We All Scream at Ice Cream Headaches

The elevator door opened, revealing a man bemusedly smiling at his cell phone. “I just got a picture of my wife and kids at Cold Stone Creamery,” he said. “It just isn’t fair, is it?”

No, it isn’t fair. But what would happen to their festive moods if these people knew they were dancing with danger … in the form of an ice cream headache?

"Ice cream" headache is a bit of a misnomer, though it remains a major culprit. Any number of items: frozen treats, ice, cold soda and many other cold foods and drinks can rain down the screaming, stabbing pain.

The combination of cold drink or food hitting the roof of the mouth or back of the throat sets off the headache, which is also known as brain freeze.

It typically lasts for 30 to 60 seconds, making it easy to forgive, then forget, setting up the painful cycle once again. The Mayo Clinic advises that the headaches are no reason at all “to avoid ice cream or other cold foods and drinks.”

An obvious ice cream lover, Joseph Huilihan, an assistant professor in the Department of Neurology at the Temple University Health Sciences Center, looked into the phenomenon and published an editorial in the British Medical Journal in 1997. He reports that ice cream is the most common cause of head pain, and that it occurs in one-third of a randomly selected population. He cites no fewer than six studies.

“Since the posterior aspect of the palate is most likely to produce the referred pain of ice cream headache, avoiding contact of the cold food with this area can effectively eliminate the symptoms,” he wrote. 

Then, cutting to the news we all can use, he concludes, “Most people arrive at such preventive measures without the advice of doctors. Ice cream abstinence is not indicated.”

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