Science Explains Why Ice Cream Give Us Brain Freeze

Summer is almost here and you just know there are icy cold drinks and ice cream in our futures.  I remember once I was at the Bangor State Fair doing a remote when I purchased one of their virgin frozen strawberry daiquiri drinks.  Just before I went on live I took a sip and shared an excruciating brain freeze unintentionally over the air with everyone listening. Good times.

So what is it in our favorite treats that can be so refreshing and yet sometimes so painful? According to Health.com the scientific name for the brain reaction is: sphenopalatine ganglioneuralgia. I call it brain freeze; some refer to the pain as a ice cream headache and kudos to you if that is what you call it because it really is classed as a type of headache.  But no matter what you call it I think we’d all agree that when you get it you feel like you’ve been wacked in the head by something that smarts like the dickens.  Ouch. In their video Doctors explain what is happening and amazingly enough how to avoid this uncomfortable situation.