Why Does a Brainfreeze Hurt So Much?

ice creams slushies and ice-cold sodas or among life's greatest pleasures until they leave you feeling like you took an ice pick in the head it's the middle of a record-breaking ly hot summer and you're walking or should we say crawling down the street the Sun is beaming the sweat beads are rolling down your face and just when you can't take it anymore you see that magical sign rise in front of you seven eleven then an even more magical sign catches your eye $1 Slurpees filling an extra-large cup it is the economic choice after all with a colorful melange of sugary ice you step outside with a smile on your face and take a big sip okay what the heck just happened and why does it feel like you took an uppercut to the brain that brainiacs is what we in the frozen dessert consumption industry call a brain freeze but what exactly is a brain freeze and why does it suck so bad and more importantly how do we prevent it from ever happening again long story short a brain freeze is an intense short-term pain that shocks your head after you've eaten something really cold whether it's a delectable frozen treat like a chocolate dip soft-serve ice cream cone with hazelnuts sprinkled on top or just plain old ice water long story long however it's much more than that brain freeze also known as phenol Palpatine gang Leone or algae told you it was a long story occurs when a sensitive cluster of nerves located right behind your nose get a little too chilly this nerve group known as the trigeminal nerve is responsible for a lot of the sensations you feel in your head so if it's cold you'll know all about it brain freeze affects everyone differently so while some of it might be a mild discomfort for others it can feel as though someone is literally driving an ice pick through your skull and interestingly enough almost people tend to feel brain freezes in their heads duh some people also feel it in their nose shoulders back or collarbones this is because your nervous system is complex and so a shock to one of your body parts can manaphy despaigne elsewhere now the crazy thing about brain freeze into a larger extent headaches in general is that we don't know for sure what causes them but we do have however are some solid theories the most widely accepted explanation is that when you eat something really cold really quickly the cold transfers through the roof of your mouth also known as the palate pan reduces the temperature of the after mentioned trigeminal nerve this sudden drop in temperature causes your brain to freak out after all this is arguably your body's most important organ and the nerves near it just got so cold so quickly that it must think you've been teleported to Antarctica the shock causes the blood vessels in your head to constrict almost instantly after which they expand rapidly in order to draw as much blood to your brain as possible this helps keep your brain warm and insulated unfortunately it also results in a ton of pressure in your head at this point you're wincing and scowling and wishing you'd never seen at 7:11 at all but while the pendulum of events going on in your skull can be momentarily overwhelming after a couple seconds your brain kind of figures out it isn't in any real danger and goes back to normal until you forget the lesson you learned 10 seconds earlier take another massive gulp and send your skull down a spiral again whoops now like I said this is still just a working theory and more studies need to be done to be sure but it seems pretty accurate so far well the pain of a brain freeze can feel really intense in the moment and the grand scheme of things it's pretty much harmless after all no one has died from a brain freeze and while it's called brain freeze and all that pain feels localized directly with your cerebrum it's worth knowing your brain itself isn't actually much colder or even in any pain at all that's because there aren't any actual pain receptors in your brain itself so it's impossible for you to know how it feels at any point seriously someone could literally stick a finger in there and you wouldn't feel it at all but also like don't do that and while you may still be worried about the effect that a rapid drop in temperature can have on your brain you'll be happy to know that it's more resilient than you think well the typical brain temperature sweet spot is somewhere between 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit and 100 4° brain surgeons routinely drop patient's brain temperatures all the way down to 64 for certain surgeries in order to reduce blood flow and make their job a little easier at this temperature your sensory capabilities are seriously affected however the moment your brain warms back up again it's up and running as though nothing ever happened so even though the Slurpee did manage to reduce your brain temperature by 40 degrees Fahrenheit which is highly unlikely you still wouldn't be in any real danger interestingly enough not everyone gets a brain freeze and it's honestly a scientific mystery as to why after all based on the whole nerve hypothesis anyone who does have nerves in their head should feel the effects right however scientific studies indicate that only around 37% of Americans actually do again we're not sure why exactly but one explanation is that some people have more sensitive trigeminal nerves than others meaning they respond more painfully to cold sensations longer than you had a chill out you can actually get a brain freeze in both hot and cold weather since as an event it's more related to the temperature of the food you're eating than the temperature of your environment however it stands to reason that if it's hot out and you eat or drink something cold a brain freeze is more likely to be triggered since the internal temperature drop in your head is more drastic now like I said most brain freezes only last for a matter of seconds usually around 10 to 30 tops of course 30 seconds feels like an eternity when you're in extreme pain but some brain freezes have been reported as lasting up to 5 minutes that's enough time to make even the most committed ice cream lover think twice about a second scoop so if you find yourself deep in the vengeful grasp of a five minute brain freeze what can you do to get out of it okay well step one is to put down the ice cream this might sound obvious but be honest have you or have you not been so enamored by a frozen dessert that you powered through the pain in your head and kept eating the very thing that caused it in the first place yeah that's what I thought I know it's delicious but doubling down on a second bite is only gonna make it worse instead the moment you feel a brain freeze coming on press your tongue against the roof of your mouth the heat from your tongue should transmit through your palate much in the same way the cold from the ice cream did and hell warm up your trigeminal nerve falling the brain freezes I see grip on your skull of course since your tongue is probably called from eating cold things too some people think it's quicker to use your thumb to do this technique instead it may be more effective but it also involves shoving your hand in your mouth which can be a little gross if you're in public even if you're alone it's gross ultimately just do whatever feels right in the moment now the best way to handle the brain freeze is to actually eat or drink something warm even room-temperature water would do the trick unfortunately this tip is a bit less accessible since y'know you need to have a second dish on hand to make use of it but you do have some hot fudge nearby and eating that might work magic while brain freezers can hurt so bad you're tempted to turn to the medical drawer and take an aspirin or something it's honestly not really worth it since by the time the pain relief actually kicks in your headache will be over anyway so now you know how to minimize the effects of a brain freeze should you get one but you know what they say an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure and after all if you can avoid experiencing pain in the first place oh I wouldn't you well there are a couple of things you can do to limit your exposure first of all you could avoid cold items entirely this means things like ice cream frizzy slushies popsicles and even cold water are all entirely off-limits if that sounds like a sucky solution that's because it is after all us a life without ice cream even a life worth living that's why we recommend option number two eat all of these things but eat them slowly sure it's tempting to devour that tub of ben and jerry's in one fell swoop but by taking your time and enjoying it you allow your body to adjust to the cold gradually and not get overwhelmed also if you keep cold food towards the front of your mouth and let it warm up a bit before swallowing you restrict the amount of contact it has with the roof of your mouth therefore reducing the likelihood that your trigeminal nerve gets frozen of course this may increase your chances of a cold related toothache but hey that's a problem for another video if you're cold treat of choice is a liquid like a milkshake or slushie for example using a spoon instead of a straw can help reduce your chances of a brain freeze too tend to funnel cold liquid directly towards the sweet spot at the roof of your mouth that causes brain freeze drastically increasing your odds of being hunched over in pain seconds later however if you insist on using a straw and to be fair who eats a slushy with a spoon just try aiming it anywhere except the roof of your mouth and speaking of slushies you should be extra careful when drinking them according to a California State science fair experiment they caused the worst brain freeze of all starting sooner lasting longer and feeling more intense than ones induced by ice cream ultimately headaches in general are really weird and we still don't know too much about them but well they really really suck in case of a brain freeze that suckiness only lasts for a couple of minutes at most and even that should be easy to avoid now that you know how its triggered and if you do ever let your guard down and find yourself in the midst of an epic momentary migraine just remember to use the tips we mentioned in this video and you should be pain-free slurping down that Slurpee in no time thanks for watching brainiacs ciao for now if you enjoyed this video be sure to click that like and subscribe button below then head over to the Brainiac youtube channel for more sweet videos [Music]

Channel: Brainiac

Views: 107,328

Rating: 4.9077654 out of 5

Keywords: Brain Freeze, Headaches, Migraines, Ice Cream, science, facts about the body, did you know, interesting facts, mind-blowing facts, scientific, brainiac, brainiard, what if, infographics

Id: OVrhtKkloOk

Length: 10min 17sec (617 seconds)

Published: Mon May 18 2020