# "Chest freeze"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 18, 2003, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chest-freeze/196020 "2003-08-18T19:07:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ultraviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/c77e96/32.png) [@Ultraviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ultraviolet)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2003, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chest-freeze/196020/1 "2003-08-18T19:07:46Z")
I’m not sure if this is the right forum for this, as I am looking for not only accounts of other people’s experiences, but also hard scientific fact… I am familiar with the concept of “brain freeze” (if you drink something cold too quickly, you get a temporary powerful headache). However, I have never experienced this. I always get a strong, almost pressure-like pain in my chest, around the breastbone, if I drink cold things too fast. My mother also gets these “chest freezes”. No one, besides my mother, even knows what I am talking about when I describe this phenomenon. They look at me like I am mad! There must be others who get this? Anyone? Also, I am curious if anyone has any sort of biological explanation as to why the cold would affect my chest, rather than my brain. As I said before, I have _never_ had a brain freeze. ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2003, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chest-freeze/196020/2 "2003-08-19T01:36:42Z")
i remember when taking a livesaving course, to be a lifeguard, that it was mentioned that going from hot outside air to rather cold water, could cause a person to stop breathing. it could be called a chest freeze. some people will have a gasping reaction to being hit in the chest with very cold water either from a shower or from a water hose. a rather quick moment where you can’t move your ribs/chest to breathe in or out. is it kinda like that? ---
**Author:** ![Geobabe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/geobabe/32/3908_2.png) [@Geobabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Geobabe)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2003, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chest-freeze/196020/3 "2003-08-19T01:52:21Z")
My husband and I were talking about this just yesterday! I get “chest freeze” too–we’d gotten frozen Cokes (yum!) and I commented to him that my throat/chest gets so cold I can’t take a deep breath without having to cough. ---
**Author:** ![Ultraviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/c77e96/32.png) [@Ultraviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ultraviolet)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2003, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chest-freeze/196020/4 "2003-08-19T01:52:27Z")
It’s maybe a little like that, as it seems I can only take shallow breaths when I have “chest freeze”, but it lasts more than a quick moment. It gradually fades away. It’s the strangest thing. I am starting to be convinced that I am some kind of biological freak 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Ultraviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/c77e96/32.png) [@Ultraviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ultraviolet)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2003, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chest-freeze/196020/5 "2003-08-19T01:54:27Z")
Sorry, Geobabe! I didn’t see your reply when I posted mine. Yay, there’s more than just my family! Do you ever suffer from “brain freeze”? ---
**Author:** ![AntaresJB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c2a13f/32.png) [@AntaresJB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AntaresJB)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2003, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chest-freeze/196020/6 "2003-08-19T02:03:47Z")
I know exactly what you’re talking about! I get it too! It’s hard to describe, like a cold pressure/pain right in the middle of your chest. I’ve wondered about this too… I only occasionally get ‘brain freeze’ but I get ‘chest freeze’ all the time. ---
**Author:** ![Geobabe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/geobabe/32/3908_2.png) [@Geobabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Geobabe)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2003, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chest-freeze/196020/7 "2003-08-19T02:23:59Z")
We simulposted. I very rarely get “brain freeze.” ---
**Author:** ![DeVena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dec6dc/32.png) [@DeVena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeVena)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2003, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chest-freeze/196020/8 "2003-08-19T03:05:40Z")
My cat gets brain freeze from licking ice cream off my spoon. You can tell by the way she blinks that it’s hurting, but she’ll still fight me for the bowl! ---
**Author:** ![Ultraviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/c77e96/32.png) [@Ultraviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ultraviolet)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2003, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chest-freeze/196020/9 "2003-08-19T03:27:54Z")
Another thing that occurs to me is that I used to get bronchitis and tonsillitis quite often as a child. I wonder if this has anything to do with it… ---
**Author:** ![skeptic\_ev](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@skeptic\_ev](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/skeptic_ev)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2003, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chest-freeze/196020/10 "2003-08-19T04:20:23Z")
Yes, I get chest freeze too. Chest freezers unite! ---
**Author:** ![Angel\_Heart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5e9695/32.png) [@Angel\_Heart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Angel_Heart)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2003, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chest-freeze/196020/11 "2003-08-19T04:22:28Z")
I tend to get chest freezes too–often much more frequently than brain freezes. ---
**Author:** ![Cosmopolitan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/94ad74/32.png) [@Cosmopolitan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cosmopolitan)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2003, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chest-freeze/196020/12 "2003-08-19T04:52:38Z")
Me too. ---
**Author:** ![Fern\_Forest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/71c47a/32.png) [@Fern\_Forest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fern_Forest)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2003, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chest-freeze/196020/13 "2003-08-19T06:31:37Z")
I think I might. It feels like my lungs are shivering. A very odd experience. I’d also get it if it were cold outside. Like the 11° F I experienced in Tucsan. ---
**Author:** ![Natmitch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a87d85/32.png) [@Natmitch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Natmitch)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2020, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chest-freeze/196020/14 "2020-08-19T15:49:32Z")
Hello yes I get chest freeze!! I used to get brain freeze but the last 2 years i have been experiencing these chest freezes…they last at least a few minutes and my breathing is shallow my hubby said I looked flush and clammy and pale… My eyes water, and shakey… I use to be an iv drug user for a few years and it feels like I’m rushing. It’s scary and I don’t understand why this happens!! Glad I’m not the only one tho… I would rather have brain freeze