What is Brain Freeze? Why Do We Sometimes Feel Our Brains “Freeze” When Eating Ice Cream?
Have you ever felt a cold stinging pain in the frontal lobe of your brain while eating ice cream or drinking cold water on a hot summer day? Since you are reading this article, probably yes, you have. If so, don’t worry. You don’t need to see a doctor unless you experience this pain frequently and for a long time.
But don’t worry if you haven’t felt it. According to research, about 40% of the population experiences this pain, which is more common in migraine sufferers, meaning most never share it. Children are more prone to brain freeze, as they can overdo the intake of cold foods and drinks. The medical name for this sensation is “Sphenopalatine ganglion neuralgia,” but as you may have noticed, “brain freeze” is a much simpler name.
Causes of Brain Freeze
Brain freezing usually occurs when you consume ice cream, icy drinks, ice cubes, or inhale cold air.
According to a 2012 study on the cause of brain freezing, it is all about blood flow. When something cold is consumed quickly, if this cold suddenly and continuously touches the palate, it narrows the vessels leading to the brain. It triggers the trigeminal nerve, which provides the connection between the brain and the face. The brain, disturbed by the sudden change in temperature, directs hot blood to these narrowed vessels. The nerves consequently perceive the rush of blood from the cold into these narrowed vessels as a pain caused by the cold, i.e., “brain freeze.”
According to research, the width of the area touched by the cold, the points where it feels simultaneously, and the speed of entry are more critical than the temperature for brain freezing to occur. Therefore, brain freeze is more likely to occur when ice cream of the same temperature is eaten quickly or spread in the mouth. The same is valid for ice water.
Brain Freeze Solution
The way to get rid of brain frostbite is relatively easy. All you need to do is remove the cause – the cold. Since brain freeze is a “reflected pain,” meaning that data input at one point causes a pain signal at another point, changing the information has a direct effect on the pain. Examples of brain freeze remedies include:
- Stopping the consumption of cold food or drink.
- Moving away from a cold environment.
- Drinking warm water.
- Pressing your thumb against your palate to transfer heat.
Taking aspirin or painkillers will not do much to relieve brain freeze because in 98% of people the pain lasts less than 5 minutes. By the time the medicine takes effect, the brain freeze will already be gone.
Brain freeze and other headaches
Unlike some other headaches that cause abdominal pain or sensitivity to light/noise, brain frostbite does not affect the brain other than stabbing. (If you experience vision loss, dizziness, difficulty moving or speaking with brain frostbite, you are advised to seek help immediately.)
It was also found that children who suffered from various headaches or whose parents had experienced brain freeze were more prone to brain freeze. Other types of headaches experienced by the parents, other than brain freeze, were not associated with the child experiencing brain freeze. Still, children of parents who never experienced headaches were also predisposed not to experience brain freeze. So, as funny as it may sound, brain freeze may even help us to unravel the heritability and causes of various other types of headaches, such as migraine.
In addition, brain freeze may not only be relevant to humans. For example, the way cats, for instance, react after being fed ice cream, although not recommended, and their similar neuroanatomy to ours may indicate that cats can also experience brain freeze.