What is the physiological connection between eating something cold and getting a headache?

Question

You know, you're drinking ice cold water and suddenly you get a sharp pain in your head. So you back off, let the pain go away and then start drinking more ice cold water. Of course you can apply the same scenario to anything cold, like ice cream.

What exactly causes this reaction to occur?

Answer 1

The cause is a dilation of blood vessels in the head. The dilation may be caused by a nerve center located above the roof of your mouth -- when this nerve center gets cold, it seems to over-react and tries to heat your brain.

Answer 2

When blood vessels in the roof of the mouth and throat constrict on contact with ice, other vessels in the head suddenly expand, triggering a short-lived headache.

The roof of your mouth - and especially the portion near the throat - is especially sensitive to icing. When brain freeze hits, drinking something warm or touching your warm tongue to the roof of your mouth may calm excited nerves and constricted blood vessels, making the pain disappear sooner.

Answer 3

I have been seeing a Neurologist since I was 17. My Dad and my Grandmother had severe Migraines and I do too. I think it is a Neurological and brain biological problem not a Psychological problem. I have the best Neurologist in the area and he belongs to a group of world wide Neurologists. They introduce new Migraine medicine every year. There is much data to support DNA genetic evidence that migraine headaches are inherited. For example, my Dad and his Mother suffered from these headaches all their life yet my Mother and her mother never had a single headache in their entire life. In conclusion, I believe in the genetic theory.

Answer 4

ur brain begin to freeze