What Causes Brain Freeze?

I get brain freeze for two or three days a time. It's not caused by eating ice cream, but by cold wind blowing on my eyes. My eyes and forehead seem to freeze and can at times be painful, it also causes me to have sleepless nights. I have to take painkillers to get some sleep. I keep my head covered and have glasses with foam inserts but can still have problems. Any suggestions anyone? P.S. I'm 72

I have never had brain freeze. It doesn't matter how cold how fast or how much I drink I never experienced one. I do have a mild form of Chiari malformation . My cerebellum is a few millimeters lower in my brain compared to a normal brain. I'm not sure if that has anything to do with it. Just thought I would add that if anyone else has that in common with not experiencing brain freeze.

I never got a brain freeze in 40 years until after I had brain surgery. Now I get them every time there is a rapid temperature change or if it's cold and I don't have to be eating anything. Keeping my tongue against the roof of my mouth does not work. Neither does drinking something warm. The brain freeze is severe and usually lasts about 15 minutes. Sometimes my vision is impaired, like being on acid or looking through a kaleidoscope.

It was scary at first. Now I know I can't go out in the cold or near an air conditioner without a scarf around my nose. It's really awful and it's getting worse. When I told my neuro-surgeon, he said, "Well, your brain is different now." Thanks a lot, doc.

I've never ever gotten brain freeze, but I do get a throat freeze though. I wonder why.

My daughter does not get brain freezes from eating anything cold; she can suck back a slurpie like there is no tomorrow. My question is why she doesn't get them? I don't know of anyone else who doesn't get them.

I totally get chest freezes too. It's such an intense pain, but I love knowing it'll pass.

I've been getting brain freeze since I was a kid and as I've aged it's gotten more intense. I don't know what causes it, but it hurts! It starts in the middle of my head and moves down between my shoulder blades. A friend said she sprinkles pepper on the frozen item as she's eating or drinking. Sounds ridiculous, but it works and it doesn't taste bad!

okay you guys don't know what you talking about. first the brain freeze only comes after you have passed the cold object by your soft palate. that is why when you hold ice cubes to the roof of your mouth (for some stupid reason) you don't get a brain freeze.

I, too, have terrific sinus and back pain associated with cold beverage drinking. The mid-back pain is so severe that it almost brings me to my knees and most definitely brings tears to my eyes. Knowledge of others having this affliction relieves some of my anxiety as my peers do not experience this.

For obvious reasons, I don't drink frozen drinks. However, there have been occasions when I drink a moderately chilled beverage and still am affected.

Putting my tongue to the roof of my mouth does absolutely nothing. A drink of warm water following the attack does not give immediate relief either.

My veins and vessels are very close to the skin surface. I bruise easily and have varicose legs. (I know, sounds attractive huh? LOL) So, I associate my vascular state with this cold drink trauma. Thank you for your posts.

Thanks for the blog.

I get brain freeze almost anytime I eat ice cream, water ice or extremely cold drinks. besides the headache pain I also get pain half way down the middle of my back. Excruciating!

In science we cannot accept every finding as absolute. I have long disagreed with the popular notion that brain freeze is caused only by a sudden change in temperature on the roof of the mouth. This is based purely on anecdotal evidence, as I too experience brain freezes that start way down in the esophagus and then radiate into the brain.

Placing the tongue or any other warm object on the roof of my mouth does nothing. It is only when I swallow a mouthful of water that the pain subsides. In reading previous posts I see that many of you have similar, but not exact experiences.

As is the case with most physiological anomalies, everyone reacts differently to similar stimuli. I would suspect that in this case you would see a plethora of different reactions were you to truly utilize an experimental design to test this. Perhaps this would make good fodder for a senior or Master's level thesis.

I used to get only brain freezes but now i get chest freezes only with slurpys. the chest freezes started a few years ago. I thought i was gong to die the first time it happened. It was horrible. I seriously thought it might be some chemical in the slurpy. Somebody needs to investigate.

I get chest freeze not brain freeze. no one ever answers my question. it is always about brain freeze.

I have a slightly different theory why brain freeze happens.

For me, it only happens when I partially swallow something cold and the "food" does not clear my esophagus. My theory is that the blood that is pumped through the neck to the brain counter currently heat exchanges and send cold blood to the brain.

If I continue to leave the cold substance in my throat the headache persists. If I swallow hard to clear the pathway, it goes away. I can keep something cold in my mouth forever and not get a headache even if I rest it in the back part of my mouth. So I can only come to this conclusion.

i saw it for the first time and i am doing a research on brain freeze and it is awesome!

is it normal to never get a brain freeze because i have never had one, nor a migraine or a headache and i don't think that's normal. Is there something wrong with me? And I'm only 14.

I have brain freezes occasionally, and I have an upper denture. It happens instantly, and the roof of my mouth could not feel the cold that fast. Also, most of the time it affects me right down the middle of my spine, so, it's more of a spine freeze. What's with that?

Three things. First, i get migraines all the time but never brain freeze.

Second, canon is right. blood vessels cause the freeze. Third, why don't some people get brain freeze?

Some people are more prone genetically to migraine headaches than others. Some may eat or drink extremely cold foods in a way that doesn't trigger brain freeze as often. Applying a cold substance to other parts of the body could also trigger a painful sensation, but not necessarily a sense of brain freeze.

can it happen with anything other then the roof of your mouth like down your throat or anything? i can hold an ice cube on the roof of my mouth all day and never have any trouble but if i swallow a load of ice cream or something i'll have brain freeze.

why do some people get brain freeze and others do not? I have never had it but, my mother gets it all the time from having frozen things.

It's about time that an article with the correct information about brain freeze appears on the internet.

The majority of sites get the action backward, stating that blood vessels dilate in reaction to cold and that the increased supply of blood is what causes the headache.

Anyone with knowledge of blood vessels knows that they constrict to cold and dilate to heat.

Good job.