Dangers of Headbanging

Dieselboy · 11-30-2009, 09:22 PM

Saw this article on the dangers of headbanging by the British Medical Journal, and thought it was pretty informative and interesting...

Head and neck injury risks in heavy metal: head bangers stuck between rock and a hard bass -- Patton and McIntosh 337: a2825 -- BMJ

It talks about things like:

-The most popular "styles" of headbanging.
-Injuries that can occur from headbanging, as well as specific cases.
-Studies that have been done about headbanging.
-Ways to head bang more safely. ><

Probably the funniest part of the article was this paragraph that analyzed the headbanging motion of some of our pop-culture favorite rockers:

"We can also use the theoretical model to estimate the injury levels to two of the greatest head bangers, Beavis and Butt-head. When head banging at a tempo of 164 beats per minute to "I Wanna be Sedated"9 the range of motion of Beavis’ head and neck is about 45°, which is below any injury threshold of both the head and neck injury criteria. Butt-head, however, preferred to head bang with a range of motion of about 75°. This activity is below any Neck Injury Criteron threshold, but level one head injuries are predicted by the Head Injury Criterion, with the symptoms being headaches and dizziness. It is well understood, however, that cartoon characters are able to tolerate greater than normal impacts without injury. Another legendary pair of head bangers, Wayne and Garth, head bang to "Bohemian Rhapsody" at 138 beats per minute with a range of movement of about 45°.7 Because of the low range of movement, no injuries were predicted by either the head or neck injury criteria, though the characters in the back seat of the car demonstrated a noticeably larger range of motion and might be at risk of head or neck injury."

It's all very interesting though.

(P.S. - I couldn't decide if I should put this here or in the Metal/Rock section. If it should be there instead, someone can move it, sorry.)

11-30-2009, 09:22 PM	#1 (permalink)
Dieselboy Music Addict Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 608	Dangers of Headbanging Saw this article on the dangers of headbanging by the British Medical Journal, and thought it was pretty informative and interesting... Head and neck injury risks in heavy metal: head bangers stuck between rock and a hard bass -- Patton and McIntosh 337: a2825 -- BMJ It talks about things like: -The most popular "styles" of headbanging. -Injuries that can occur from headbanging, as well as specific cases. -Studies that have been done about headbanging. -Ways to head bang more safely. >< Probably the funniest part of the article was this paragraph that analyzed the headbanging motion of some of our pop-culture favorite rockers: "We can also use the theoretical model to estimate the injury levels to two of the greatest head bangers, Beavis and Butt-head. When head banging at a tempo of 164 beats per minute to "I Wanna be Sedated"9 the range of motion of Beavis’ head and neck is about 45°, which is below any injury threshold of both the head and neck injury criteria. Butt-head, however, preferred to head bang with a range of motion of about 75°. This activity is below any Neck Injury Criteron threshold, but level one head injuries are predicted by the Head Injury Criterion, with the symptoms being headaches and dizziness. It is well understood, however, that cartoon characters are able to tolerate greater than normal impacts without injury. Another legendary pair of head bangers, Wayne and Garth, head bang to "Bohemian Rhapsody" at 138 beats per minute with a range of movement of about 45°.7 Because of the low range of movement, no injuries were predicted by either the head or neck injury criteria, though the characters in the back seat of the car demonstrated a noticeably larger range of motion and might be at risk of head or neck injury." It's all very interesting though. (P.S. - I couldn't decide if I should put this here or in the Metal/Rock section. If it should be there instead, someone can move it, sorry.)