This entry was originally posted on the Ice Cream Journal back in November 2006, but we thought it was valuable enough advice to warrant a second glance!
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
- Breathe 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.
Tags: brain freezee, headaches, ice cream, turkey hill
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If you’ve got a technical question about the ice cream making process or some other inquiry about the nuances of America’s favorite treat, chances are Ernie has the answer. He might not be able to answer all questions, but he’ll try his best and some may be featured on the Ice Cream Journal.
I get the occassional brain freeze — I never heard about holding the offending item to your forehead, but I find that if I press my tongue to the roof of my mouth and put slight pressure on my forehead with my hand it helps. But like they say, TH is worth it — bon appetit!
i love ice cream so headache or no headache im eating it
i always wondering why you get headaches from eating ice cream to fast. thanks for the info.
Hi. The advice to drink a warm drink works for me-just a glass of warm water will do it.
Geee, I get a terrible headache when I don’t eat Ice Cream !
I never get an Ice Cream headache (brain freeze), I’m told I don’t have a brain LOL. Honestly I don’t, but give me It. ice and I get brain freeze. So I don’t eat It.ice, only my wonderful Turkey Hill Ice Cream and I have lots of it in my freezer. There isn’t a day goes by that we don’t eat TH. It is a great dessert, so many flavors to choose. Linda
Thnaks for the brain freeze remedies. I will try them during my next brain freeze. I guess the best advice is to slow down and enjoy the ice cream.
I just had an “ice cream headache” the other day and I held my tongue to the roof of my mouth and the pain went away immediately.
One way to avoid brain freeze: drop a scoop of ice cream into hot chocolate and enjoy a “snowman” float. The warmth of the hot chocolate balances things out.
Ice cream headaches are the worst. I t feels like toture for the first few seconds. But, I breathe in through my mouth quickly and it usually shortens it.
I love ice cream so this side effect won’t stop me from my weekly dose!
Brainfreeze or no brainfreeze, I still eat Turkey Hill icecream, love it
Thanks for the tips!!!
They are good tips for ‘brain freeze’. I don’t like it either. I just stop eating my ice cream for a couple minutes.
When you experience brain freeze stick your thumb(the fleshy part) at the roof of your mouth, where the nerves are, and it should decrease the intensity and length of brain freeze. When it’s over resume eating!
I’ve had one of those headaches once! What a terrible experience from such a wonderful treat! Thanks for the help tips.
“Brain freeze” is just another indicator that the ice cream is soooooo good & yummy!!!
WE ALWAYS CALLED IT BRAIN FREEZE. I ALSO HEARD THAT YOU SHOULD PUT YOUR TOUNGE AT THE ROOF OF YOUR MOUTH
Of course, you could always up the percentage of hot fudge per spoonful.
Just finished the half of gallon of Party Cake and it was goooood!
I just recently experienced a brain freeze last week. Pretty sure I held my breath until it was over but that was not by choice it was because the pain was so intense. I hardly ever get them – maybe once ever five years so, thankfully.
Brain Freeze: get it all the time when eating Turkey Hill. Just gobbling it up soooo fast!.
Breathing in through the mouth and really hard out of the nose really works. My daughter taught me this when is was little.
My husband gets them all the time and he isn’t even the ice cream fiend in the family! I’ll have to tell him about the remedies you mentioned.
I have a small blue stress ball that looks like a brain. It sits on my desk at school and I tell the students that it is what happens when you get “brain freeze” from eating ice cream too fast. I think some of them even believe me!
i can’t wait to try that on my kids.
Fortunately I don’t experience ice cream headaches, so I can gobble up all the Turkey Hill ice cream I want … as fast as I want!!!
When I get brain freeze…the whole brain freezes up. My brain is unable to tell my tongue to move to the roof of my mouth to warm it.
I used to gobble up my Turkey Hill ice cream, but as I hit middle age and my metabolism slowed, I came to realize that by savoring each delectable spoonful, I’d not only enjoy the experience more, but I’d consume less calories. Thanks for the tips in case I get ravenous and eat too fast. Wish I’d known these solutions back when I did get brain freezes.
I don’t get headaches from Turkey Hill but your remedies are a riot. I would rather eat it than hold it to my head!
Dear Turkey Hill Folks,
Your blog this month is just like a return to my childhood! I love it. Although I grew up in NE Pennsylvania, there were many Sunday afternoons when my parents would pack a picnic lunch and head down to Lancaster and the PA Dutch area. I have lived in at least 9 different states since then, but nothing is as green as those beautiful farms in the springtime!My sister and I loved seeing the horses and buggies, and especially the Amish children. As an adult, I so admire the quilting skills of the Amish women.( and wish I were so talented!)
When my mother moved to New England 12 years ago, she was just like the “Turkey Hill” saleswoman. She would march into the grocery stores here and demand that they carry a greater selection of your ice cream! Having lived away from PA for so many years, Turkey Hill was new to our family( and my husband was stuck on Breyers, having grown up in the Philadelphia area)
Well, he is a convert now, as is all of our family. Mom is 86 now, and living in Massachusetts, but she still has to have her Turkey Hill.(and PA pretzels, I might add!)Thanks for the memories, and your products. We still wish there were more of a selection of flavors here in Rhode Island, but we make do with what is here! And we don’t even care about the container size- every spoonful is worth it! Someday we hope to take a trip back-it will be like memory lane!
Thanks for a great website and a great product!
i,always,let my ice cream melt for 5 minutes(bowl is better than cone ) this forestalls the headache AND enhances the flavor ! !
Happy to say havent had a brain freeze in many years. Only really have it with a slurpee or similar thing. Ice cream, especially my Turkey Hill, is savored and I usually let it get soft so it goes in more slowly. The pain from a slurpee can be intense but when I get one its usually because I am so hot i needed it badly and dont really care!
This is very interesting to know…I wonder if hot fudge sauce on my Turkey Hill icecream would counteract any brain freeze?!? Guess I will have to test that out tonight! As always, thank you for the information…I enjoy reading your blog daily.
I can’t say that I ever had an ice cream brain freeze – not that that would stop me from eating Turkey Hill
Nobody likes brain freeze. Short of slowing down our eating a bit to savor all the delicous Turkey Hill ice cream flavors, maybe we just need to get your body in shape for this experience–train our bodies, so to speak, so that brain freeze doesn’t happen because we are in too good of shape.
If any research team wants to tackle this important hypothesis, I am willing to be a study volunteer!
Last night I had Banana Split ice cream, Wow! I ate it so fast – no brain freeze! Still looking for Junior Mint.
[...] SECOND SCOOP: WHAT CAUSES AN ICE CREAM HEADACHE (AND HOW TO CURE IT)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 … [...]
Guess I’m one of the lucky ones who don’t get brain freeze. My nephew gets brain freeze, but he eats his TH at warp speed! He also is prone to migraines. Interesting info from the blog as usual!
Love your ice cream and this contest I hope I win????
I usually wait for the ice cream to melt a bit. Then I eat it quickly. No room for too much patience when it comes to Turkey Hill ice cream!
Your ice cream is the best. When my parents come from NY we always have to buy at least 6 half gallons of “the creamiest & best ice cream from Lancaster County”.
To get rid of a brain freeze from ice cream, an 83 yr old friend has told us to turn the spoon upside down in your mouth and eat ice cream that way- it even seems to work.
Thanks for this article – I can use the remedies often!