A 50-year-old man suffered a subdural hematoma from shaking his head during a Motörhead concert. Such consequences would not be rare.
He shook his head too much on Ace of spades… And provides an atypical clinical case to say the least. This July 3, in The Lancet, German doctors report the unexpected origin of a chronic subdural hematoma (brain bleeding): the patient had gone to a Motörhead concert a month earlier and practiced headbanging there. “
Risks for the arteries and the neck
Headbanging is the practice of shaking your head to the rhythm of rock music. He appeared in 1968, during a Led Zeppelin concert. It has not stopped evolving since, accompanied by its share of legends. It would cause, depending on the version, stroke, hearing loss or consciousness … It has already been proven that, too violent, headbanging can lead to dissections of the carotid artery, cervical sprains … and even bone fractures. the odontoid, a bony end of the neck.
In January 2013, a fifteen-year-old patient presented to the neurosurgery department of the Hanover School of Medicine (Germany). He suffered from headaches that had been getting worse for 2 weeks. The scanner reveals a subdural hematoma, but it is impossible to find the origin. No abnormal details emerge from his medical file. But a month earlier, he had gone to a Motörhead concert, and had practiced headbanging there.
The man therefore becomes the first documented case, but many others have certainly suffered in silence, believes Dr. Ariyan Pirayesh Islamian, who describes this clinical case: “Although there are few documented cases of under- dural, the incidence could be higher, because the symptoms of this type of injury are often clinically silent, or lead to a mild headache that heals spontaneously, ”he analyzes. “This case confirms the reputation of Motörhead gigs, the hardest rock’n’roll gigs on the planet, and also proves that the catchy speed of their music and the potential risk of headbanging exposes fans to brain injury. . “
Moon river rather than Highway to Hell
Already in 2008, the Christmas edition of British Medical Journal devoted an article to the effects of headbanging. Two doctors had attended concerts in Motörhead, Ozzy Osborne and Skid Row. Lemmy Kilmister’s group – Motörhead – are known for their hellish pace… and their reputation is confirmed by the sightings of BMJ : to shake your head safely, you should not exceed 130 beats per minute. On average, a rock song contains 146 … and this metal band reaches 220!
For a safe headbanging, the researchers offer two tips to metalheads. The first seems improbable: to resort to cervical protection equipment, such as neck braces. The second, a little more achievable: shake your head at slower tempos or every second. They also call on concert organizers to put in place prevention advice… Their last suggestion is more like a sermon in the desert: rather than playing the legendary Highway to Hell on stage, AC / DC could offer Moon river… movie theme Diamonds on sofa (Breakfast at Tiffany’s).
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