pros are obvious, the rush and its just awesome to bang your head against the stage when metal is playing

i had been to a local show yesterday after about 6 months, because there are no shows at all, yesterday i went nuts and headbanged like crazy and now i cannot keep my neck straight it kept boobing downwards all night after the show, and a local artist told me to be careful and not headbang that way as he had suffered neck injury 2 weeks ago.

So it made me think about "cons" of this art,

Does headbanging for roughly one hour every 2-3 months causes the type of headbanging accidents i've read about online ?

Are there any exercises ?? , because artists like corpsegrinder,john hegg make me think how the hell his neck stays that way after so much of headbanging they still have a strong neck

This local artist he asked me to quit headbanging but artists like amon amarth make me think otherwise

can members of my fav online community help me on this matter ? should i continue ? As i dont mind getting this type of neck pain which lasts for 3-4 days. And does neck cracking happens by continous headbanging or can happen at any moment ? this is the first time i'm getting the thoughts of quitting headbanging

thanks for the time

A lot of the time, the artists may seem like they're moving their head a lot. But if you get into a certain rhythm with long hair, you dont have to move your neck very much and avoid any stress or pain. If you havent got long hair well I cant comment.

I've done the same thing a couple times to my neck, and it didn't feel normal again for a few days. I don't know exactly what happens to make your neck act that way, but it can't be good for you.

I think people without long hair (like me) tend to headbang harder...I do anyway. I know its easier when you have long hair, but I would think someone like George Fisher still moves his neck quite a bit.

I don't know if anyone has actually done permanent noticable damage to their neck, but if I were to take a guess, I'd say that Barney Greenway may have. He used to headbang all the time back in the day. Have you seen him within the last few years? He just dances around the stage and moves his head back and fourth, like he's saying "no"

I'm sure there are probably some negative long term effects to headbanging, but, the way I see it, you are only young once, I mean, you are not going to be able to thrash around and mosh and headbang and shit when you're older anyways, so, why not take advantage of the youth you have while you have it?

I went to my first metal show just a couple of weeks ago (it was Judas Priest and Whitesnake) and i must say, I've headbanged with friends in the past, but I have never headbanged so hard and so much as I did that night. Sure, for two days after that I couldn't look down or so much as turn my head to the side, but, after that short period of pain, it was gone, and I was fine.

Though I haven't heard of any severe accidents casued from headbanging, I'm sure some idiot has damaged some vertabrae or something. Just be careful. Headbanging is like drinking, when done in moderation, it can be incredibly fun. When done carelessly and to excess, you'll feel like shit the next morning, and regret ever doing it.

I went to a local show when I was in 8th grade. My neck hurt for a week.

Wrestling is a great sport for beefing up your neck. If you know how to bridge, that's an excellent exercise. If you don't, learn how. I don't want to be responsible for anyone fucking themselves up because they don't know what they're doing.

Try taking dumbells in each hand, put your hand at your sides, and lifting the weights eith only your neck and shoudler muscles, that should help.

There are really only two things to worry about (cons) when headbanging and both can probably be avoided with the proper precautions. First, hyperextension. That just means what it sounds like - stretching your neck too far. To avoid this, just look up and down to get a good idea of where your neck is comfortable and stay within that range of neck positions. Most serious neck injuries result from hyperextension, so it's important to avoid it.

The second potential problem is pulling/cramping a muscle, which is generally less severe but can be very painful. Generally, you only have to worry about this if you're headbanging very quickly, so try to keep your headbanging at a speed at which you can control your head very comfortably. By this I mean that you should be able to stop or change directions easily while headbanging. At first, you may not be able to bang your head very quickly but your neck muscles can (and likely will) become strong enough for more forceful headbanging if you make a habit of using them.

At least, this is how I try to avoid the worse sides of headbanging and, while you'll likely always be a bit sore after a good neck workout, I've found that I very rarely have any trouble with my neck as long as I'm following these guidelines.

I have had several cases of soar neck, it has been a while though. I only really unleash when I'm at a show though.

I usually mix up my headbanging to use different parts of the neck and enjoy the music more when it shifts intensity n stuff. It's fun to headbang to odd time signatures.

I hate thinking about or discussing headbanging too much. Obviously it's something you do when you enjoy yourself but it's like drinking water - do it as much as your body says you need to! There are other ways of appreciating metal music, and different degrees of headbanging.

Alternation is the key. Headbang from your back occasionally, it's what I do at doom gigs as headbangs are far between (except for during the faster passages of the sludgier bands) and it looks pretty cool, too! The occasional windmill is great but don't over do it, basically NeglectedField was spot on.

Depending on the music playing it can be enjoyed in different ways. There isn't a NEED to move all the time to music, at least not for me. Air guitaring, powersliding, and moshing (depending the kind of music being played), anything else like that is also great fun to do at a gig.

I pinched a nerve in my neck one night from headbanging, and I've suffered from blurred vision before as well, so I tone it down a fair bit now days.

As I was driving home from work the other day listening to the radio, I heard that Dave Mustaine actually needed to get surgery because of how much he has headbanged in his life. If I remember correctly he needed it because he cracked a vertebrae? I could be wrong. Regardless I know he needed surgery because of headbanging, so that may convince you, I love headbanging but surgery isn't worth it, especially now that I have short hair, it doesn't even really look cool anymore.

Thing about how much headbanging Dave has done in his life. If you aren't thrashing out at gigs nightly for months at a time, your chances of injury are much lower.

Absolutely true, but each individual body has it's own tolerances, so no, occasionally banging your head at a show once in a while probably won't do much harm to your neck. Even though those couple days after kinda suck. But If someone were say in a band and headbanged at practices frequently, and played in shows and went to a lot of shows and headbanged there as well as to their music at home quite often there's a chance something could happen. But undoubtedly, you've gotta be thrashing about a lot and pretty hard to really do something.

Quoting this for truth. Don't fling your head around carelessly, and you'll do a lot better. I wouldn't recommend going beyond a 45 degree angle up from your normal line of vision. You may be able to slowly expand this, but I wouldn't push it too fast.

Also be sure to keep your head under control at all times. If you let momentum do its thing instead of using your neck muscles to move your head, you will likely cause some sort of injury to yourself.

Actually, it's good that this thread came up because I had a question about something that happened to me recently. I was at a Pigsty show a couple months back and was headbanging vociferously to Copremesis and the Czechs themselves. A friend of mine bought me a beer, so I drank it, kept headbanging, and apparently I passed out a little bit later. I woke up on my friend's couch the next morning: he said that I just dropped right after finishing my beer and he had to take me home. More to the point, my head, neck, and, weirdly enough, my ass were in massive pain, particularly the latter, which I was bleeding from like fucking crazy (fortunately it seems there was no permanent damage). I guess what I'm asking is what did I do that could have caused the rectal bleeding: was it the beer, the headbanging, or a combination of both?

Could have been your friends

I once felt like something popped in the side of my neck, a few weeks ago. I have no definite evidence, but I suspect that it was due to my excessive headbanging. So don't overdo it. Of course, you shouldn't "quit" either. Fuck, is it even possible to quit headbanging?

No it's really not, even if you think you've stopped, you'll find yourself doing it again, because you'll surely find yourself in a situation down the road where you just gotta bang that head.

this is my favorite headbang

Am I the only person that will headbang to any genre of music with enough of a rhythmic element? I listened to metal for so long before broadening my musical horizons that the headbang has almost become a reflex.

No, the same happens to me.
I headband to old-school gangsta rap on occasion. >.<
Even classical and jazz.

This is my favorite 4chan post.
Anyways, I agree completely with TheUglySoldier; headbanging from the back is a good way to prevent additional neck strain or continue rocking if you've already gotten carried away.
But i've always felt that pain simply comes with the territory, since you don't mind it, take it at face value, as you probably won't be at shows every day (if so, more power to you haha).
Headbanging at home is the best exercise option though (I do it!), it works all the same muscles and applies the same strain that you would at shows but you will be less tempted to go overboard.

My favorite style of headbanging is Corpsegrinders "Windmill" or just the regular windmill. I like how he does it so much faster though. I wouldn't recommend headbanging with your neck though, it hurts like crazy. I kinda headbang by swinging my upper back around and just moving my head that way. I usually don't headbang though because it gives me a heck of a headache. I guess my "headbang" is more like a bob of the head than a headbang.

In my real-world job, I am an x-ray/CT technologist. I work with people's fucked up necks all of the time.

The problem with headbanging is the long term effects. Yes, you can pull a muscle, be sore, etc. That stuff happens right away.

But long term, I see a lot of people with vertebral disc injuries. Their discs end up being weakened over time due to the excessive movement, causing them to either burst or permanently shift out of place. When this happens, they get chronic pain due to nerve impingement. Pain that can radiate down to their fingertips. I've even had one old metalhead with paralysis in his right arm.

Another long term effect is possible hearing loss (suprisingly, not due to the loud music, though that doesn't help). Those tiny little bones in your ears are very specifically placed, and if they get moved out of place, it can cause ringing in the ears or hearing loss.

I swear, the metalheads that I've dealt with in my career all have some of the most abused and fucked up bodies I've seen. That's because, generally speaking, we don't give a shit. It's all in the moment.

I've been known to get very drunk at night clubs and headbang on the dance floor

I'm guessing that warming up your neck muscles, and some kind of exercices with them would make headbanging much safer. Your neck is used to stay straight and hold your head up, it's not used to swinging back and forth.

I'd take a wild guess and say that Formula1 pilots can probably headbang like crazy.

yey... I thought I was the only one headbanging here and there...
I headbang to electronic music, classical, and when I'm excited I even headbang to pop lol ...

Anyway it is hard t headbang, for example look at the guys from Apocalyptica
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B93cBOh0Mks

headbaging and playing the cello at the same time. headbanging and playing guitar is hard, now can you imagibe how the fuck does he do that???

What bothers me about headbanging is that makes me feel dizzy... And when headbanging for long perios of time, neck hurts like hell. But overall... It's nice

Sounds like you got raped. Date raped. Other than that, I have no other explanation as to how you ripped your asshole while headbanging... unless you were headbanging with your entire body and the stress was just concentrated on your butt and just like in some funny shows where you rip your pants when you bent over, only with your anus.

My neck is sore from last night's show with Mortician. Sometimes I do overdo the headbanging, to the point where I get dizzy and my neck starts screaming. Headbangovers don't last that long for me, just a day... although it doesn't help that I had dental work done, 11 cavities filled, this past Tuesday and that is also screaming. Fuck it, I'm taking a vicodin.


I bobbed my head to music before I got into metal. Since I got into metal, my main reflex has been to air guitar and tap my fingers to the music, I actually rarely go all out headbanging outside of a live setting, but I do regular headnods.

'A' vicodin? Why stop at one?

One is all that is needed. Why take it just to have a stronger high anyway? That's stupid. Hell, I probably only needed a half... ah well.

To each their own my man. But insulting the intelligence of those whose preferences differ from your own is usually a sign of lacking it yourself.

My apologies, I didn't intend to call you stupid, just the act of taking a stronger than necessary dose of a drug. Perhaps the word "unnecessary" should've been used. Ah well.