Ice Cream Headache Symptoms, Causes, Risk Factors, Diagnosis, Treatment and Prevention

What Is Ice Cream Headache ?

It is the stabbing pain in the head that arises when inhaling, drinking or eating something chilled. Though being brief, ice cream headache commonly develops when you eat ice cream. However, consuming other cold items for example frozen slush drinks and ice pops can also trigger the ‘brain-freezing’ effect.

Medically termed as cold stimulus headaches, the intense pain tends to occur while your body, particularly head is exposed to cold temperatures, say when you dive into the freezing sea. Fortunately, many bouts of headaches associated with ice cream headaches subside as quickly as they occur.

What Are The Symptoms Of Ice Cream Headache ?

Few common symptoms of ice cream headache are as follow:

Stabbing and sharp pain that occurs in your forehead.

After it starts, pain reaches to extreme in around 20-60 seconds. Soon after which it resolves within the same period of time.

In rare cases, headache persists for more than five minutes.

When Is The Right Time To Seek Medical Assistance ?

As mentioned earlier, headaches associated with ice cream headaches resolve soon after they develop on their own, therefore, there is hardly a need to consult the health care provider.

What Causes Ice Cream Headaches ?

These are triggered by cold item, for example drinking a chilled drink or eating an ice-cream quickly. The cold materials tend to move across the back of the throat and warm roof of the mouth. Though scientist have failed to understand as to what mechanism leads to trigger the pain after the intake in some people and not others.

A theory suggests that the cold item might alter the flow of blood in the nervous system for the time being, triggering a short-lived headache. More specifically, the blood vessels may become tighten to avert the loss of heat from the body, after which these relax, to allow the augmentation in blood flow. Such tends to consequence in pain that resolves after the body adjusts to the change in temperature.

What Are The Risk Factors Of Ice Cream Headaches ?

Anyone can get affected by the condition. Though one is more prone to it, or can develop more intense form of headaches in case of having the tendency of migraines.

How Is Ice Cream Headache Diagnosis ?

As mentioned earlier, there is no need for consulting a doctor for ice cream headaches, as the condition is harmless and tend to resolve without the need of medical aid.

How Is Ice Cream Headache Treatment ?

No medical treatment is required for the condition. It subsides on its own after an individual swallows the cold drink or food.

How Is Ice Cream Headache Preventable ?

Yes, to some level. It is advice for the people who develop ice cream headaches soon after they consume a cold item, to drink or eat the items slowly. Indeed, the ideal way to prevent the condition completely is to avoid the cold drinks and foods that trigger ice cream headaches completely.

By : Natural Health News