What is a brain freeze?

A mind freeze, or the sudden, stabbing ache within the head brought on by consuming or ingesting one thing chilly, is definitely a sort of headache. The feeling is proscribed to the brow and temple space, and resolves inside 10 minutes after elimination of the chilly stimulus, in line with the Worldwide Classification Of Headache Issues (opens in new tab) (ICHD-3).

The ache of mind freeze can start inside seconds of being uncovered to chilly temperatures, and the ache peaks shortly, usually inside seconds of onset. Some individuals might describe the discomfort as a stabbing or aching kind of ache, whereas people who’ve migraines might understand it as a throbbing or pulsating ache, Dr. Stephanie Goldberg (opens in new tab), a neurologist and medical improvement affiliate medical director at Vertex Prescribed drugs in Boston, advised Dwell Science.

Why do you get mind freeze?

Regardless of mind freezes being so widespread, medical doctors usually are not fairly certain why it occurs, Goldberg stated. The analysis on the causes of chilly stimulus complications is scarce. Nonetheless, obtainable proof suggests that there’s a hyperlink between mind freeze and adjustments within the blood stream in a number of the mind’s blood vessels.

The mind itself can not really feel ache as a result of it incorporates no nociceptors — the nerve fibers current within the pores and skin, muscular tissues, joints and a few organs that transmit ache alerts. The mind’s lack of nociceptors is why surgeons can function on the mind with out immediately making use of anesthesia to the organ, though they nonetheless anesthetize the overlying scalp. The dura and pia, or protecting membranes between the mind and cranium, do include nociceptors. Mechanical strain or adjustments in blood stream can stimulate these membranes, which might result in ache, in line with a 2018 research revealed within the journal Mind (opens in new tab).

When a really chilly substance hits the roof of the mouth or the again of the throat, it causes blood vessels inside the top to momentarily tighten and constrict after which quickly dilate or widen. This in flip stimulates the trigeminal nerve, which is a gaggle of extremely delicate nerve fibers positioned behind the nostril. As soon as the trigeminal nerve is triggered, it relays the knowledge to the whole head. That’s the reason you’re feeling a mind freeze in your head and never in your mouth or nostril, the place the chilly sensation originated, Goldberg advised Dwell Science.

When the chilly stimulus is eliminated, the blood vessels return to their regular measurement.

A 2012 research revealed in The FASEB Journal (opens in new tab) discovered that the sudden improve in blood stream and ensuing improve in measurement of the anterior cerebral artery, a blood vessel that snakes throughout the midline of the mind behind the eyes, might set off mind freeze ache. The research discovered that when sufferers’ mind freeze ended, the artery constricted and diminished blood stream, which is probably going what induced the ache to vanish. That means a rise in strain throughout the cranium, introduced on by elevated blood stream to the top, is what causes the ache, the researchers wrote within the research.

Is mind freeze ever harmful?

Mind freeze doesn’t trigger everlasting harm and isn’t life-threatening, Goldberg stated. Nonetheless, a number of case studies reported a doable hyperlink between chilly stimulus complications and paroxysmal atrial fibrillation, a sort of an irregular heartbeat that occurs sometimes and often stops by itself inside seven days. Nonetheless, this isn’t considered a standard incidence.

A 2022 case reported revealed in The Permanente Journal (opens in new tab) described a 63-year-old lady identified with paroxysmal atrial flutter and atrial fibrillation, who claimed that consuming chilly meals and drinks triggered her recurrent episodes of coronary heart palpitations. The affected person had no prior analysis of coronary artery illness, coronary heart failure or different arrhythmias.

Equally, a 2016 case research revealed within the American Journal of Case Studies (opens in new tab) described a wholesome younger man who drank a slushed ice beverage that instantly induced atrial fibrillation and a mind freeze headache concurrently. This occurred on two separate events, years aside. Throughout each episodes, the acute mind freeze resolved itself shortly, however the palpitations prompted the affected person to go to the emergency division for analysis and remedy.

And in 2001, medical doctors in The American Journal of the Medical Sciences (opens in new tab) described a person and his father concurrently creating atrial fibrillation instantly after consuming a frozen candy, regardless of neither having prior historical past of cardiovascular issues.

The precise trigger behind this affiliation is unknown. The 2016 case research authors instructed that because the esophagus lies in shut proximity to the vagus nerve — an extended nerve that carries info between the mind and the inner organs — chilly meals may probably affect coronary heart rhythms. One other idea is that atrial fibrillation could possibly be triggered by gastroesophageal reflux illness or an extreme response from the autonomic, or involuntary, nervous system to the act of swallowing chilly substances.

Nonetheless, extra analysis is required to grasp why this occurs, and who could also be prone to creating such a response to mind freeze. Fortunately, it’s not a standard incidence and just a few such circumstances of atrial fibrillation have ever been documented.

Who could also be extra vulnerable to mind freeze?

Individuals who have migraines is likely to be extra susceptible to mind freeze than those that do not have the headache dysfunction. Individuals who have migraines usually have a delicate trigeminal nerve and a chilly stimulus can activate this nerve pathway much more, Goldberg stated.

A 2003 research revealed within the journal Cephalalgia (opens in new tab) investigated the phenomenon of “ice cream headache” amongst 8,359 faculty adolescents in Taiwan utilizing a self-administered questionnaire. Researchers discovered that the general lifetime prevalence of mind freeze was 40.6%, whereas college students with migraine had the next frequency of ice-cream headache in contrast with the scholars with out migraine (55.2% vs. 39.6%).

A 2004 research in Cephalalgia (opens in new tab) checked out 76 migraine sufferers and 38 individuals who had episodic tension-type complications. Researchers tried to induce an “ice-cream headache” in members by having them every maintain an ice dice to the roof of their mouth, and so they noticed that chilly stimulus ache within the head occurred in 74% of migraine sufferers and 32% of the opposite members. Each teams most incessantly reported ache within the temple, however migraine victims have been greater than twice as prone to report feeling ache at this explicit location than the opposite group.

How do you forestall mind freeze?

The ache of mind freeze is so fleeting that there isn’t any have to deal with it, however it may be tough to keep away from, Goldberg stated. Nonetheless, sure methods may assist reduce the possibilities of creating a chilly stimulus headache.

One option to forestall mind freeze could also be consuming chilly meals and drinks extra slowly, in line with a 2002 research revealed within the journal BMJ (opens in new tab). On this experiment, 145 center faculty college students have been break up into two teams, the place one group was instructed to eat roughly a half-cup of cream in additional than 30 seconds, whereas the opposite group needed to eat the identical quantity of ice cream in lower than 5 seconds.

The researchers — one in every of which was a center schooler, herself — discovered that 20 of the 73 college students within the fast-eating group skilled mind freeze, whereas solely 9 of the 72 college students within the cautious-eating group did.

One other doable technique may contain retaining the chilly substances away from the higher palate, Goldberg stated.

Johns Hopkins Medication (opens in new tab) recommends promptly eradicating the chilly meals or drink out of your mouth and urgent your tongue or (clear) thumb to the roof of your mouth, to heat it up. Consuming heat water also can assist.

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Why do you get mind freeze?

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