Brain Freeze in Adults

Cecil had a column on this misery.

It seems like brain freeze becomes more of a problem as I get older. As a kid, my older relatives would take me to the 7-Eleven for an ICEE. I’d be happily slurping away and suddenly they’d stop from the pain. Ice cream cones from Tastee Freeze had the same effect on my older relatives. It was hard for me to relate as a kid. I very rarely got stabbed by cold drinks and food.

As I approached my thirties brain freeze became a problem. It gradually got worse in my thirties. I finally swore of ICEE’s in my late forties because it just wasn’t worth the stabbing pain. Now, in my early fifties even ice cream has started causing brain freeze.

Any studies on the effects of aging and brain freeze? Am I going to be reduced to tap water in my sixties? :dubious:

Thankfully I never get headaches. That’s why brain freeze always comes as such an unwelcome shock.

The Straight Dope republished the “Ice Cream Freeze” question from 1991 again recently (in the summer of 2013).

That column ended with essentially, “We still don’t know why it happens.”

I seem to recall a morning radio news blurb around the turn-of-the-century (i.e. 1999 or 2000+) that said researchers had finally figured out the cause. The radio personality was citing it as yet another example of tax dollars wasted on stupid research.

Anyway, the findings were that the pain was caused by temperature differences between the mouth and the sinuses which strained the membranes and muscles in the soft palate and the upper gums. The strain causes the pain. There was even a recommended method for addressing the discomfort: Rub your tongue against the roof of your mouth, particularly the soft palate, to warm it back up, thereby equalizing the temperatures and reducing the strain.

—G!
When it comes to odd and useless trivia
They say Grestarian is full of it.

some possible explanation

You can’t fix it by rubbing your upper tongue against the roof of your mouth - your upper tongue is just as cold. Use the under part of your tongue.

My tongue isn’t long enough to rub the bottom against the roof of my mouth. I use someone else’s tongue.

That’s a good idea. I’m going to start using that excuse from now on.

Try instantly killing the brain freeze with a warm beverage.

I tried that approach, and she said she had a headache.

I’m going to stop you right here.

That same thought struck me too. The brand is Slurpee.