With the weather warming up and summer just around the corner, an ice cream cone sounds nice until you get that nagging ice cream headache or brain freeze. The medical term for an ice cream headache is cold-stimulus headache or sphenopalatine ganglioneuralgia.
An ice cream headache is triggered when the cold ice cream touches the roof of your mouth or throat. You develop a quick throbbing pain either behind your eyes, forehead or temple area. The pain is self-limited and resolves either very quickly or gradually lingers. A similar headache can also develop when you expose your head to a very cold environment.
What Causes An Ice Cream Headache
We do not know the exact cause of an ice cream headache or cold-stimulus headache. Scientists believe the cold food stimulates nerve endings and blood vessels on the roof of your mouth leading to the pain in your head.
Is An Ice Cream Headache Dangerous
An ice cream headache is not dangerous and usually does not need any treatments. It can be common in both men and women. One study reports the risk of ice cream headache is higher if you have a parent who also gets ice cream headaches.
Ice Cream Headache and Migraine Headache
The International Headache Society (IHS) classifies ice cream headaches or cold-stimulus headaches as a primary headache disorder separate from migraines. Although an ice cream headache may not trigger a migraine headache, studies suggest that having migraine headaches may make you more susceptible to ice cream headaches.
Preventing Ice Cream Headache
The easiest way to prevent an ice cream headache is simply not to eat ice cream. However, that would not be any fun! Instead, you should eat your ice cream slowly and in smaller bites to reduce the amount of cold exposure to the roof of your mouth. You should take sips of warm water in between each bite of ice cream to warm up your mouth.
In conclusion, as the summer season heats up and ice cream trucks roll down your street, there is no harm in enjoying a cold ice cream scoop. Just remember to follow the tips above to prevent ice cream headaches.
Make an appointment with our headache specialists at Neurotest of New York to learn more about other unusual headache disorders.