Why We Get a Brain Freeze
Why we get a brain freeze
Brain freeze occurs when something extremely cold touches the upper-palate (roof of the mouth). It normally happens when the weather is very hot, and the individual consumes something too fast. |
We all love Icey cold foods, especially on a ht summer day, but too much of it too fast can give us a real headache. Who hasn't had a bout of brain freeze immediately after they throw that blizzard back too fast. Brain freeze is something which most people have heard of, but which they actually know very little about. Generally it is the term given to the feeling you get after eating or drinking something extremely cold. It tends to occur when these foods and drinks are consumed fairly quickly and it is definitely not a very nice experience! So just what is it and why does it occur?
What Happens
What you may not know is that the pain actually occurs from the cold food and drink touching the roof of the mouth. It is the warming, afterwards, of the hard palate that causes the pain rather than the cold as what many people mistakenly think. So just why does it occur? Well the body is designed to keep as much heat in as possible, especially on a cold day. So when you breathe through your mouth for example, the body reduces the blood flow in the mouth in order to preserve heat. The way in which blood flow is reduced is that the diameter of the blood vessels is reduced. This is known as Vasoconstriction and once it has occurred, the blood vessels then return to normal which results in the dilation of the arteries within the palate. It is the nerves within the palate that translate the dilation as pain and that is why you experience brain freeze.Usually brain freeze only lasts a few seconds but it is possible that it could last for a minute or two. It is extremely rare for the pain to last any longer than that.
Dealing with Brain Freeze
When you experience it, it can be a really horrible experience. However, there are some things that you can do
Brain freeze occurs when something extremely cold touches the upper-palate (roof of the mouth). It normally happens when the weather is very hot, and the individual consumes something too fast. |
We all love Icey cold foods, especially on a ht summer day, but too much of it too fast can give us a real headache. Who hasn't had a bout of brain freeze immediately after they throw that blizzard back too fast. Brain freeze is something which most people have heard of, but which they actually know very little about. Generally it is the term given to the feeling you get after eating or drinking something extremely cold. It tends to occur when these foods and drinks are consumed fairly quickly and it is definitely not a very nice experience! So just what is it and why does it occur?
What Happens
What you may not know is that the pain actually occurs from the cold food and drink touching the roof of the mouth. It is the warming, afterwards, of the hard palate that causes the pain rather than the cold as what many people mistakenly think. So just why does it occur? Well the body is designed to keep as much heat in as possible, especially on a cold day. So when you breathe through your mouth for example, the body reduces the blood flow in the mouth in order to preserve heat. The way in which blood flow is reduced is that the diameter of the blood vessels is reduced. This is known as Vasoconstriction and once it has occurred, the blood vessels then return to normal which results in the dilation of the arteries within the palate. It is the nerves within the palate that translate the dilation as pain and that is why you experience brain freeze.Usually brain freeze only lasts a few seconds but it is possible that it could last for a minute or two. It is extremely rare for the pain to last any longer than that.
Dealing with Brain Freeze
When you experience it, it can be a really horrible experience. However, there are some things that you can do