Breakdancers said that too many headspins could give them a ‘cone-head’

Are you going breakdancing today? If so, maybe go easy on the headspins. Unless you want to end up with a “cone head”, that is.

Due to the extreme physical demands of breakdancing, it is known to carry a high risk of injury: from hair loss to sprains and damage to almost every part of the anatomy.

But now breakdancing enthusiasts have been warned of a new danger: turning too much on their heads could cause them to develop a significant protrusion on the top of their heads.

This has emerged as a potential danger in a case report in a leading medical journal about a man in his 30s in Denmark who developed such a visible lump on his head as a result of taking breakdancing training up to five times a week for 19 years. , that he had surgery to remove it.

It grew as a result of what breakdancers call “headspin hole” or “breakdance bulge,” which BMJ Case Reports describes as “a unique overuse injury in breakdancers caused by repetitive headspins.”

The case report, written by two of the doctors who treated him at Copenhagen University Hospital, describes how “his training regime consisted of approximately five sessions per week, each lasting approximately one and a half hours. During each session, direct pressure was applied to the top of the head (by twisting it) for a period of time ranging from two minutes to seven minutes.”

In the five years before he was referred for treatment for his protrusion, ‘there was a marked increase in size and an onset of tenderness. The presence of the lesion and associated discomfort were aesthetically unpleasant to the patient, but the protrusion had not prevented the patient from continuing his head-turning activities.”

Doctors initially considered a number of possible diagnoses, including that the bulge could be cancerous or a benign tumor.

An MRI scan showed that it was what the case report authors call “a subgaleal mass measuring 34 cm x 0.6 cm x 2.9 cm near the midline vertex.”

It turned out to be an extreme example of the lump on the scalp that can occur with a ‘headspin hole’. “The term ‘cone head sign’ is used in radiological descriptions,” the doctors write.

The unnamed man, tired of wearing a cap or hat to hide his spiky growth, opted to undergo surgery instead of steroid injections, which may have shrunk it.

He was happy to have a normally shaped head again, he told BMJ Case Reports. “The result is much better than it looked before, and I’m glad I had it done,” he said. “If I had the choice, I would do it again.

“It is now possible for me to go out in public without a cap, which is of course a very nice feeling. I have received a lot of positive feedback and people say it looks good, I have a nice scar and my overall appearance has improved significantly.”

The case report does not say whether he still turns on his head five times a week.