to reduce the diameter of blood vessels. This is in place to reduce blood flow to the area, and thus minimize heat loss to keep warmth at the body’s core. The return to normal status and artery size results in massive dilation of the arteries that supply the palate. The nerves in the region of the palate sense this pain and transmit the sensation of this pain back to the trigeminal ganglia. This results in pain that is referred to the forehead and below the orbit. (Edited slightly to be read easily)

What to do to relieve the pain?

It has been reported that the pain can be relieved by moving the tongue to the roof of the mouth, which will cause greater warmth in the region; it is also believed that the pain can be relieved by slowly sipping room temperature water. Laying the head to the side may also provide relief.

And look, I’m not the only one who has trouble having brain freezes!

It has been estimated that 30% of the population experiences brain freeze. Some studies suggest that brainfreeze is more common in people who experience migraines.

I hope this time was as informative for you as it was for me. Until next time kiddies!

via Wikipedia

Tagged: Brain Freeze