Brain freezes happen when something very cold rapidly chills the roof of your mouth or the back of your throat, triggering a quick change in nearby blood vessels and nerves that your brain misreads as “headache” pain in your forehead.

What is a “brain freeze”?

  • Also called an ice cream headache or sphenopalatine ganglioneuralgia.
  • It’s a short, sharp headache that usually hits the forehead or temples seconds after you gulp or bite something very cold.
  • It feels dramatic but is brief and not considered harmful in healthy people.

Step‑by‑step: why do brain freezes happen?

  1. Cold hits the palate or throat
    • Ice cream, slushies, iced drinks, or even freezing air cool the upper palate (roof of the mouth) or back of the throat very quickly.
  1. Blood vessels constrict, then dilate
    • The sudden cold makes tiny blood vessels in this area narrow (vasoconstriction) to reduce heat loss.
 * Your body then over‑corrects to warm things back up: vessels rapidly **widen** (vasodilation), increasing blood flow.
  1. Nerves fire pain signals
    • These rapid changes occur near sensitive nerves in the palate, especially branches of the trigeminal nerve, which carries sensation from the face and head.
 * The sudden shift in vessel size and temperature activates pain receptors, which send signals that the brain interprets as a headache in the front of the head instead of in the mouth.
  1. Why it stops quickly
    • As the area warms and the blood vessels return to normal size, the pain fades within seconds to a couple of minutes.

A 2012 study even showed that brain freeze pain coincides with a sudden increase in blood flow through the anterior cerebral artery in the brain, followed by constriction as the pain eases.

Why some people get it more

Researchers don’t have every detail nailed down, but there are some patterns:

  • People who get migraines seem more prone to brain freeze, possibly because of more sensitive blood vessels and trigeminal nerves.
  • Eating or drinking very cold things fast and in big gulps makes it more likely.
  • Very hot weather plus very cold food or drink can make the temperature contrast more extreme.

Think of it like an overprotective thermostat: your mouth gets very cold, your body rushes to warm it up, and that quick swing in blood flow trips a pain alarm.

How to stop or prevent brain freeze

To make it go away faster

  • Press your tongue against the roof of your mouth to warm it.
  • Take small sips of room‑temperature water or just stop eating the cold food for a moment.
  • Cover your mouth and nose with your hands and breathe warm air if cold air triggered it.

To avoid getting it

  • Eat or drink cold things slowly , in small bites or sips.
  • Let very cold drinks warm for a few seconds in your mouth before swallowing.
  • Avoid having icy drinks hit directly on one spot on the roof of your mouth (use a straw aimed farther back or to the side, if that helps).

Quick FAQ

  • Is brain freeze dangerous?
    For most healthy people, no; it’s considered a harmless, short‑lived type of cold‑stimulus headache.
  • Can anything besides ice cream cause it?
    Yes—slushies, frozen drinks, popsicles, very cold water, rapid inhalation of freezing air, or even jumping into cold water can trigger similar pain.
  • When should I worry?
    If you get frequent, intense headaches unrelated to cold foods, or if the pain lasts much longer than a typical brain freeze, doctors recommend getting checked to rule out other causes.

TL;DR: Brain freezes happen because sudden cold on the roof of your mouth or throat makes nearby blood vessels clamp down and then rapidly open up, which activates sensitive nerves that your brain interprets as a fast, sharp forehead headache.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.