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Headbanging to Motörhead can kill you. So says science.

Ok, so it's not common. But a team of neurosurgeons at Hannover Medical School has indicated that it is a possibility, after treating a 50-year-old fan that presented in January 2013 with a terrible headache.


The anonymous patient had been suffering from the pains for two weeks, but otherwise presented with an "unremarkable" medical history and "denied substance abuse" the team, led by Ariyan Pirayesh Islamian, reports in the Lancet.

This case serves as evidence in support of Motrhead's reputation as one of the most hardcore rock'n'roll acts on earth, if nothing else because of the hazardous potential for headbanging fans to suffer brain injury

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"He had no history of head trauma, but reported headbanging at a Motörhead concert four weeks previously," write the physicians, before clearing up any misunderstanding thus: "Headbanging is a contemporary dance form consisting of abrupt flexion-extension movements of the head to the rhythm of rock music, most commonly see in the heavy metal genre." A grave warning follows: "While such shows are enjoyable and stimulating for the audience, some fans might be endangered by indulging in excessive headbanging."

Coagulation screening was issued for the anonymous patient, to check that his blood was clotting properly. After all came back normal the team ordered a CT scan, and there they found it: a chronic subdural haematoma (bleeding under the membrane that protects the brain, resulting in a clot).


This type of clot can be extremely dangerous, potentially putting excessive pressure on the brain. The threat of death depends on the type of haematoma -- acute (formed straight after injury) comes with a 65 percent risk of death in those aged 40-80; subacute (formed up to a week after the initial injury) are less threatening; chronic (formed over a period of two to three weeks) results in death within the first 30 days of having surgery in one out of 20 people. The patient fell into the latter category, so there was a significant risk involved.

To treat the dedicated Motörhead fan, the German team drilled burr holes into his skull to alleviate the pressure. A drain was placed, and kept in for six days after surgery. The headache cleared, and within eight days of the surgery the fan was home, and was found to be symptom free at his two-month checkup.

It was concluded that, given his history, the "brisk forward and backward acceleration and deceleration forces" the patient experienced while dancing was what caused bridging veins in his brain to rupture. A arachnoidal cyst may have been a "predisposing factor", they warned. These cysts are benign, however, and are usually found inadvertently during other routine scans. It could have made the brain "susceptible to haemorrhage into the subdural space" though, the authors suggest, simply because of its position.

The doctors admit cases of headbanging leading to serious complications are rare. They found three such examples, two involving a subacute subdural haematoma, and one including an acute haematoma. The latter led to the patient's sudden death. Other potential side effects include carotid artery dissection (a tear in the arteries of the neck), mediastinal emphysema (a pocket of trapped air around the heart, its vessels, the trachea and other areas in the mediastinum), whip lash injury and fractures.


Islamian warns, however: "Even though there are only a few documented cases of subdural haematomas, the incidence may be higher because the symptoms of this type of brain injury are often clinically silent or cause only mild headache that resolves spontaneously."

The article, in giving its readers a little context, tells us that headbanging was popularised in the 70s, but "the number of avid aficionados [i.e., potential victims] is unknown". It does, however, attribute Motörhead as being "seminal in the creation of the speed metal sub genre, where tempos greater than 200 bpm are aspired to". So, they make people bang their heads really, really fast.

Fans will be deligted to hear, however, that the doctors were unanimous in one conclusion. "This case serves as evidence in support of Motörhead's reputation as one of the most hardcore rock'n'roll acts on earth, if nothing else because of their contagious speed drive and the hazardous potential for headbanging fans to suffer brain injury."