Preventing brain freeze

[snopes]

Comment: After experiencing a terrible "brain-freeze" headache from eating
home made ice cream, my Father-In-Law suggested I hold the cold dish in my
hand while eating. He said this would prevent the "brain-freeze". Well, it
seemed to work! But why? I have done this while slurping shakes by holding
onto the glass cup it was in. It still seems to work. I'm I nuts or what?

I get brainfreezes frequently. I saw a study a while back (cannot find a cite currently) that found a correlation between the propensity for migraines and brainfreezes. I can see that, because I used to get frequent migraines (not so much since I got my sleep apnea under control).

That being said, most of my brainfreezes are from frozen drinks (slushies, shakes, etc), and those are always held in the hand, so I say it does not work (at least on me).

[Lainie]

Originally Posted by Griffin2020

I get brainfreezes frequently. I saw a study a while back (cannot find a cite currently) that found a correlation between the propensity for migraines and brainfreezes.

I'll have to look for that. I vividly remember trying to explain to a then-SO that I had a brainfreeze, and his not knowing what I was talking about. He said he'd never had one. I thought he was being dense, or difficult, but maybe he really hadn't. . .

[nurple]

Holding the cold dish, cup, whatever has never worked for me. I get brain freeze often and I've found that drinking warm water helps get rid of the pain quicker.

[Mad Jay]

Perhaps, when you are holding the dish, you will eat the cold food faster, whereas if you have put the dish down, you let your body warm up between bites/sips

[Lainie]

Originally Posted by Mad Jay

Perhaps, when you are holding the dish, you will eat the cold food faster, whereas if you have put the dish down, you let your body warm up between bites/sips

But the OP tip was to hold the dish to prevent brainfreeze.

[Mad Jay]

Originally Posted by Lainie

But the OP tip was to hold the dish to prevent brainfreeze.

to me. I didn't finish my thought.

I heard that brainfreeze occurs because the head becomes cold rapidly. It's the rapid changes in temperature that gives you brainfreeze, not the temperature itself. That's why it's easier to get brainfreezes in the summer because the cold drink rapidly cools your head, and the ambient temperature quickly warms it up again

So, my guess is that if you hold the dish and eat it quickly, you are less likely to get a brainfreeze, or even if you do, they might be mild; whereas if you put the cold dish down and let your head warm up again, you will get a brainfreeze everytime you take a sip.

[Auntie Witch]

I'd always heard that brain freeze was caused by chilling two nerves in your mouth simutaneusly. I have noticed that if I let something warm up a bit before reaching the back of my mouth, I don't get brainfreeze.

Perhaps by holding it in your hand you're warming it up a bit? If you're holding a glass, particularly by the bottom, the liquid at the bottom (which would go up a straw first) might be warmed enough by the heat of your hand to prevent brainfreeze. Just a thought.

[STF]

I've heard that if you drink cool water after the brain freeze starts to set in it will pass quicker. It was something like that at least.

I heard of pressing on the roof of your mouth with your tongue to prevent brain freeze, but it's never worked for me.

This is what I have heard as well. Something about the back of the mouth being near blood vessels that go to the brain. The idea being that if you cool down the back of your mouth, you are cooling down the blood that goes to your brain. Any truth to this? Or is it just another UL?

[Elwood]

I thought brain freeze was caused by referred pain from the stomach to the head via the vegal nerve. In any case, I've never found a folk remedy that worked, other than simply avoiding very cold food and drink on very hot days.

[MapleLeaf]

Should I infer from this that pCMs and cow-orkers and the like cannot experience brain freeze?

[Esprise Me]

According to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/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 at the body's core. After vasoconstriction, the 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

In other words, brain freeze is caused by blood vessels constricting because of exposure to cold, then relaxing. I've never had one, and I've sometimes wondered if that's related to my having what seem to be rather weak veins. My mother and I both have a hell of a time standing for long periods--we're OK if we're walking briskly or running, but if we stand still or move slowly, the blood seems to drain from our heads and pool in our calves. My half-baked theory is that my veins, like hers, don't constrict as well as they should, which is why I don't get headaches when I eat ice cream.

[mags]

I get migraines, but I never have had brain freeze.

I think it might be because I have cold sensitive teeth, so I always tend to take it slow with ice cream or other cold things.

^ Brainfreeze smiley.

My key to warding off brain freeze is to consume my frozen confection slowly. Savor every sip (or bite)!

- Pseudo "eating shouldn't be a headache" Croat

Huzzah first post:

I had always been told that the cause of the brain freeze is cold air filling the pharynx, so I've always consumed cold foods slowly to avoid chilling the back of my throat.

As for dealing with brain freezes, I've always cupped my hands over my mouth and nose and inhaled the warm air to try and heat the air around the pharynx quickly. This seems to work for me, but I have no scientific data to back it up.

[Lawgiver]

well personally i belive that when you hold the glass in your hands the it takes your mind of the brain frezze and focus on how cold your hands are.

I always thought it was caused by the constricting of blood vessels in the soft pallet. And placing your tongue on the roof of your mouth caused the now cold soft pallet to warm, thus alleviating the intensity or longevity of the pain.
Huh, guess I was kind of in the right territory.

[geminilee]

Originally Posted by Tyrone Slothrop

I always thought it was caused by the constricting of blood vessels in the soft pallet. And placing your tongue on the roof of your mouth caused the now cold soft pallet to warm, thus alleviating the intensity or longevity of the pain.
Huh, guess I was kind of in the right territory.

I thought the same thing. Of course, if you have been eating ice cream your tongue is probably cold, too. It may be more effective to press someone else's tongue against the roof of your mouth.