Yesterday, I pulled out a Freeze Pop from the freezer, cut it open, and began eating the frozen treat from its enclosed plastic wrapper. While eating the ice-cold blueberry Freeze Pop, I almost suffered a debilitating brain freeze!
What’s a Freeze Pop and a brain freeze?
A Freeze Pop is a sweet-flavored, punch-like liquid in a sealed plastic tube, eaten frozen. Kids and adults love the frozen treat, especially in the heat of summer. Their many flavors include blue raspberry, watermelon, lemon-lime, orange, cherry, and others.
My favorite flavor is lemon-line.
Purchased as a liquid, they are also called ice pops and freezes.
What’s a brain freeze?
Although it feels like the abominable snowman touched your brain, the brain is not frozen.
A brain freeze feels like an icicle in your head.
Many describe brain freeze as an intense pain or ache on the sides or the middle of the forehead when cold substances touch the roof of the mouth or throat.
Most people have experienced brain freeze when eating ice cream, drinking cold water, or consuming other cold beverages and foods.
Believe it or not, studies have been conducted on the phenomenon.
There’s a scientific name for almost everything, even for brain freeze!
In case you don’t know, the scientific or medical name for brain freeze is sphenopalatine ganglioneuralgia.
Don’t let these big words spoof you! Like you, I’m not going to remember that monstrosity of a term either.
These two technical words refer to a group of nerves, the sphenopalatine ganglion, located at the roof of the mouth. The coldness at the roof of the mouth causes the nerves to constrict to preserve a warmer temperature. Then the nerve vessels dilate, allowing more blood flow to maintain a temperature balance.
How is the brain involved? A nerve in the brain signals the forehead, and the pain is sensed and felt there.
The faster one eats or drinks cold substances, the more likely they are to experience this cold, painful phenomenon.
Brain freeze is also called a cold rush or a cranium cramp. Some also refer to it as HICS (headache induced by cold stimulus), which is not uncommon.
Thank goodness the pain only lasts for a matter of seconds. Call it what you want; brain freeze isn’t a good feeling!
To reduce the risk of sphenopalatine ganglioneuralgia, one should eat or drink cold items more slowly. Using the tongue to warm the roof of the mouth can also help, and breathing through your nose to warm the palate.
There are no consumer label warnings on cold or frozen foods for brain freeze.
If you hate brain freeze, think before you take a big bite of ice cream, gulp a slushie, or an ice-cold soft drink.
The brain’s sensory abilities and feedback regarding extreme temperatures help keep us safe. Brain freeze may be a warning that an ice pop, cold beverage, or any other frozen food or drink is too cold.
Here’s to not clutching our foreheads after devouring ice cream, Freeze Pops, or other ice-cold foods and beverages.
I hope you are happy and well.