How to Stop Brain Freeze
Recognize the symptoms., Remove the offending substance., Warm the roof of your mouth with your tongue., Drink a warm substance., Make a mask with your hands to cover your mouth and nose., Press a warm thumb against your palate., Wait it out.
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Recognize the symptoms.
Brain freeze is a painful sensation that occurs when a cold substance touches the back of your throat and the surrounding blood vessels constrict rapidly in response.
When the blood vessels begin to dilate again, they activate the trigeminal nerve, which controls sensation to much of the face.
This can feel like a sharp or stabbing pain in the sinuses or forehead.
Brain freeze will subside on its own within a few minutes.The mechanism that causes brain freeze has also been linked to migraines.
If your headache doesn’t go away after 5-10 minutes, or if you get brain-freeze-type pains without consuming cold things, consider seeking medical treatment. -
Step 2: Remove the offending substance.
If you just chugged a frozen Coke or bit into an ice pop and were rewarded for your efforts with brain freeze, the first thing to do is stop consuming the cold stuff., You can relieve brain freeze pain by quickly warming the roof of your mouth (also referred to as the soft palate and hard palate; the hard palate being the part with bone, and the soft without) after it's already been cooled.
If you do this soon enough, you may be able to ease the surge of blood flow to your brain.Touch your tongue to your soft palate.
If you can roll your tongue in a ball, press the bottom of your tongue to the roof of your mouth.
The underside of your tongue may be warmer than the top side (which was probably cooled by the Slurpee you just chugged.) Some people find that firmly pressing your tongue against the roof of the mouth alleviates brain freeze, so try applying extra pressure! , The beverage doesn’t have to be extremely hot, it just needs to be room temperature or above to restore your mouth’s normal temperature.
Sip the liquid slowly and swish it around your mouth a bit.
This will warm up your palate. , Breathe quickly into your cupped hands.
This will trap your warm breath and raise the temperature inside your mouth. , Obviously, make sure your hands are clean before you do this, but since your body temperature is much higher than the temperature inside your suddenly-freezing mouth, the warm contact may help relieve the pain., The brain freeze will usually pass on its own within 30-60 seconds.
Sometimes the shock of the brain freeze makes it seem worse than it really is, but if you expect it and know that it'll come and go, it doesn't have to be a traumatizing experience. -
Step 3: Warm the roof of your mouth with your tongue.
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Step 4: Drink a warm substance.
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Step 5: Make a mask with your hands to cover your mouth and nose.
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Step 6: Press a warm thumb against your palate.
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Step 7: Wait it out.
Detailed Guide
Brain freeze is a painful sensation that occurs when a cold substance touches the back of your throat and the surrounding blood vessels constrict rapidly in response.
When the blood vessels begin to dilate again, they activate the trigeminal nerve, which controls sensation to much of the face.
This can feel like a sharp or stabbing pain in the sinuses or forehead.
Brain freeze will subside on its own within a few minutes.The mechanism that causes brain freeze has also been linked to migraines.
If your headache doesn’t go away after 5-10 minutes, or if you get brain-freeze-type pains without consuming cold things, consider seeking medical treatment.
If you just chugged a frozen Coke or bit into an ice pop and were rewarded for your efforts with brain freeze, the first thing to do is stop consuming the cold stuff., You can relieve brain freeze pain by quickly warming the roof of your mouth (also referred to as the soft palate and hard palate; the hard palate being the part with bone, and the soft without) after it's already been cooled.
If you do this soon enough, you may be able to ease the surge of blood flow to your brain.Touch your tongue to your soft palate.
If you can roll your tongue in a ball, press the bottom of your tongue to the roof of your mouth.
The underside of your tongue may be warmer than the top side (which was probably cooled by the Slurpee you just chugged.) Some people find that firmly pressing your tongue against the roof of the mouth alleviates brain freeze, so try applying extra pressure! , The beverage doesn’t have to be extremely hot, it just needs to be room temperature or above to restore your mouth’s normal temperature.
Sip the liquid slowly and swish it around your mouth a bit.
This will warm up your palate. , Breathe quickly into your cupped hands.
This will trap your warm breath and raise the temperature inside your mouth. , Obviously, make sure your hands are clean before you do this, but since your body temperature is much higher than the temperature inside your suddenly-freezing mouth, the warm contact may help relieve the pain., The brain freeze will usually pass on its own within 30-60 seconds.
Sometimes the shock of the brain freeze makes it seem worse than it really is, but if you expect it and know that it'll come and go, it doesn't have to be a traumatizing experience.
About the Author
Christopher West
Enthusiastic about teaching creative arts techniques through clear, step-by-step guides.
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