Concussion from Jerking Head
 

I know that it is possible to get a concussion without direct impact of the head. For instance, one can get a concussion from jerking their head too quickly or with too much force. I've had problems with headed jerking in the past and have recently had more bouta. My question is: how hard does one have to jerk their head to cause a concussion?

Hi calmwaters,

I can tell you that since my last tbi, I have struggled with a ton of anxiety over this question. Just the other day I stalled out a manual transmission car causing my head to jerk forward and then whip back very abruptly. I wasn't going very fast, but I felt so strangely afterwards that I was sure it had been enough force to do me in.

This was not the case. My neck has been a little sore, but I did not have any new tbi/pcs symptoms following the head jerking. I think that my head does not like too much movement at all, including head jerking, shaking, spinning etc. So I do try to avoid lots of motion because it does make me feel dizzy immediately after, but so far has had no lasting effect.

My guess is that you'd have to jerk your head with a lot of force to cause a full blown concussion, probably hard enough to damage your neck as well, but I'm not too sure. Is there something you experienced recently that you are worried about?

Yes, two things. For me, I have had bouts of head jerking tics caused by anxiety and muscle tension. I told my close friend about this and it got him worried about some head jerking that he had experienced. He loves to see horror movies and to be scared by them. He says he frequently sees 'jump scares" and jerks his head back or to the side very quickly like he is trying to dodge something (you know how horror movies scare everyone). I didn't think much about my head jerking until he started to get worried too.

Your neck muscles are not strong enough to cause an injury unless you were to shake your head back and forth violently for an extended period of time. Those momentary jerks in response to a startle are easily tolerated. Any symptoms are more likely due to a startle anxiety reaction where you brain kicks into fight or flight mode and is overwhelmed with stress hormones.

So, no continuous shaking your head to rock music or head shaking to check your heads tolerance.

Your anxiety about this is like making a startle response last for days. Try to relax and find something productive to think about.

Hi Mark
 

Hey,

I know this is a post from a long time ago, don't know if you'll see this, but if you already had a concussion, is it easier to get like a second?

If so, considering I have a concussion now along with tense neck muscles which move really quickly, is it possible for me to worsen my concussion when I suddenly jerk my head back from getting startled? I feel like my tense neck muscles are stronger than my neck muscles were before.

Or would this just cause some symptoms due to my anxiety?

The jerking is not causing a concussion. The startle can trigger symptoms, either from anxiety or from a minor vestibular disturbance.

The tense neck muscles suggest a sensitive upper cervical issue. Aggravating that can also trigger a return of symptoms.