When you eat something cold why do you get a pain above your eye?

Answer 1

The standard medical term for this phenomenon is "ice cream headache"--an expression so clear and comprehensible it obviously was settled on by mistake. Probably that accounts for the scarcity of research on this universal (well, pretty darn common) human condition. One recalls the attention given some years back to a complaint someone had been shrewd enough to name "hypoglycemia." Can you see getting big money to study Folks Feeling Vaguely Punk?

Ice cream headache occurs most frequently after you've worked up a sweat or during very hot weather. Typically it starts when you cram too much cold stuff into the roof of your mouth. It reaches a peak in 25 to 30 seconds that can last from several seconds to a couple minutes. Most people feel it deep in the front of the head, although if the ice cream gets stuck in the vicinity of the tonsils you may feel the pain behind your ears. Cold farther down the throat produces no headache.

The cause of ice cream headache is far from clear. One plausible explanation is that the cold causes constriction of blood vessels near the point of contact, which in turn causes the blood to back up painfully inside the head.

Ice cream headache occurs in maybe a third of the general population but in over 90 percent of migraine sufferers, who feel it in the same place they get migraines. (Many migraine victims take precautions with frozen desserts for just that reason.) Researchers believe migraine and ice cream headache are physiologically similar, the difference being that migraine sufferers are abnormally sensitive to stimuli the rest of us ignore. As for what would happen if you applied the cold continuously, I imagine a migraine sufferer could give you a pretty graphic description. I don't expect it'd be fun.

Answer 2

The reaction can be triggered within a few seconds after a very cold substance consumed comes into contact with the roof of the mouth. This irritates nerves in the region (sphenopalatine ganglia), causing them to spasm. These nerves cause the blood vessels in the brain to dilate. When vessels in the brain dilate, a common effect is an acute headache (a similar effect occurs when one takes a prescription vasodilator, such as Nitroglycerin or Viagra). It is a stabbing or aching type of pain that usually recedes after 10–20 seconds after its onset, but sometimes 30–60 seconds, and can persist for up to 5 minutes in rare cases. The pain is usually located in the midfrontal area, but can be unilateral in the temporal, frontal, or retro-orbital region.

It has been reported that the pain can be relieved by moving the tongue to the roof of the mouth, which will cause greater warmth in the region; it is also believed that the pain can be relieved by slowly sipping room temperature water. Laying the head to the side may also provide relief. The pain may be avoided in the first place simply by eating the cold food or beverage more slowly.

Answer 3

It is not pain above your eye. The cold (say ice-cream) in
contact with the roof of your mouth, causes the blood
vessels to contract and receive less blood than is being
pumped into them. So the blood goes to the closest
neighbour which is not contracted and expands them.
This happens in the upper sinus areas around and above
your eyes. Lick your ice-cream or take small amounts at a
time and allow it to melt on your tongue and not in contact
with your palette. In this way, you will enjoy the ice-cream
to a greater degree and get rid of your problem. Hope you
enjoy your next ice-cream!

Answer 4

its just the nerves. in your face its all connected. Sometimes it could be a pain in your cheek but with you, its your eye. I wouldnt worry about it. you might just have sensivitve gums. x

Answer 5

eat it slowly and take care of how you touch the cold thing to the roof of your mouth, its a spot on the roof of your mouth that gives you that wild headache.

Answer 6

Shakespeare had it 'The roots of the teeth are in the eyes'!

Answer 7

I didn't know you were supposed to - I must be doing something wrong because I don't suffer from that.

Answer 8

That happens to me all the time. I guess it's the nerves.

Answer 9

I don't,I get hiccoughs instead.Damned annoying.