Ice scream headaches

lance · Post by **lance** » 2005-09-14 08:42pm

What causes these? I heard it had something to do with sinuses or something.

Lancer · Post by **Lancer** » 2005-09-14 08:47pm

google is your friend:

http://www.myslurpeecup.com/brainfreeze.html wrote:Brain freeze is something that many people can relate to. I am fortunate to say that I have never experienced the pain of brain freeze, despite my frequent consumption of the ice cold Slurpee drink.

Brain freeze is an intense stabbing headache-like pain that occurs after consuming something cold, and it affects about 30 percent of the population.

Your brain DOES NOT acyually freeze. NO damage is caused by brainfreeze.

7-Eleven registered the term "brainfreeze" in 1994 to communicate the painful joy of drinking a frozen Slurpee beverage.

Brainfreeze is also known as an "Ice Cream Headache", and "Frozen Brain Syndrome"

Simply put, Brainfreeze occurs when the Slurpee (or anything cold) touches the roof of your mouth, the collection of nerves in the roof of your mouth (called the spheno-palantine ganglion) go into a spasm (a spasm is like a cramp). These nerves tell the brain blood vessels to get bigger or "dilate". When our brain's blood vessels get big, we get headaches.

So, the best way to avoid getting brainfreeze is to keep the Slurpee from the roof of your mouth.

The pain of brainfreeze begins a few seconds after the rapid ingestion of cold foods or beverages (such as ice cream or slurpees or yellow snow)and peaks in 30-60 seconds, and can last up to 5 minutes.

The Phenemenon is further explained in an article by Joseph Hulihan :

The pain is usually located in the midfrontal area, but can be unilateral in the temporal, frontal, or retro-orbital region.
It is a stabbing or aching type of pain that recedes 10-20 seconds after its onset. Rarely, it can persist for two to five minutes

Some Studies suggest that brainfreeze is more common in people who experience migraines. Raskin and Knittle found this to be the case, with brainfreeze occurring in 93% of migraine sufferers and in only 31% of controls

Other studies found that it's more common in people without migraines. These inconsistencies may be due to differences in subject selection–the subjects of the first study were drawn from a hospital population, whereas the controls in the second were student volunteers.

Ice cream headache has been studied as an example of referred pain. Experimenting on himself, Smith found that:

Ipsilateral temporal and orbital pain developed 20-30 seconds later after crushed iced was placed on the palette.
Bilateral pain occurred when the stimulus was applied in the midline
The headache could be elicited only in hot weather
Attempts to reproduce the pain during the winter were unsuccessful, even with use of a cold stimulus of the same temperature.
Bird et al found a similar relation with respect to site of application of the cold substance and ipsilateral occurrence of the resultant pain
Some of their subjects also experienced an associated toothache.
Raskin has suggested that ice cream headache may represent a model of migraine, in that both encompass disordered thresholds to sensory stimuli.

No treatment is usually required, and sufferers rarely seek medical attention.

An odd idea or two....
Some people actually enjoy brainfreeze. I've been told that it can take away a headache.

Believe it or not, but some people also find it orgasmic... seriously.

Tips for alleviating brainfreeze

To relieve the pain of brainfreeze, try pressing your tongue onto the roof of your mouth. For some reason, this works (Submitted)

Try Holding your breath during a brainfreeze, For some reason, this makes it go away faster. (submitted)

Try taking a sip or two of a warm beverage, such as hot water, hot chocolate, or even coffee, when the brainfreeze hits. This seems to get rid of the pain quickly for some people. (submitted)

A good cure for really bad brain freezes: Close your eyes and press your fingers GENTLY on your eyes so that your fingertips are resting between your eyeball and browbone. Breathe deeply. Wait calmly for the brainfreeze to pass. (submitted)

Duckie · Post by **Duckie** » 2005-09-14 08:56pm

http://www.myslurpeecup.com/brainfreeze.html wrote: Your brain DOES NOT acyually freeze. NO damage is caused by brainfreeze.

Are people really this dumb? I weep.

Lancer · Post by **Lancer** » 2005-09-14 09:00pm

MRDOD wrote:
http://www.myslurpeecup.com/brainfreeze.html wrote: Your brain DOES NOT acyually freeze. NO damage is caused by brainfreeze.
Are people really this dumb? I weep.

there were people who didn't "get" that Emperor Palpentine = Senator / Chancellor Palpentine

lance · Post by **lance** » 2005-09-16 01:28pm

Thanks for the help, I forgot that google had uses other than porn.

HyperionX · Post by **HyperionX** » 2005-09-16 11:09pm

MRDOD wrote:
http://www.myslurpeecup.com/brainfreeze.html wrote: Your brain DOES NOT acyually freeze. NO damage is caused by brainfreeze.
Are people really this dumb? I weep.

Well truth be told it feels like your brain is freezing.

Drooling Iguana · Post by **Drooling Iguana** » 2005-09-17 09:51am

Only 30 percent of people get icecream headaches? I thought that everyone got them.

Nieztchean Uber-Amoeba · Post by **Nieztchean Uber-Amoeba** » 2005-09-17 10:47am

Drooling Iguana wrote:Only 30 percent of people get icecream headaches? I thought that everyone got them.

I never have.

Mrs Kendall · Post by **Mrs Kendall** » 2005-09-18 04:22pm

I've had a mild case once in my lifetime (didn't even last 20 seconds) and I'm an ice cream lover.

Rye · Post by **Rye** » 2005-09-18 07:47pm

I would've thought there'd be more people that got them than that, and it's interesting that people with migraines don't get them. I certainly get them, and it's like pins behind my eyes, makes me want to scratch them out like in Event Horizon.

Temjin · Post by **Temjin** » 2005-09-18 11:20pm

I get something like ice cream headaches. Although it's not my head that hurts, but the back of my throat. I've never heard of other people complaining about it though.

Havok · Post by **Havok** » 2005-09-19 02:37am

Temjin wrote:I get something like ice cream headaches. Although it's not my head that hurts, but the back of my throat. I've never heard of other people complaining about it though.

This is what I mostly experiance as well... I can't recall feeling it my head or "brain"

Mrs Kendall · Post by **Mrs Kendall** » 2005-09-19 08:38am

Rye wrote:I would've thought there'd be more people that got them than that, and it's interesting that people with migraines don't get them. I certainly get them, and it's like pins behind my eyes, makes me want to scratch them out like in Event Horizon.

I get migrains as well but nope haven't had an ice cream headache more than once.

My migrains come up from my right shoulder through my neck and up into the back of my head though.

I should clarify, the pain in my shoulder and neck causes migraines in the back of my head if I don't take (or can't take) Advil for the pain.