Lecture on Brain Freeze

Introduction

• Common experience: Brain freeze (ice cream headache, cold stimulus headache, sphenopalatine ganglioneuralgia).
• Typical causes: Consumption of cold items like ice cream, shakes, slushies.

Causes and Anatomy

• Primary cause: Cold substances passing over the palate.
• Palate anatomy: Hard and soft palate.
  • Hard palate: Roof of the mouth, made up of bone (maxillary and palatine bones).
  • Soft palate: Muscle tissue covered by mucous membrane, includes uvula.
• Vascularization: Palate is well vascularized with many blood vessels and nerve endings.

Structural Details

• Foramina in the hard palate:
  • Greater Palatine Foramen: Passage for greater palatine arteries and nerves.
  • Lesser Palatine Foramen: Passage for lesser palatine arteries and nerves.

Physiological Response

• Vasoconstriction: Cold substances cause blood vessels to constrict.
• Nerve Sensation: Nerves (greater and lesser palatine) sense temperature change and send signals to the brain.

Referred Pain

• Trigeminal nerve: Main nerve branching into three areas: forehead, cheek/nose, jaw.
• Pathway: Sensation from palate travels via trigeminal nerve to the brainstem (medulla oblongata) and relays at the spinal trigeminal nucleus.
• Referred pain: Brain misinterprets palate pain as coming from forehead, cheeks, eyes, or back of the head.

Remedies

• Common suggestions:
  • Slow down consumption of cold items.
  • Warm the roof of the mouth by pressing the tongue or thumb against it.
  • Use of Tylenol or ibuprofen not recommended due to the short duration of brain freeze.

Conclusion

• Understanding brain freezes can help manage them better.
• For personalized questions or further details, refer to our Wizio account.

Remember to like, comment, and subscribe!