# Brain Freeze in Adults **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [January 6, 2010, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-freeze-in-adults/523948 "2010-01-06T20:00:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2010, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-freeze-in-adults/523948/1 "2010-01-06T20:00:55Z")
Cecil had a column on this misery. > **[What causes “ice cream headache”?](https://www.straightdope.com/21342160/what-causes-ice-cream-headache)** 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. ---
**Author:** ![Grestarian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grestarian/32/3227_2.png) [@Grestarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grestarian)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2013, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-freeze-in-adults/523948/2 "2013-08-21T23:10:34Z")
The Straight Dope republished the “Ice Cream Freeze” question from 1991 again recently (in the summer of 2013). > **[What causes “ice cream headache”?](https://www.straightdope.com/21342160/what-causes-ice-cream-headache)** 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. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2013, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-freeze-in-adults/523948/3 "2013-08-22T00:48:17Z")
some possible explanation > **[Cold-stimulus headache](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_cream_headache)** > > A cold-stimulus headache, colloquially known as an ice-cream headache or brain freeze, is a form of brief pain or headache commonly associated with consumption (particularly quick consumption) of cold beverages or foods such as ice cream, popsicles, and snow cones. It is caused by a cold substance touching the roof of the mouth, and is believed to result from a nerve response causing rapid constriction and swelling of blood vessels, "referring" pain from the roof of the mouth to the head.\[5 Cats ... ---
**Author:** ![Sister\_Vigilante](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@Sister\_Vigilante](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sister_Vigilante)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2013, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-freeze-in-adults/523948/4 "2013-08-22T13:39:30Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2013, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-freeze-in-adults/523948/5 "2013-08-22T15:35:03Z")
My tongue isn’t long enough to rub the bottom against the roof of my mouth. I use someone else’s tongue. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2013, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-freeze-in-adults/523948/6 "2013-08-22T18:05:29Z")
That’s a good idea. I’m going to start using that excuse from now on. ---
**Author:** ![BHoward68](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8baadc/32.png) [@BHoward68](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BHoward68)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2013, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-freeze-in-adults/523948/7 "2013-08-22T22:25:07Z")
Try instantly killing the brain freeze with a warm beverage. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2013, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-freeze-in-adults/523948/8 "2013-08-22T22:39:42Z")
> [@Irishman](#): > > My tongue isn’t long enough to rub the bottom against the roof of my mouth. I use someone else’s tongue. I tried that approach, and _she_ said she had a headache. ---
**Author:** ![aNewLeaf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ac91a4/32.png) [@aNewLeaf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aNewLeaf)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2013, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-freeze-in-adults/523948/9 "2013-08-23T00:48:14Z")
> [@](#): > > As a kid, my older relatives would take me to the 7-Eleven for an ICEE. I’m going to stop you right here. ---
**Author:** ![Tacit\_Knowledge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@Tacit\_Knowledge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tacit_Knowledge)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2013, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-freeze-in-adults/523948/10 "2013-08-23T07:22:45Z")
> [@aNewLeaf](#): > > I’m going to stop you right here. That same thought struck me too. The brand is Slurpee.