Q. I have suffered with migraines for decades and rely on sumatriptan (Imitrex) to control my pain. The other day I was visiting friends and I felt the all-too-familiar start of a bad headache (pain behind my right eye).
I didn’t have any medication with me, but my friends offered a home remedy from your column. I am a physician and skeptical of such nonsense. But I had nothing to lose, so I sipped ice water and then gobbled down a dish of chocolate ice cream. To my amazement, the migraine disappeared. This has never happened before, so I am grateful.
A. Many others report that inducing brain freeze (an ice-cream headache) can stop a migraine from developing. Thanks for sharing both your skepticism and success.
In 2012, researchers presented their findings on “brain freeze” at a biologists’ conference (FASEB Journal, April 2012). Ice water (or ice cream) against the palate makes the blood vessels in that area constrict, presumably to protect the brain from cold. The constriction and subsequent relaxation as blood vessels warm up again affect blood flow and may alter the development of a migraine headache. In any event, chocolate ice cream has few side effects other than some unwanted calories.
There are many other remedies to ease head pain in our Guide to Headaches and Migraines. It also contains a discussion of the pros and cons of medications such as sumatriptan.
