Ice cream headaches

Ice cream headaches are brief, stabbing headaches that can happen when you eat, drink or inhale something cold. Digging into an ice cream cone is a common trigger, but eating or drinking other frosty items, such as ice pops and slushy frozen drinks like chilled beverages, can have the same "brain-freeze" effect.

Medically known as cold stimulus headaches, they can also occur when you suddenly expose your unprotected head to cold temperatures, like diving into cold water. Most ice cream headaches are gone as quickly as they develop.

Symptoms of an ice cream headache include:

•             Sharp, stabbing pain in the forehead

•             Pain that peaks about 20-60 seconds after it begins and goes away in about the same time

•             Pain that rarely lasts longer than five minutes

Ice cream headaches can affect anyone. But you may be more susceptible to ice cream headaches or have more-severe ice cream headaches if you are prone to migraines. The pain quickly disappears after the cold food or drink is swallowed.

To help prevent ice cream headaches, try eating cold foods and drinking cold beverages slowly. The best way to avoid getting an ice cream headache is to avoid the cold food or drinks that cause them.

The writer is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Z H Sikder Women's Medical College and Hospital, Dhaka.