炎炎夏日，要是能大口大口地吃美味的冰淇淋，那可是一大享受。可是有些人吃了冰淇淋后卻會引發劇烈的頭痛。看來這美味也不是人人都能享受的。到底是什么導致冰淇淋頭痛呢？可以避免嗎？看看下面的解答吧！

Most people have experienced the dreaded ice cream headache at some point. You are minding your own business, eating something like an ice cream cone, a milk shake, a snow cone... Then, suddenly you are hit with the most excruciating headache!

According to Dr. Joseph Hulihan of Temple University, ice cream pain, also known as "brain freeze", is the most common form of head pain, occurring in one third of a randomly selected population.

The condition is caused by extremely cold foods or beverages that touch the roof of the mouth and set in motion a chain of events. When the nerves that travel to the brain are stimulated, the blood vessels in the front of the head expand and contract like they do during a migraine headache. Even though this sensation typically lasts only 10 to 20 seconds, the pain is mind-numbing.

Studies show that the headache could be elicited only in hot weather; attempts to reproduce the pain during the winter were unsuccessful, even with use of a cold stimulus of the same temperature.

No treatment is usually required, and sufferers rarely seek medical attention. Since the posterior aspect of the palate is most likely to produce the referred pain of ice cream headache, the easy way to avoid "brain freeze" is to keep cold things away from the roof of your mouth!

excruciating: 極痛苦的

migraine headache: 偏頭痛

palate: 上顎

（北京外國語大學通訊員謝麗供稿 英語點津 Annabel 編輯）