What causes "brain freeze"?

"Brain freeze" is the pain sometimes inflicted by devouring something cold like ice cream or a cold beverage, often very quickly.

The reaction is (obviously) triggered by the cold ice cream or beverage; coming into contact with the roof of the mouth. It triggers nerves that give the brain the impression of a very cold environment. To heat up the brain again, blood vessels start to swell, which causes the headache-like pain for approximately 30 seconds.

The temperature change in the roof of the mouth has to be rather drastic; this is why brain freeze often occurs on warm days.

The pain can be relieved by putting the tongue to the roof of the mouth, which logically will heat it up.

From:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brain_freeze

Brain Freeze

�While ice cream headaches are usually benign and brief, migraines are occasionally triggered by the cold stimulus.

Ice cream headache has been studied as an example of referred pain. Experimenting on himself, Smith characterised the features of the headache. Applying crushed ice to the palate, he found that ipsilateral temporal and orbital pain developed 20-30 seconds later. 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. It would be of interest to determine whether antimigraine drugs that modulate serotonergic pathways have any effect on ice cream headache.
No treatment is usually required, and sufferers rarely seek medical attention. Since the posterior aspect of the palate is most likely to produce the referred pain of ice cream headache, avoiding contact of the cold food with this area can effectively eliminate the symptoms. Most people arrive at such preventive measures without the advice of doctors. Ice cream abstinence is not indicated. �

http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/314/7091/1364

A "brain freeze" is caused by swellings of the blood vessels in the head...

Richard Simmons.
...
Nah, really, lol. When the cold matter enters your mouth (or the back of your mouth), your body responds to the sudden drop in temperature by constricting your blood vessels to increase blood flow and minimize heat loss. The blood vessels then stop being constricted and this release is interpreted by the brain as pain, giving you the unique sensation. Hope this helps.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brain_freeze

I get brain freezes easily when I drink something very cold or eat ice cream. What I do when I get one is: I take repeated deep breaths in an out about ten or so and this relieves the pain right away. My thinking was that the warm air from the lungs reversed the situation. Try this and let me know if it works for you. iloveorange@earthlink.net

It is caused by quickly eating or drinking very cold substances. It is the result of the rapid cooling and rewarming of the blood vessels on the roof of the mouth.

It only happens when it is hot outside, you cannot get it on cold days.

Eating ice cream too fast!

slush puppy or ice of any sort!

Slupee from 7-Eleven.

Very cold drinks:)

7-11 sluprees!

Nerves, Tiredness

Or it could just be I have a ditz moment.

Math! +5

ice creamm!

too much ice cream too fast

I don't have a brain, so I don't have to worry about brain freeze...

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 vasoconstrict the peripheral vasculature (to reduce the diameter of blood vessels). This vasoconstriction is in place to reduce blood flow to the area, and thus minimize heat loss to keep warmth in the body. After vasoconstriction, they return to normal status and artery size results in massive dilation (vasodilation) of the arteries that supply the palate (descending palatine arteries). The nerves in the region of the palate (greater and lesser palatine nerves) sense this as 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, other regions from which the trigeminal nerve receives sensation (This phenomenon is partially similar to the referred pain that is present in the left arm when someone is having a myocardial infarction). A similar effect occurs when one takes a prescription vasodilator, such as Nitroglycerin or Viagra. It is a stabbing or aching type of pain that usually recedes within 10–20 seconds after its onset, but sometimes 30–60 seconds, and can persist for up to five minutes in rare cases. The pain is usually located in the midfrontal area, but can be unilateral in the temporal, frontal, or retro-orbital regions :)

it is the blood in your neck getting cold and going to the brain. the only time i get brain freeze is when i swollow alot of ice cream and it goes down slow. nothing to do with the roof of my mouth at all. i could get brain freeze without anything touching the roof. but if you put your hands on your neck and warm the blood going to the brain it goes away.

My frozen margaritas. I don't use ice. I freeze strawberries and blend the tequila and margarita mix with that. The frozen strawberries emit cold longer than the ice, because the damned things don't melt. But what a SWEET ride...

Drinking or eating something that is cold and it rushes to the head and gives a pain known as brain freeze.

I don't think I ever had one, but I honestly don't exactly what it means.

I've never had it before, I really don't get what it's all about.

Cranial refrigeration.

Dairy Queen Blizzards

Slurpin down a slushie

slush puppies

This is my research assignment to my N104 subject...

It is commonly experienced when applying to the roof of the mouth (palate) or when swallowing it.Typically the headache appears in about 10 seconds and lasts about 20 seconds although some people experience much longer lapses of pain, with the pain seeming to relate to the same side of the head as the cold substance was applied to the palate, or to both sides of the head in the case of swallowing.

The most effective way to prevent it is to consume the cold food or liquid at a slower rate. Keeping it in one's mouth long enough for the palate to become used to the temperature is also an effective preventative.

I know someone who has false teeth and anything cold doesn't touch the roof of her mouth ever but she still gets brain freeze.

Those screaming blue slusshies are a brain cell killer if I have ever encountered one.

Drinking a grape slush from the Sonic! Very good though,the slush I mean.

ninja's

Brain freeze also known in acient Babylonian times as 'schito mos' was beleived back then to have been caused by the gods because of taking too much pleasure in the food or drink you have consumed. So why then was it just cold food. They beleive 'Apsu' the god of underworld oceans was jealous of their pleasure and sent a cold wave to the brain to cause pain and sin you for your greed.

If you drink frozen drinks like frozen pina colada, daquiris, etc. add some black pepper and stir it in well. You can't taste the pepper and it always works for me.
People might think you are crazy, but it works. The only problem is you can drink it faster and then you want another. I love them.

Brain freeze also known in acient Babylonian times as 'schito mos' was beleived back then to have been caused by the gods because of taking too much pleasure in the food or drink you have consumed. So why then was it just cold food. They beleive 'Apsu' the god of underworld oceans was jealous of their pleasure and sent a cold wave to the brain to cause pain and sin you for your greed.

what a load of codsawallop....! "Brainfreeze" my arse !

Too many sugery slush puppies!!

This can occur when you quickly eat or drink something cold. However, your brain does not actually freeze. In the roof of your mouth there are lots of very sensitive nerves that protect your brain. When these nerves feel something cold like ice cream or a frozen drink, they think the brain is too cold and automatically send messages to the brain telling it to “warm up.” In order to get warm, blood vessels in the brain dilate, or swell. This causes the painful sensation that lasts about 30 to 50 seconds.
About a third of the population experiences this type of pain at one time or another. People who get migraine and tension headaches may be more likely to feel pain after eating or drinking something cold. There are some things you can do to prevent the pain. As yummy as that ice cream or Slurpee may be, take your time between bites and sips. If you do feel pain, warm up your mouth by sipping something warm or touching the roof of your mouth with your tongue.

Taken from:
http://au.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080421144931AAiKaDB

When a person eats something cold such as ice cream it freezes the roof of their mouth and along with the blood vessels or capillaries that allow blood to flow to the brain. Well when the roof of your mouth freezes it restricts the vessels from allowing the blood flow to your brain. Once the roof of your mouth warms up the blood vessels become unrestricted allowing blood flow to continue..thus creating what we call a "brain freeze."

Yesterday I had the worst BF I've ever had. I don't get migraines, but I'm sure this was similar. It was a very hot day here in Chicago and I was trying my first McDonalds caramel Frappe drink. Because it's made by blending crushed ice, it's a very cold drink. I took a few sips and after about 10 seconds I thought my head was going to explode. The pain was incredible. I was driving in rush hour traffic on the freeway and would have pulled over if I could have. I had never experienced that bad of a BF. I'm sure it did permanant damage. ;-) I finished the frappe with very small sips and that seemed to help.

listening to Obama talk

The brain freeze is caused from eating too much of a cold substance too fast. But the best way to cure it quickly, is to press your thumb to the roof of your mouth. It relieves the pain instantly because it is rewarming the blood vessels in the roof of your mouth.

The brain freeze is caused from eating too much of a cold substance too fast. But the best way to cure it quickly, is to press your thumb to the roof of your mouth. It relieves the pain instantly because it is rewarming the blood vessels in the roof of your mouth.

I dont have an answer,but I had a brain freeze and blacked out,came to I was laying on the sidewalk with a spilled frappichino,any answers for that??

In my case I regret to say 'Brain freeze " happens any time I try to think too hard. Different kind of freeze I know but my brain freezes just the same

When something cold touches the roof of your mouth on a hot day, it triggers a cold headache. The cause is a dilation of blood vessels in the head. The dilation may be caused by a nerve center located above the roof of your mouth -- when this nerve center gets cold, it seems to over-react and tries to heat your brain.

Therefore, the easy way to avoid "brain freeze" is to keep cold things away from the roof of your mouth!

I don't know the answer but I get severe migraines, but have never had brain freeze. I've tried putting cold things (ice cream, freezies, etc.) on the roof of my mouth and it never works. Even when I was a kid. Freaky!

When something cold touches the roof of your mouth, it triggers a cold headache. The cause is a dilation of blood vessels in the head. The dilation may be caused by a nerve center located above the roof of your mouth -- when this nerve center gets cold, it seems to over-react and tries to heat your brain causing the dreaded "brain freeze"..
Therefore, the easy way to avoid "brain freeze" is to keep cold things away from the roof of your mouth!

http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/314/7091/1364

http://www.myslurpeecup.com/brainfreeze.html

http://www.thebrainfreeze.com/

An editorial was published in the British Medical Journal[1] on ice cream headache; it referenced several articles on the effect of rapid consumption of cold foods or beverages. It has been studied as an example of referred pain, an unpleasant sensation localised to an area separate from the site of the painful stimulation.

The effect occurs when something very cold, such as ice cream, touches the top palate in the mouth. The blood vessels constrict due to the cold. This makes the nerves send a signal to the brain to open blood vessels. But this rapid opening of the blood vessels makes fluid back up in the tissues that won't drain for thirty seconds to a minute. This causes a slight swelling in the forehead that causes pain.

Slushies

“ Brain Freeze” is the pain sometimes painful by eating or drinking something cold like ice cream or a cold beverage, sometimes very quickly.
The reaction is caused by the cold ice cream or beverage. It causes nerves that give the brain the impression of a very cold environment. To heat up the brain again, blood vessels start to swell, which causes the headache-like pain for 30 minutes.
I get brain freezes easily when I drink something very cold or eat ice cream. What I do when I get one is: I take repeated deep breaths in an out about ten or so and this relieves the pain right away. My thinking was that the warm air from the lungs reversed the situation. Try this and let me know if it works for you.