Added: 05/12/2006 |
To Much Ice Cream - and you get a Brain Freeze, or Freezie!Brain freeze is something that many people can relate to. Brain freeze, ice cream headache, freezie, or frozen brain syndrome are terms used to describe a form of cranial pain or headache which people are known to sometimes experience after consuming cold beverages or foods such as ice cream, often as a result of rapid consumption. The freezie is an intense stabbing headache-like pain that occurs after consuming something cold, and it affects about 30 percent of the population.
7-Eleven registered the term "brain freeze" in 1994 to communicate the painful joy of drinking a frozen Slurpee beverage. Your brain does not actually freeze. No damage is caused by brain freeze. The reaction is triggered by the cold substance consumed coming into contact with the roof of the mouth. It irritates nerves in the region, causing them to spasm. These nerves cause the blood vessels in the brain to dilate. When vessels in the brain dilate, a common effect is an acute headache.
The pain of freezie begins a few seconds after the rapid ingestion of cold foods or beverages and peaks in 30-60 seconds, and can last up to 5 minutes. The pain is usually located in the mid-frontal area, but can be unilateral in the temporal, frontal, or retro-orbital region. It is a stabbing or aching type of pain that recedes 10-20 seconds after its onset. Some Studies suggest that freezie or brain freeze is more common in people who experience migraines. Raskin and Knittle found this to be the case, with brain freeze occurring in 93% of migraine sufferers and in only 31% of controls. Raskin has suggested that freezie may represent a model of migraine, in that both encompass disordered thresholds to sensory stimuli. The brain freeze could be elicited only in hot weather.
It has been reported that the pain can be relieved by moving the tongue to the roof of the mouth, which will cause greater warmth in the region; it is also believed that the pain can be relieved by slowly sipping room temperature water. Laying the head to the side may also provide relief. The pain may be avoided in the first place simply by eating ice cream or other cold foods or beverages more slowly. Also try holding your breath during a freezie, for some reason this makes it go away faster.
A good cure for really bad brain freezes is to close your eyes and press your fingers gently on your eyes so that your fingertips are resting between your eyeball and brow bone. Breathe deeply. Wait calmly for the brain freeze to pass. What you can also do is pinch your nose with your thumb and forefinger. At the same time try blowing through your nose (not too hard) and mouth (with mouth closed). Allow a little air to escape from your nose or mouth. Keep the pressure up by continuing to blow. And the best way to avoid getting brain freeze is to keep the cold foods from the roof of your mouth.
A report was submitted to the British Medical Journal on brain freeze; it focused on the effect of speed of consumption of ice cream on causing brain freeze. It was co-written by a Canadian 8th grade student.
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