MHH Clinic Cerebral haemorrhage due to headbanging

Heavy metal fan suffers brain hemorrhage after headbanging

06/04/2014

Headbanging is part of any decent concert for heavy metal fans, but the violent movement of the head can cause health problems and even brain bleeding, reports the Hannover Medical School (MHH) in the renowned specialist magazine „The Lancet“. According to the MHH, a 50-year-old patient had suffered brain hemorrhage after attending a concert by Metal band Motörhead.

The 50-year-old man came to the Department of Neurosurgery at the MHH in January 2013, after having suffered from a steadily increasing headache for more than two weeks. His medical history was inconspicuous according to the doctors. He had suffered no shocks or blows to the head, was not involved in any accidents and had not taken any substances that might be related to the condition. A computed tomography (CT) of the brain showed a hemorrhage between the brain surface and the skull bone, which increasingly pressed on the brain and thus caused the pain.

Whiplash, vascular injuries, cervical vertebrae and cerebral hemorrhages
The wild shaking of the head at heavy metal concerts seems to outsiders rather bizarre, but for the diehard fans headbanging is an indispensable ritual. However, if you move your head back and forth over several hours, you can not inflict any damage that should be underestimated. Among the known possible consequences of headbanging include, for example, whiplash, vascular injuries in the head or the fracture of cervical vertebrae. Headbanging at the Motörhead concert had triggered a so-called right-sided chronic subdural hematoma at the patient at the Hannover Medical School four weeks earlier. This is the first documented case of brain hemorrhage as a result of headbanging.

Pressure relief by opening the skull bone
The doctors around Dr. Ariyan Pirayesh Islamian further report that after the clear diagnosis of cerebral hemorrhage, pressure relief was provided by surgically opening the patient's skull. Through the opening in the cranial bone, a tube was passed, over which the accumulated liquid could be derived. After the hematoma had been completely eradicated, the doctors also used computed tomography to detect an arachnoid cyst in the patient's brain, which may have contributed to brain bleeding on headbanging.

Headbanging injuries rare
The doctors want to warn by no means in front of headbanging or even demonize heavy metal music in general, because injuries are extremely rare exceptions here. But make the incident clear that head movements to the music with 200 BPM (beats per minute), a higher risk of injury than with a slow nod to classical music. The reputation as the toughest band in the world was Motörhead again at this point. Although metal fans do not necessarily have to hold back when they go to a concert, they should be sensitized in the days after a concert for complaints such as headache, pressure in the skull, impaired consciousness, orientation difficulties or even paralysis. Here a prompt visit to the doctor is advisable, as in the worst case life-threatening cerebral hemorrhages are behind the symptoms. (Fp)