NIGHTWISH's FLOOR JANSEN Offers Headbanging Tips (Video)

The Floor Jansen - Head up High Facebook page recently conducted an interview with Dutch singer Floor Jansen (NIGHTWISH, REVAMP). You can now watch the chat in two parts below.

Asked if she had any tips for headbanging in a way that doesn't result in any neck pain or long-term physical damage, Jansen said: "I think every physiotherapist will tell you that it's not a very good idea, and there are many musicians in the metal scene who have suffered severe damage — like the guitar player from ICED EARTH, Jon Schaffer, had severe neck problems due to headbanging. So neck pain, of course, is heavy metal and cool, but, of course, it's [also] dangerous. I personally don't suffer from it all that much anymore. Usually when we do the first show after a break, then I feel it again, but other than that, I usually don't feel bothered."

She continued: "If you spin it more [makes finger motion of head going in a circle] [instead of] making the whiplash move [of moving the head up and down], that really helps. So that's all I can say. Be careful with it. Maybe even warm up. And don't do this [move the head up and down] too much; really turn [makes circular motion with the head], so you don't make the whiplash move."

According to The Daily Beast, a new case study published in the medical journal Lancet has revealed that headbanging — described as violently shaking the head in time with the music, most commonly in the rock, punk and heavy metal music genres — can cause damage as the brain bumps up against the skull.

The study detailed the case of a German heavy metal fan suffered bleeding in the brain after a night of headbanging at a MOTÖRHEAD concert. The 50-year-old complained of a two-week constant headache while being treated at Hannover Medical School and told doctors that he had been headbanging regularly for years. A CT scan showed he suffered from bleeding — medically known as chronic subdural haematoma — on the right side of his brain.

"We are not against headbanging," said Dr. Ariyan Pirayesh Islamian, one of the doctors who treated the patient. "The risk of injury is very, very low. But I think if (our patient) had (gone) to a classical concert, this would not have happened."

"There are probably other higher risk events going on at rock concerts than headbanging," Dr. Colin Shieff, a neurosurgeon and trustee of the British brain injury advocacy group Headway, added. "Most people who go to music festivals and jump up and down while shaking their heads don't end up in the hands of a neurosurgeon."