Scientists Link Brain Freeze to Migraine Risk, Citing 93% Overlap in Small Study

2 articles · Updated · BBC.com · May 30

Cold-stimulus headaches may signal broader headache issues: researchers say frequent or unusually painful brain freeze often clusters with migraine and can justify reviewing other headache symptoms with a doctor.
Rapid cooling of the roof of the mouth appears to constrict then re-expand blood vessels, activating pain fibers tied to the trigeminal nerve — the same nerve complex involved in migraine attacks.
A small 1970s study found 93% of people with migraine had experienced ice cream headaches, versus about one-third of non-migraine sufferers; researchers also say the tendency seems to run in families.
Since the 1960s, scientists have deliberately triggered brain freeze with ice chips, cold water or frozen treats as a controllable stand-in for migraine, helping study head-pain mechanisms when real attacks are hard to capture.
Neurologists say brain freeze itself is harmless and usually preventable by slowing down cold food intake; warming the roof of the mouth with the tongue, a thumb or a warm drink can shorten an attack.

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