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What words do you think of when you hear “ice cream”? Does the word delicious come to mind? Perhaps cold, yummy, refreshing or sweet treat are your adjectives of choice to describe ice cream. What about headache or brain freeze? These don’t sound like pleasant descriptions of ice cream, but they are exactly what some people think of when they hear the words ice cream.

When eating ice cream or something very cold, many people feel a very real and sharp ache behind their eyes and in their forehead. Does this sound familiar? About 30% of people feel this headache and while it only lasts about a minute or so, it can be very painful.

Why must some of us suffer when we are just trying to enjoy a delicious delight? Don’t get mad at your mint chocolate chip or return your rocky road, because it is really the top of your mouth that is to blame. Run your tongue along the roof of your mouth starting near your teeth. Close to the teeth, you’ll feel a bumpy ridge. As you slide your tongue further back, closer to your throat, it gets smooth. This is your palate where many nerves and blood vessels are located.

The scoop is that when you eat or drink something very cold, and it touches your palate, the nerves send a signal to your body telling it that your brain is too cold. Your body reacts by sending extra blood to the blood vessels in your head. Extra blood means more warmth. These blood vessels in your head expand quickly to hold the extra blood. It is this quick swelling of the blood vessels in your head that cause your head to hurt.

If you experience this headache, it will only last a short time and will eventually go away by itself. Generally they only last for a minute. But, there are ways to try to avoid these brain pains or fight them once you get them. First, you can try eating your cold treat more slowly. You can also try warming the food in the front part of your palate (where the bumpy ridge is), before letting it touch your back palate. If these don’t work and you feel that headache creeping up on you, press your tongue against the smooth back part of your palate. This will act as a blanket and warm your palate quickly. The nerves will think the brain is warming up and won’t send blood to the blood vessels.

You are now well prepared for a summer of eating as much ice cream as you want! (Just make sure to save some room for dinner!)