Delphine Schiltz, edited by Juliette Moreau Alvarez
changed to
06:50, January 11, 2023
Hard rock and metal fans love this dance style. “Headbang” or “headbanging” is an English term that refers to the violent shaking of the head at a frantic pace. While it fits perfectly with the metalheads’ favorite music, this dance would still not be without its health hazards. Several studies, including one published in The Lancethave identified cases of cranial hematomas linked to this practice.
Neurological risks
Concretely, the “headbang” generally goes well with a good metal sound and consists of rocking the head up and down and from right to left, sometimes in circles and often with a hair flick, all this in rhythm with the musical cadence. This dance is a real stress reliever for Romane, 22 years old. She is co-organizer of the Winter Fest, a very young hard rock and metal festival which will take place on Saturday 14 January in the Vendée, in Saint-Hilaire-de-Riez.
The young woman recognizes that sometimes the “butt” can be painful. “All I could notice were little pains in the back of my neck,” she describes. “When I play sports and I have pain, it’s the same feeling. So, I tell myself it’s just muscle. A concert, it doesn’t last too long, so we can let go.”
Yet, at some level, this practice can cause brain hematomas or vascular ruptures, according to neurologist Jean-François Chermann. “The song is 2 to 4 minutes long. It’s really extremely long,” explains this concussion specialist. “When there are these extremely intense and extremely large movements, the cervical ones don’t hold the brain.”
Furthermore, the brain is relatively “free” in the braincase, the specialist points out. The surrounding meninges form only a “thin cushion” between the brain and the bone structure. “This is what leads to these ‘whiplash’ phenomena”, explains the neurologist, adding that the practice of the “headbang” is even more risky for the over 50s whose brain is more fragile.
/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/prisa/54B2CQML2NFRFHENX2FDNRWEYA.jpg?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1 "Winners of the Golden Globes 2023: the list with all the winners | Culture")