We've all felt it... now science might be able to explain it. If you suffer from painful ice cream headaches, experts have an explanation for the cause of brain freeze. The reason for the almost instantaneous, searing headache that comes after a lick of your favorite ice cream or after a sip from an ice filled drink has been unclear until a recent study on the flow of blood to the brain. It appears that rapid fluctuations in blood flow are responsible for a number of different types of headaches, including the well known "brain freeze".
What's more, experts recognize that migraine sufferers are more likely to have the "brain freeze" type headache. This suggests the two headaches share something in common. Perhaps blood flow.
To find out, the researchers used diagnostic imaging to monitor blood flow to the brain for 13 healthy volunteers as they drank ice water through a straw that was pressed up against their upper palate. This was intended to bring on brain freeze - the subjects raising their hands when they felt the pain come on, and raising a hand again once the pain passed.
Researchers saw that sipping the water caused a sudden blood flow increase to a key artery found in the brain. The piercing headache pain then followed. The researchers speculate that the quick alterations in blood flow that come with brain freeze might be part of some type of built-in survival mechanism from long ago.
The brain, being one of our most important organs, and sensitive to temperature, may simply be responding to sudden cold by moving blood into the tissue to be sure it stays warm enough. Since the brain is housed within a closed structure (the skull), the sudden increase in blood would bring up the pressure, causing pain.
If future work confirms the findings on blood flow, experts feel that developing medications that control the flow of blood to the brain might help ease brain freeze and other, longer lasting headaches. These headaches have been particularly hard to study because no one can say for sure when a migraine will come on, and by the time the patient is alerted, researchers often don't pick up on the physiological changes which take place as the headache is getting started. Studying the brain freeze type of headache hopefully will lend clues to other headache types as well.
And while you're not likely to give up your favorite ice cream or ice filled drink, there are things you can do to avoid known causes of brain freeze. Keep cold foods from touching the rood of your mouth - let ice cream or cold drinks warm on your tongue first. You might also try quickly warming the roof (palate) of your mouth by pressing your balled-up tongue (or thumb) right against it - act quick enough and you might stop brain freeze in its tracks. Drinking something warm can also help as does making a mask with your hands to cover your mouth and nose and then breathe quickly as this brings up the temperature inside your mouth.
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