Exposure of the unprotected head to a cold environment, or by ingesting cold materials is known as Cold stimulus headache, (also known as an ice-cream headache or brain-freeze headache). This sensation, lasting from a few seconds to a few minutes, may happen when you eat or drink something cold, like ice cream or ice water. The pain is usually in the forehead or both temples.
Symptoms
A sharp and sudden onset of pain in the frontal part of the head. This may feel like a dull ache or a sharp pain. The pain depends on how much of the cold food/ liquid you have consumed and can last anywhere from a few seconds to a full minute or two.
Causes
Scientists have not been able to fully understand what causes brain freeze. The cause is debated, but most scientists or experts believe it starts when a cold substance touches the roof of the mouth or the back of the throat and causes small blood vessels in those areas to constrict and then rapidly dilate. This makes pain receptors discomfort near the blood vessels and the message along tiny nerve fibres to a larger nerve (the trigeminal nerve), which forwards it to the brain.
Diagnosis
The symptoms are harmless and not a sign of any underlying disease, although many experts believe they’re more common in people who get migraines. Because ice cream headaches are so short-lived, therefore, it is hard to have a headache diagnosis, and there’s no consensus on how to stop them.
Treatment
Headache treatment for this is actually very simple. When you experience a brain freeze, press your tongue to the roof of your mouth. This will transfer heat and energy to your sinuses behind your nose, which will then warm the nerve bundles that cause brain freeze. Keep your tongue firmly against the roof of your mouth for as long as it takes for the brain freeze to completely disappear. The best way to prevent the headache is to eat very cold foods slowly.
Also Read: Why Headache or Facial Pain Diagnosis is Important?
Virtual Headache Specialist 