We’ve all experienced it—you’re enjoying your favorite bowl of ice cream, when suddenly, it strikes!
What is IT? It’s BRAIN FREEZE or an ice cream headache. There’s nothing like excruciating pain to ruin your delectable dessert!
The medical term for this phenemenon is sphenopalatine ganglioneuralgia—wow, that’s long!
So, what exactly causes the excruciating pain in your forehead after you eat ice cream too quickly? Here’s the quick run-down. When something cold touches the roof of your mouth, also known as your palate, the quick temperature change stimulates nerves to cause rapid dilation and swelling of blood vessels. This is the body’s attempt to warm the palate back up by redirecting the blood flow to it.
About.com’s Guide to Chemistry author, Anne Marie Helmenstine, Ph.D., explains it this way,
“The dilation of the blood vessels triggers pain receptors, which release pain-causing prostaglandins, increase sensitivity to further pain, and produce inflammation while sending signals through the trigeminal nerve to alert the brain to the problem. Because the trigeminal nerve also senses facial pain, the brain interprets the pain signal as coming from the forehead. This is called ‘referred pain’ since the cause of the pain is in a different location from where you feel it.”
Um, o.k. Anne Marie…we’ll take your word for it!
How to Stop “Brain Freeze” in its Tracks
So you may be wondering what all this has to do with your tongue. Well, one of the quickest ways to alleviate the pain of brain freeze is to warm your palate with your tongue—yes, your tongue to the rescue! Rub the roof of your mouth with your tongue and get it all warmed up and watch that headache go away!
Our tongues are simply amazing, aren’t they? They help us eat, talk, express emotions, and now you’ve learned they can help minimize the pain of ice cream headaches! Let’s celebrate these amazing tongues of ours and take good care of them, too!
Using our TUNG Brush and TUNG Gel as your tongue cleaner is one of the best ways you can take care of your tongue! This amazing duo cleans the tongue of bacteria that leads to bad breath and even gum disease! So go ahead and enjoy that bowl of ice cream…just have your TUNG Brush ready to go when your done!
