Why is cold a headache?



[ad_1]

TRIBUNMANADO.CO.ID – You must have lived it. When you have a good time eating ice cream or even ice cubes, a headache attacks you suddenly.

In English, this condition is called "brain freeze", which can literally be interpreted as a frozen brain. Meanwhile, in the medical world, this disease is known as cold-induced headache or sphenopalatine ganglioneuralgia.

According to Live Science, Tuesday (20/11/2018), experts in neurology and headaches at the Tufts Medical Center, Dr. Stephanie Goldberg, have stated that headaches can occur within seconds if exposed to very cold temperatures. The pain may suddenly peak.

Then, it is necessary to know that the brain freeze does not occur only because of internal triggers, such as too fast consumption of ice cream; but also because of external triggers, like jumping into a cold pool.

When very cold substances, such as food or air, touch the roof of the mouth or the back of the throat, the blood vessels and nerves of this area are stimulated.

As the 2012 preliminary findings explain, this increase in blood flow then causes an increase in the size of the blood vessels in the center of the brain and behind the eye (anterior cerebral artery). In response to reduced blood flow, the artery contracts and causes headaches.

However, there are other explanations. Goldberg said that a cold sensation could activate important nerves in the head and face, called trigeminal nerve. When this happens, the blood vessels in the head contract shortly before dilating rapidly. The result is a sudden headache.

Headaches due to cold sensations are not life threatening, but can be troublesome, especially for people with migraines.

According to Goldberg, the only way to prevent it is to slowly eat cold food and to prevent cold substances from ending up on the palate.

[ad_2]
Source link