Well the temps now are -5 C, and with the windchill that drops down to -8. In a nutshell, it's cold.

Im wearing two balaclava's, and a thinsulate bandana and ski goggles. My forehead however is cold. It gets so cold it starts to hurt. Am I just not cut out for these temps? Am I not warm enough? Or is the sweat from my head making it cold?

Earlier this year I cut a few holes into my goggles..to help with ventilation. Im assuming some cold air was entering through there. Tonight I resealed them...but my head still hurts.

Has anyone ever had a similar problem with their forehead hurting due to the cold?

Below are my goggles. Could the cold air hurting my head be coming from the cut outs i made? Since this photo was taken, the goggles have a 3rd cut-out..the centre hole foam is also removed.

Is it possible the goggles or your helmet (provided you're wearing one) combined with the balaclavas is not causing pressure on your forehead and cutting off circulation.

What happens when you ride sans goggles? Still pain?

We were a little warmer on this side of the lake today, but even so, I don't consider -5°C that cold. (And I ignore wind-chill in the forecast, since I'm always making my own.)

If I had that much stuff on, I'd die from the heat. Two balaclavas, plus a thinsulate bandana? It was -2°C coming home tonight and I still had on a summer-weight cycling skullcap under my helmet. Had I been riding further, I would have worn the winter-weight one. It was really a borderline night in that regard. ADDED: It was about -3°C last winter when I took my avatar pic in the middle of a three-hour ride. I'm wearing the winter-weight skullcap there.)

Everyone is different, of course, but I'm wondering if you're overdressing--especially since you're asking about sweat from your head making you cold. (The answer to that one is a resounding YES!) Otherwise, could it be your goggles don't fit quite right?

The rule of thumb is to ignore your mom's warnings and your knee-jerk reaction to dressing for winter. (It's my third winter and I still have issues in that regard.) You should feel chilly when you first step outside. You should reach a comfortable equilibrium between miles two and three, or 3–5 km. If you're warm before that, you're wearing too much.

Sweating is to be avoided if at all possible. It's easier to warm up if cold (pedal harder.) Sweat will lead to hypothermia.

Running just a bit cool (not chilly and certainly not cold) seems to work best for me. I carry an extra layer with me just in case I have to stop and fix a flat or something.

Sorry, at those temps I don't have that pain, even with less coverage. My forehead tends to be a hotspot for me, one of the first places I start to sweat for some reason.

Do any of your layers have any windblock? That would help without having to add thickness, and if you were sweating would prevent the evaporative cooling.

i dunno how you do it tsl. My face can't stand the constant pounding of wind at below 0°C temps. I'm fine to pretty much 5°C then I start getting really uncomfortable. I just ordered a balaclava and hopefully that'll make me more comfortable. The rest of me is comfortable even in a short sleeve jersey, short sleeve base layer, arm warmers, gloves, and tights, but my face just stings and makes me completely uncomfortable. Maybe having sunglasses would help slightly since my eyes wouldn't dry out as much.

The balaclava's I've tried were useless; The wind always blew right through them. In the winter I just wear a Polartec headband to protect my ears and forehead, and put on a helmet cover intended for rain use. The headband needs to have a windblock layer in it, else it is as useless as the balaclava's.

I agree that 0 C (32 F) is not very cold. As long as you're dry and active, you should need minimal coverage at that temp. I will wear a light headband, and take that off if I'm climbing a hill. I think all the stuff you're wearing is cutting off the blood supply to your scalp.

Does it feel like "brain freeze" from eating ice cream too fast? Maybe it's related to that.

Ihave a polartec head band with a windproof neoprene outer layer. It's warm and looks nice, and dries very quickly. The only problem is that it fits very snug due to the neoprene.

I think that all that stuff is putting pressure on your forehead (combined with a helmet?). Try putting on everything and just hang out outside for a while. If your head hurts, then it's too much stuff/pressure.

Hmm...thing is..i've always worn 2 balaclava's...thin ones.. they've always worked like a charm together....mind you, i've never worn them in these temps. It's not the -5 that's the problem..it's the added windchill, that makes it colder. Im not to sure what to do. I'lll look for a headband with wind protection on it. Now, do I ride today? It's -6 and windchill, -12

Could your forehead pain be caused by cold air in your sinuses?

try just one helmet balaclava with the front vents on your helmet covered up.

Agreed, -5C isn't that cold. I have one silk balaclava, and it's too warm to wear until temps go down to -15C or so. Given equal protection, several parts of your face and head should be suffering from cold way before your forehead (ears, nose, lips and cheeks for example).

I would check helmet and goggles for creating pressure points near forehead or maybe acting as a heat sink in that area. For me, a cold helmet strap lock against my throat makes me feel very uncomfortable, like I'm having a bad case of sore throat. I wear a synthetic neck tube to keep the lock away from my skin even when it's not that cold.

Your sinuses could also be sensitive to cold air, as was mentioned earlier. There are breathing masks available, but the need to use those at -5C seems unlikely.

--J

I agree that it's the pressure of all that stuff pressing on your head, esp if you are pushing your helmet down on top of it.

Go for a walk in that stuff this evening to test out whether it the pressure. This way you can at least determine whether it's that or the wind chill.

Try one of these. Although you would look like a dork...

The cut outs aren't a good idea IMHO. You would appear to be blasting forehead with cold air which is not going to make your upper sinuses happy.

I would treat this like skiing. Fleece neck gator (not neoprene, those are awful) that you can pull up over your nose and mouth if you need a temporary breathing mask due to gusts, fleece headband over the forehead and ears with the top of the goggles over the very bottom of the headband and the strap crossing at the ear and around the upper part of the back of the skull (i.e. above the occipital process.) Substitute a fleece ski hat for the headband if you like, or carry one to pull on over the whole assembly, depending upon how much insulation you want.

This should be snug but comfortable. It works well for me skiing in worse conditions. And you can adjust it on the fly if you get too hot or too cold, etc

For my disclaimer - I ride in the Southern US (Atlanta) so I have no idea what -5 C feels like. ;-) However, my extremities are never warm regardless of coverage on them unless my body core is warm. Have you changed out your core layers? Maybe that's the problem ...

I agree about pressure. I find wearing anything thicker than a thin polypropylene cap or balaclava makes my helmet too tight, which is a problem.

Do you have a helmet cover? That can help a lot.

Also if you blood vessels are sensitive to temperature changes, the fact that you have part that is covered and warm and another exposed and cold could be causing it.

Do you get headaches when you come from the cold into the warmth? Prone to migraines?

So I agree try to pin it down to pressure first and then think about temperature sensitivity.

Could be pressure, could be you've got a thin band of unprotected flesh between goggles and helmet. Ski goggles are meant to fit under a ski helmet, not a bike helmet. If you've got unprotected flesh, you might try Dermatone -- it's a cheap fix.

Try some vasoline on your face. I put it on my forehead, cheeks, and nose. It helps.

I agree with others who suggest you are overheating. It's hard to do, but try to dress so that you are cold for the first five minutes, but warm then after. If you bike hard, the neck and face areas get warm quickly. That turns to sweat, which if you're dressed too warm will build up and give you the chills.

Everyone's different, but at -5 C, I wear just one thin bacalava under my helmet. Try ditching the bandana and put on vasoline, see what happens for a hard 10 minute ride with your two bacalavas. Then keep on iterating with stuff until you figure it out.

Personally I just wear one thin polartec balaclava and a bmx/skate style helmet and I am good till about -15 with that set up , if it's colder or the windchills are extreme I just put on a heavier and thicker balaclava , the only time I've experienced pain in my forehead was when my helmet was too tight and not because of the cold. -5 is not that cold I think maybe you are going overboard with puting too many things on your head and maybe your helmet is too tight.

Could it be a sign of sinus congestion? Temperatures like these will aggravate the problem.

If so there's some interesting suggestions here:
https://www.pukkaherbs.com/file/e6d78...iet-kapha.html

Does the balaclava cover your mouth or nose? Could very well be the cold air hurting the sinuses. Covering the nose/mouth will help pre-warm and moisturize the air coming in. Try only one balaclava and add a helmet cover like this one to cut wind off head. If I'm in temps where that's too warm and without the cover is too cold I slide the front part of the cover up to let a little air inside.