Why do brain freezes even occur?

Question

You think humans would be immune to something as simple as eating/drinking something cold - fast. Why do these occur and how on earth do you get rid of them when they do!?

Answer 1

Brain freeze is normally triggered within a few seconds of a cold substance coming into contact with the roof of the mouth. A stabbing or aching type of pain occurs, which usually recedes within 10–20 seconds, however the pain may occasionally last 30–60 seconds, or rarely for up to five minutes.

The cold sensation causes the blood vessels above the roof of the mouth to contract ("vasoconstrict") in order to preserve body heat by reducing blood flow. When the roof of the mouth is warmed, normally as a result of speaking or breathing, the arteries expand ("vasodilate"), which is interpreted by the nerves in the palate as pain. This pain is sensed as occurring in the forehead and below the orbit (or in other areas of the frontal, midfrontal, temporal, or retro-orbital regions) because these regions are sensed by the same nerve as the upper palate--the trigeminal nerve. This phenomenon is similar to the pain that is present in the left arm when someone is having a heart attack.

A similar pain may occur when one takes a prescription vasodilator, such as Nitroglycerin or Viagra.

Answer 2

kind of like chocking on something..why do they keep the seeds in black grapes and not in any other?  sometimes if you have a cold you can feel like that too...

Answer 3

Brain freezes happen when something cold touches the roof of the mouth. You can get rid of it by warming that portion of your mouth - I use my tongue and press against the roof of my mouth.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brain_freez...

Answer 4

i actually get neck freezes and its because u eat or drink something 2 fast. hope this helped (:

Answer 5

Brain freeze happens when you eat cold things and cool the blood going to the brain.  The cure.. just warm the roof of your mouth with something like your tongue.  

Here's a great article on Brain freeze http://www.brainhealthandpuzzles.com/bra...