tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21254013527634712362024-02-20T10:39:55.100-08:00Ice Cream BackacheJust What it Sounds Like! It's a "brain freeze" felt between the shoulder blades.flora68http://www.blogger.com/profile/13705100671573522307noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2125401352763471236.post-91055469366205487592007-08-27T18:24:00.000-07:002007-08-30T10:02:44.668-07:00"Brain-Freeze" and "Ice Cream...BACKache"?<span style="color:#66ffff;"><strong><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Ever get a "brain-freeze"</span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">..that intensely painful (but mercifully <em>brief</em>) "ice cream headache"<span style="font-size:180%;color:#33ff33;">*</span> that some 30% of us experience when we eat or drink something cold too quickly? </span></strong></span><span style="color:#66ffff;"><strong><br /></strong></span><span style="color:#66ffff;"><strong><br /><br /><span style="color:#66ffff;"><strong><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:180%;color:#33ff33;">*</span>For the record, "ice cream headache" , "brain-freeze" or <em><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">sphenopalatine</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">ganglioneuralgia</span></em> is defined as a <span style="color:#ffffff;">"</span><span style="color:#ffffff;">headache attributed to ingestion or inhalation of a cold stimulus"</span>, and medically it seems to be of <em>zero</em> interest, other than something about which to occasionally reassure worried patients, because even though it really, <em>really</em> hurts, ice cream headache is </span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">1.self-limiting</span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">2. not dangerous</span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">3. <em>nobody</em> dies from it</span> <span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:78%;">(directly)<br /></span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">4. avoidable in the first place</span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">... therefore it's really of no importance, health-wise. </span></strong></span><br /><span style="color:#66ffff;"><strong><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;">To read what the Mayo Clinic has to say about ice cream headache, click this link~</span><br /><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;"><a href="http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/ice-cream-headaches/DS00640"><span style="color:#ff99ff;">http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/ice-cream-headaches/DS00640</span></a><span style="color:#ff99ff;">.</span></span> </span></strong></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Brain-freeze is usually less than a minute in duration (often <em>much</em> less), but while it's going on, it can feel like <span style="color:#ff0000;"><span style="color:#66ffff;">Hell's</span> </span>actually freezing over, <em>inside your head</em>,<em> </em>with <em>piercingly</em> intense pain felt mostly in the frontal areas of the head. <span style="font-size:78%;">(<em>Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow!! OW!!!)</em></span></span><br /></strong></span><span style="color:#66ffff;"><strong><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span></strong></span><span style="color:#66ffff;"><strong><br /><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;">Unofficially I'd guess that (here in the U.S.A.), the main trigger for "brain freeze" seems to be sucking a blended drink made mostly of ice through a straw, such as a "Slurpee", "Slush", or f<span style="color:#66ffff;"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">rozen</span> Margarita; ice cream and especially ices and sherbets probably come in a close second. </span></span><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;"><span style="color:#66ffff;">(<span style="font-size:85%;">My Dad, an intelligent man given to strong (if sometimes overly broad) opinions, avoided eating sherbet because he'd <em>always</em> experienced the ice cream headache from sherbet, but rarely from ice cream. Something about consistency I guess..)</span></span></span><br /><span style="color:#66ffff;"><strong><span style="color:#66ffff;"></span></strong></span><br /><span style="color:#66ffff;"><strong><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;color:#66ffff;">Here's how it works: Ingesting the icy substance (especially through a straw), rapidly cools the hard palate causing <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">vasoconstriction</span> of the descending palatine arteries. The trouble seems to start when the area begins to warm back <em>up</em> quickly during the acts of breathing and speaking, which reverses the vascular action causing immediate and extreme <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">vasodilation</span> , which is interpreted by the nerves in the area as <em>pain</em>. <span style="font-size:85%;">(Sounds like a brief, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">mislocated</span> migraine to me.)</span></span></strong></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;"><span style="color:#33ff33;"><span style="font-size:130%;">The thing is,</span> <em>some</em> of us feel our version of the "brain-freeze" <em>between the shoulder blades </em>instead of the head.</span> I don't know what else to call it but an <span style="color:#33ff33;">"ice cream <em>back</em>ache"</span>. I'm not implying it's of medical significance, I just think it's interesting.</span><br /><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;">From childhood I experienced the typical "brain-freeze", but about 20 years ago (in my 30's) it suddenly moved out of my head and relocated in the <em>middle of my back,</em> deep between the shoulder blades, which I liked even <em>less.</em> </span><br /><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;">With the "brain-freeze", at least I could apply strong counter pressure with my hands, which was <em>some</em> comfort. But when ice cream <em>backache</em> strikes, all one can do is press back hard against a chair or a wall, or just <em>squirm</em>. <span style="font-size:85%;">(</span></span></strong></span><span style="color:#66ffff;"><strong><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:85%;">And I know from experience that that "squirming" reaction is not only undignified but can tend to <em>alarm</em> onlookers, who may think you're having a heart attack or stroke or something. No, it's nothing that you'll get any sympathy for, because by the time you've explained what's happening to you, it's over and the onlookers are rolling their eyes..).</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Anyway, I'd never <em>heard</em> of that between-the-shoulder-blades variation on the "brain-freeze" before I experienced it myself, and my neurologist had never heard of it either, so I assumed </span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">I was alone in this unpleasant, unimportant weirdness... <span style="font-size:78%;">story of my life, really, but that's another blog...</span></span></strong></span><span style="font-size:78%;"><br /></span><span style="color:#66ffff;"><strong><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span></strong></span><br /><span style="color:#66ffff;"><strong><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Luckily, in 1997 I found a <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">bona</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">fide</span> medical article on the subject of "Ice Cream Headache", published in the "British Medical Journal" by </span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Dr. Joseph <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">Hulihan</span>, Professor in the Department of Neurology at Temple University Health Sciences Center. <a href="http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/314/7091/1364"><span style="color:#3366ff;">http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/314/7091/1364</span></a></span></strong></span><br /><br /><span style="color:#66ffff;"><strong><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Dr. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">Hulihan</span> seems to be the world's <em>only</em> "I.C.H." (Ice Cream Headache) expert, although that's not his focus since it's probably not enough to build a career around. But he's the authority. </span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">And f</span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">ortunately</span>, Dr. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">Hulihan's</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">artcle</span> on "Ice Cream Headache" was followed by a Q & A board on the subject, so I posted a question asking whether anyone else had experienced (or even <em>heard</em> of) what I described and called "ice cream <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">BACKache</span>". </span><br /><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:85%;">Click here </span><a href="http://www.bmj.com/cgi/eletters/314/7091/1364"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:85%;color:#66ffff;"><strong>http://www.bmj.com/cgi/eletters/314/7091/1364</strong></span></a><span style="color:#66ffff;"><strong><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;"> to read the board.</span></span><br /></strong></span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Well, it turns out I <em>wasn't</em> alone <em>at all </em>- <em>several</em> people wrote in that <em>they'd</em> experienced the same thing, "ice cream backache", and they <em>all</em> thought they were unique in this.</span></strong></span><br /><span style="color:#66ffff;"><strong></strong></span><br /><span style="color:#66ffff;"><strong>I<span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"> wrote to Dr. H. about it, and he wrote back to say that he'd never heard of this variation on ice cream headache, and found it interesting. He surmised that it might have something to do with referred pain from esophageal spasm. </span></strong></span><br /></span><span style="color:#66ffff;"><strong><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span></strong></span><br /><span style="color:#66ffff;"><strong><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Since Dr. H. hadn't heard of it, I assume that i</span></strong></span><span style="color:#66ffff;"><strong><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15">ce</span> cream <em>backache</em> is relatively rare, and as far as I've been able to tell, <em>no o</em><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16">ne</span> is studying (or has <em>ever</em> studied) it, so it's not well understood. But it <em>does</em> happen. </span></strong></span><br /><span style="color:#66ffff;"><strong><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span></strong></span><br /><span style="color:#66ffff;"><strong><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">It's not an important issue, medically speaking, or even <em>remotely</em> dangerous, but personally I'm curious and would like to understand it. I'm hoping to eveventually collect some basic data about this.</span></strong></span>flora68http://www.blogger.com/profile/13705100671573522307noreply@blogger.com40