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November 07th, 2006 | Category: General

What causes an ice cream headache? (And how you can cure it!)

Posted by: Turkey Hill Team

We get this question a lot, so we thought it would be appropriate to address it here on our blog. Believe it or not, some people are immune to ice cream headaches. We call these people lucky. The rest of us, however, know exactly what it feels like.

Ice cream headaches (also known as “brain freeze”), happen when very cold items, like ice cream or slushy drinks, are consumed quickly. The scientific name is sphenopalatine ganglioneuralgis – what a mouthful. When these items contact the nerves in the roof of your mouth, the nerves overreact and tell certain blood vessels in your head to become larger causing an increase in blood pressure in the head. This expansion is what causes the headache. The best way to avoid the headache is to eat slower, which allows the nerves to warm up between bites.

But this is only the most popular theory. Others think it’s caused by the same vessels constricting and dilating like in your fingers when you come in from playing in the snow, or from irritation of the optic nerve that’s close to the roof of your mouth. Others say it from blood rushing to your stomach to warm it, decreasing the blood in your head. Kayakers and surfers report the same pain when they are hit by cold water in the face.

DID YOU KNOW? Some studies show that people who experience migraine headaches are much more likely to experience ice cream headaches.

Of course, ice cream headaches are harmless and usually go away after about 30 seconds. Can’t wait that long? Here’s a few tips we’ve heard over the years for how to get rid of them. We can’t say whether or not all of them will work, but it’s worth a shot!

- Press your tongue against the roof of your mouth

- Drink warm liquids

- Hold your breath

- Breath in through your mouth and out through your nose

- Hold whatever gave you the headache against your forehead (this one doesn’t sound effective, but it would be funny to watch)

If you’ve got any tips of your own, feel free to leave a comment. In the near future, we’ll be putting all of these remedies to the test and reporting the results in an upcoming post.

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9 Comments

Richard wrote:

I pinch my stomach as hard as I can…this takes the pain away from my head

December 15th, 2006 at 3:46 pm
Melissa wrote:

Punch your forehead until the only pain you feel is from when you hit your head… it really works.

November 30th, 2006 at 6:47 pm
Lynn wrote:

Press your chin to your chest and hold for a few seconds

November 22nd, 2006 at 4:46 pm
Turkey Hill Team wrote:

We’re going to add all of these suggestions to our list of techniques to test out in our offices (including mooing at cows…there might some sort of psychological factor there).

Look for the results of our tests sometime in December. Until then, keep the suggestions coming!

November 14th, 2006 at 3:06 pm
Jessica wrote:

I’ve foudn that eating it in small bites helps, plus then the ice cream lasts longer and you savor it more. Though you may have ice cream soup by the end…

November 14th, 2006 at 2:35 pm
Sera wrote:

The trick of rubbing my tongue against the roof of my mouth always works best for me! :)

November 13th, 2006 at 11:44 pm
Susan wrote:

a little hot fudge will warm up that ice cream….

November 10th, 2006 at 8:06 pm
(Dee ) Dawn Peaslee wrote:

Moo at some cows! This will help warm your ‘whole’ mouth. And, it would be fun….to watch!

November 9th, 2006 at 7:44 pm
Jase wrote:

chug water….it works everytime!!!

November 7th, 2006 at 3:43 pm

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