How To Relieve Brain Freeze

A pounding headache or pain radiating through your skull when eating ice cream or drinking an ice-cold beverage is likely a brain freeze. A brain freeze is a sudden, intense pain caused by nerves in your palate, or the roof of your mouth, reacting to the coldness of foods or drinks. However, this pain is generally not serious and resolves within minutes.

Brain freeze may also go by other names, including ice cream headache or cold stimulus headache. Read on to learn about why brain freeze happens, including prevention, treatment, and when to see a healthcare provider.

What Causes a Brain Freeze?

When you have a brain freeze, it's not because your brain is truly frozen. Instead, the cause of a brain freeze is a linked reaction between blood vessels and nerves.

The bundle of nerves in this part of the mouth senses something cold and sends an instant message to the brain, causing arteries and blood vessels to react. As a result, your head starts to throb.

The ache also comes on fast. "It lasts just a few seconds but sometimes minutes," before fading away, Anne MacGregor, MD, a headache specialist at the Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry in the UK, told Health.

Brain Freeze Symptoms

Signs that you have a brain freeze might include:

• A headache lasting from a few seconds to a few minutes after eating or drinking something cold
• Pain on the part of the palate where the food or drink touched
• Sharp, stabbing, or throbbing pain
• A toothache from eating or drinking something cold

Brain Freezes and Migraines

Brain freeze is harmless by itself, and the phenomenon isn't associated with any worrisome neurological conditions. However, it is linked to migraines: Brain freezes tend to happen more often in people with a history of migraines.

If a person has migraines and ends up with an ice cream headache, researchers found that the headaches tend to be on the side that migraines affect. Other research indicated that the headaches were in the area around the temples.

How To Get Rid of Brain Freeze

Brain freeze is temporary, so it's okay to wait it out. However, if you're trying to get quicker relief, there are some things you can try.

Dr. MacGregor suggested drinking warm—but not hot—water slowly as you sense brain freeze coming on. The idea is that the warm water will mitigate the cold sensation in your palate. As a result, your head shouldn't throb as intensely or for quite as long.

Another quick brain freeze fix is to press your tongue or the tip of your finger against the roof of your palate, which will warm up the nerves like warm water. Lauren Natbony, MD, a neurologist at the Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City, told Health that no science backs up this trick, but it can't hurt to try it. "If you introduce warmth during the brain freeze, it seems like that should work," said Dr. Natbony.

How To Prevent Brain Freeze

To prevent brain freeze from happening, you could avoid foods and drinks that are very cold. If you don't want to avoid cold foods and drinks, eat or drink them slowly. That can keep the nerves in your palate from being overwhelmed with the cold sensation.

You could also try eating cold food toward the front of your mouth. Eating your food this way helps you avoid the sensitive nerve endings toward the back that trigger brain freeze, said Dr. Natbony.

If none of these solutions help, Dr. Natbony also advised that you heat your cold food to a warmer temperature before putting it in your mouth. For example, stick your bowl in the microwave for a few seconds before enjoying it—if you can handle a soupy, slightly warm pint of ice cream.

When to Contact a Healthcare Provider

Brain freezes usually don't require medical attention. They tend to get better once your body gets used to the food or drink temperature. However, you should see a healthcare provider for:

• Headaches after a head injury
• Headaches that happen when sitting upright but resolve when you lie flat
  
• Headaches with convulsions, sensation loss, shortness of breath, or weakness
• New headaches if you have a history of cancer immune suppression or HIV/AIDs
• New headaches that occur twice or more weekly
• Persistent headaches when you haven't previously had headaches, especially if you are older than 50
• Severe headaches with fever, nausea, or vomiting not due to another illness
• Very sudden, severe headaches accompanied by a stiff neck
• Worsening headaches across a few days or weeks or that have changed their behavior or pattern

A Quick Review

A brain freeze is a sudden, painful reaction from nerves and blood vessels when eating or drinking something very cold. You may be able to reduce the time you have a brain freeze by warming up your palate. You can also prevent it by, for example, consuming cold foods and drinks slowly. Brain freezes aren't serious; however, see a healthcare provider if you have symptoms like new headaches unrelated to cold food consumption or other symptoms such as weakness or a stiff neck.