*Ice-cream headache:
An ice-cream headache, also known as brain freeze, cold-stimulus headache, cold headache or its given scientific name "sphenopalatine ganglioneuralgia" (meaning "nerve pain of the sphenopalatine ganglion"), is a form of brief cranial pain or headache commonly associated with consumption (particularly quick consumption) of cold beverages or foods such as ice cream. It is caused by having something cold touch the roof of the mouth (palate), and is believed to result from a nerve response causing rapid dilation and swelling of blood vessels or a "referring" of pain from the roof of the mouth to the head.
*Cause and frequency:
"Ice cream headaches" result from quickly eating or drinking very cold substances. It is commonly experienced when applying ice-cream (or similar) to the roof of the mouth (palate) or when swallowing it.Typically the headache appears in about 10 seconds and lasts about 20 seconds, with the pain seeming to relate to the same side of the head as the cold substance was applied to the palate, or to both sides of the head in the case of swallowing.
Ice cream headache is the direct result of the rapid cooling and rewarming of the blood vessels in the palate, or the roof of the mouth. A similar but painless blood vessel response causes the face to appear "flushed" after being outside on a cold day. In both instances, the cold temperature causes blood vessels to constrict and then experience extreme rebound dilation as they warm up again.
In the palate, this dilation is sensed by nearby pain receptors, which then send signals back to the brain via the trigeminal nerve, one of the major nerves of the facial area. This nerve also senses facial pain, so as the nerval signals are conducted the brain interprets the pain as coming from the forehead—the same "referred pain" phenomenon seen in heart attacks. Brain-freeze pain may last from a few seconds to a few minutes. Research suggests that the same vascular mechanism and nerve implicated in "brain freeze" cause the aura (sensory disturbance) and pulsatile (throbbing pain) phases of migraines.
*Taste Buds:
Taste buds are located in several areas of the tongue. Humans recognize four basic flavours, sweet, sour, salt or bitter, and different taste buds are receptive to specific flavours.
The tongue has three different nerves that transmit information about taste, and it is the glossopharyngeal nerve(9th cranial nerve) that sends information from the taste buds located at the back of the tongue. It is this nerve that is involved in the ice cream headache. The information from these nerves is sent to the medulla oblongata in the brain stem. Next it relays the message to the thalamus and then to processing centers in the parietal lobe of the brain to be identified.
To prevent icecream headaches,it is best to eat ice cream and other cold foods and drinks slowly, and allow them to warm in the mouth for a few seconds before swallowing. Avoid allowing the cold food to touch the palate and back of the throat if possible.
