Ice cream headaches: What causes brain freeze and is it dangerous?

A piercing pain in the temples and forehead often occurs when we greedily eat a large piece of ice cream or gulp down a heavily frozen cocktail too quickly. This is known as brain freeze or simply freezing the brain. What causes this unusual sensation? And is it dangerous?

Ice cream lovers know this feeling well – unpleasant, piercing, and sometimes even momentarily paralyzing. Although it passes quickly, it can cause concern. So what exactly is this feeling of a freezing brain?

We usually think that the sensation of brain freeze starts inside the skull. The piercing pain is typically felt around the forehead and temples. The pain most often occurs after eating a large piece of ice cream or drinking a heavily frozen cocktail quickly, but it can also happen in winter, for example, when inhaling cold air.

Brain freeze, also known as sphenopalatine ganglion neuralgia, does not actually involve brain freezing. It is related to what happens in the mouth. As detailed on the Cleveland Clinic’s website, my.clevelandclinic.org:

"When your body senses sudden, extreme cold in the mouth or throat, it tries to react and warm up. Blood vessels throughout the head expand to let extra blood into the area for warmth. That quick change in blood vessel size causes sudden pain."

However, specialists emphasize that the exact mechanism remains unclear. According to Dr. Toni Golden from Harvard Medical School, the sudden expansion of artery walls likely activates the trigeminal nerve, which conveys sensory information from the face and head to the brain.

While the sensation of brain freeze can be painful, it is not severe and quickly subsides on its own. You can prevent these characteristic headaches by avoiding the rapid consumption of very cold foods or frozen drinks.

During an episode, not only does the head hurt, but often the neck and the entire front part of the face as well. The pain appears 10 seconds after consuming something cold and lasts around 20 seconds, sometimes up to half a minute. To quickly alleviate the pain, press your thumb or tongue against the roof of your mouth to warm it up or slowly sip a liquid at room temperature.