Why Do We Get Brain Freeze? Your Head Is Seriously Overreacting to Ice Cream

It has a name (and a fake name)

Doctors call brain freeze a "cold-stimulus headache." The internet loves to call it "sphenopalatine ganglioneuralgia," which is actually the name of a different condition. It's not quite right, but it does sound like a wizard spell. Most people just call it an "ice cream headache," which is easier to spell and more honest about whose fault it is.

What's actually happening

Scientists are still working out the details, but the leading idea goes like this: when something icy hits the roof of your mouth, blood flow there and in an artery near the front of your brain changes quickly as your body reacts to the cold and tries to warm things back up. That sudden change sets off nerves in the area.

The main nerve involved, the trigeminal nerve, also handles feeling in your face and forehead. So your brain gets the pain signal and blames your forehead. It's a little like your smoke alarm going off in the wrong room.

Good news: your brain isn't actually freezing

Despite the name, nothing in your head is turning into a popsicle. Brain freeze usually fades on its own within a few seconds to a minute, and it isn't harmful. It just makes you rethink your choices for about 30 seconds.

How to stop brain freeze fast

Press your tongue against the roof of your mouth. Your tongue is warm, and it helps bring the temperature back up. Sipping something warm or room temperature works too.

You can also cover your mouth and nose with your hands and breathe in, which brings warm air to the roof of your mouth. You'll look like you just heard shocking news, but it helps.

How to avoid it in the first place

Eat or drink cold things slowly, and try to keep them toward the front of your mouth instead of hitting the roof of it. In other words, don't race the milkshake. The milkshake always wins.