Q. The information on brain freeze in the NHF e-newsletter was interesting, since my situation is just the opposite. When I have a migraine, I can help myself somewhat by packing ice cream in the roof of my mouth. I’ve always loved ice, but I don’t know if that works quite as well. Unfortunately, I can’t afford the calories of ice cream every time I have a headache; but if I could, I would be using it all the time. I have also experienced brain freeze when I don’t have a migraine, but it doesn’t leave me with a lasting headache. Why do you think ice cream would help a headache already under way? Why don’t I react as others do to brain freeze? – Ruth F.
A. This is a very interesting observation on your part. So-called “ice cream headaches” have been long described in the headache literature, and they do not seem to directly relate to migraine. Brain freezes can occur for migraineurs and non-migraineurs. One study showed that they were slightly less common in migraineurs. The mechanism of pain is not entirely clear in this type of headache so it is very difficult to understand why you seem to have relief of what you are calling migraine headaches. One can only speculate that you are applying a stimulus that is countering the underlying process of the migraine, but this would be hard to prove.
In any event, packing your mouth with ice cream or ice as a treatment for migraine is potentially dangerous because prolonged cooling of the oropharynx (the back of the throat) with ice or ice cream could interfere with your normal coughing reflex—and there is always a danger of choking on the ice. My advice would be to discuss your headaches with a headache specialist and come up with a more conventional strategy to manage migraines.
Edmund Messina, MD, Michigan Headache Clinic, East Lansing, Mich.
