Why does cold ice cream sometimes give me a headache?

Body Works

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by Mya Kagan (whyzz writer) >> more about the author

If you’ve ever had a “brain freeze” or an “ice cream headache,” then you already know a bit about how these work: After a bite or a sip of something really cold, you get a brief, sharp pain near the top of your head which goes away after just a moment or two. – Ouch! Why did that happen?

Scientists and researchers don’t have one exact answer for why we get ice cream headaches, but there are a few ideas that are thought to be very likely.

One idea has to do with a neat thing about the way we’re built: All over our bodies – including inside the roof of our mouths – we have special messengers called nerves that send information to our brain. When your cold, icy treat makes direct contact with a group of these nerves, it sends messages of the painful cold, which are felt in a different part of your head instead of the roof of your mouth!

Another idea says that when the nerves in your mouth sense quick, intense cold, they send a message to have more blood sent to that area to help warm you back up. This causes your blood vessels to widen and allow more blood-flow, and with it comes that brief, sharp pain of the ice cream headache!

Because the cold temperature in your mouth which caused the “brain freeze” is gone once you finish swallowing, your body is usually able to realize pretty quickly that everything has returned back to normal and the pain goes away. – Whew!

Beyond the “Brrr”!

Aside from ice cream headaches, what are some other things you body does when it reacts to being cold? Some good examples might include shivering or getting goosebumps!

Why do you think it’s important that you body has ways of protecting you from things that are too cold??