I don't have motor tics, it just so happens to me, that the more I fear of doing a certain movement the more I attract it in a way, and the more I pay attention to it, if I ever were to do it. You're right, it's compulsions and I regret doing them after the temporary relief has passed, right now for example, I wish I would've never done that reassurance compulsion. I can see now that simply doing it once wouldn't have hurt, but now I'm worried about the repetitive conscious movements I've done afterwards to reassure myself nothing has happened. Problem is, it's counteractive. I guess I just have to remind myself that acting out my compulsions will generate more anxiety one way or another.

minimac,

Somebody who does headbanging is asking for trouble. Just a quick look up or down is not going to cause damage. As I said before, it may strain the neck, especially if the neck has been previously injured.

The important part to this is. You can teach yourself to not respond with quick head movements. I've done it. And, once you have realized you have been startled into a quick head movement, don't repeat it. You are only reinforcing the behavior.

My best to you.

I get odd symptoms when i move my neck too - and it is my neck as i've tested it when my head was stationery and moved the rest of my body.
Basically my upper cheeks flush/blush and my heart rate goes up a little, ie an adrenaline rush, + i get a release of sweet mucus at the back of my throat on occasion too, actually thats rather pleasant
It really doesnt matter at what speed i move my head or whether its left or right, up or down.

It doesnt affect me in any other way that i've identified.
My cheeks flushing was a very marked symptom in the first couple of weeks post injury (sweet taste came 4 weeks or so in, have a theory i was in ketosis at the time to explain sweet taste and that somehow the taste got imprinted in some fashion despite getting out of ketosis - Drs here are a bit baffled!) but now is fairly mild although its been at this "level" for some time now.

do you reckon i should avoid provoking these symptoms?

that would make further neck rehab rather difficult of course and i'm v keen to continue this as I've identified that my dizziness in particular is stemming from my neck

many thanks!

So moving your head from side to side really quickly in a linear fashion, has the same effect as moving your head up/down quickly? Or is the odds of tearing axons greater with up/down movement? I recall that's been said. Anyways, so even if I moved my head up/down as fast as I potentially could, it wouldn't cause damage to the brain? Of course it would be harsh on the neck as I am feeling at this moment, and I can surely tell I ain't ever gonna do reassurance compulsions again, I am still a bit worried that it causes cumulative sub concussive damage of some sort, I think I moved my head up and down almost as fast as I could just to calm myself down, as stupid as it may sound. Yep, so much for the logic of OCD. Reading from others here, the diziness I had after it could then be from anxiety, the inner ear or even from the neck apparently. Last but not least, it could be from sub concussive blows it might have produced, which I really hope isn't the case. I don't hope it can be termed as headbanging since there is no movement of the other body parts, and even then, new research seems to indicate that the odds of any brain damage is very low even from headbanging, which I find hard to believe.

What I really want to know is pretty much just if there is any difference from whipping the head up and down or side to side, both in linear and rotational cases. If so, what and why? Is the space between the skull and the brain the same in the front/back as it is in the sides of brain and inner skull? Can the brain easier get shaken from up and down movement rather than side to side? Sorry for always trying to squeeze in a lot of questions in one go.

I don't think there is an answer to your question. Side to side, front to back, up and down, they all have movements but unless you did them continuously for many many repetitions, I doubt they would make any difference. I have told you this previously. Sub-concussive impacts cause damage when there are hundreds of them over a relatively short period of time

You are asking hypothetical questions that do not seem to have a legitimate purpose. Are you planning on an activity where you would need to repetitively move your head back and forth in any of these directions ?

Tearing axons is not the only way a concussion manifests. Plus, axon shearing is not necessarily an immediate event. The axons can be strained resulting in slow deterioration. You said "Or is the odds of tearing axons greater with up/down movement? I recall that's been said." I don't recall anything like that.

Nobody is going to test somebody by having them move their head repeatedly to see if it causes any damage. The only live concussion testing done is done on rats. The research done with football players is not accurate enough to pinpoint the difference between concussions caused by different directions of force.

Are you getting any serious counseling for your OCD ? You really need somebody to help you let go of these concerns. I don't think any amount of factual information is going to change your OCD regarding this. Your mind will continue to find a new way to obsess about these issues.

So just to be clear, the internal weird feeling as if my brain slams into the skull is just an illusion of some sort? To describe it, it's in a way the same tingling feeling I got from fast side to side movement, now it's just coming from up and down movement instead. An earlier comment of yours in this thread just seem to mention that repetitive forward and backward movement of the head seemed to cause cumulative trauma and so this worries me since I believe it then poses a greater risk of injury than that of turning the head side to side. So the weird sensation you get for example from nodding your head fast is harmless? If it's even normal to feel what I'm talking about? Can it be the body's sensory defense system warning me to slow down before it actually causes any damage or something? Even when I'm nodding, all it takes is doing it a bit fast with followed by a sudden stop and then for a very short duration of time, I can feel some sort of internal pressure, hopefully just because it's provoking blood circulation. I also just kinda wanna know if you most likely would pass out from shaking your head before trauma occurs? Or would your neck get severely damaged? To summarize, I'm hoping that the answer is the body's natural response activating some cautionary mechanism and not actually movement of the brain I can feel either inside or outside my head, can't tell.

I don't think any of what you have said as the basis for your worries have any validity. "An earlier comment of yours in this thread just seem to mention that repetitive forward and backward movement of the head seemed to cause cumulative trauma and so this worries me since I believe it then poses a greater risk of injury than that of turning the head side to side. " I did not say that repetitive forward and backward movement can cause damage.

If you spend a few minutes vigorously shaking your head front to back, up and down or side to side, it could cause concussion like symptoms. But, I know you would never do that.

I bet the responses you are feeling have more to do with the inner ear.

Small momentary changes in blood pressure to the head and face are common as the blood vessels respond to different head positions. This happens with everybody. It is not a response to protect against damage. It is a response to keep adequate blood flow so one does not pass out from lack of blood flow.

So, yes, that weird sensation is harmless.

You really need to find somebody to help you let go of these worries so you can get on with living your life.

Alright so you would basically have to do it non stop constantly for minutes. And even then, concussion like symptoms occurring doesn't necessarily mean an actual concussion has happened? Rather a severe disturbance of blood flow or inner ear?

Nobody said anything about a severe disturbance of blood flow. More likely a common but momentary change in blood flow.

Minimac, you're most definitely allowing your anxiety/obsession to take hold, and I'm confident that this worrying poses a far greater risk to your health than anything that you have done with your head as of late. Trust me; I've been trying to get over the very same mental obstacle for the past year, and I'm still not quite there yet.

For example, a part of me still thinks that I'm experiencing concussion symptoms as a result of a particularly "vigorous" activity from earlier this week... I don't quite know how to say it on this forum, but yeah. Sure, it caused my head to jerk around a bit, and—even despite the fact that I've had far too many alcohol-related concussions within a very short timespan (recently, too)—I have to keep telling myself that I'm fine.

As of this past pseudo-incident, hitting the books intensely for a few hours will cause me to feel a pressure sensation in my head, but I'm able to make it disappear instantly by simply relaxing my cranio-facial muscles. Now and then I'll notice what seems to be tinnitus—no, now and then I'll resolutely convince myself that I'm experiencing this hallmark symptom of concussion, but then I tell myself that I've always heard this noise, that even my healthy brain had regularly perceived this kind of sound.

You'll be fine. People keep on learnin', world keeps on turnin'. You're ten years post-concussion, and you've only had one...I remember hitting my head pretty hard only 10 or so months after my initial concussion as a kid, and I was fine. In fact, before my more recent "set" of alcohol-related concussions, I busted up my teeth (and my face) on some ice without cognitive deficit.

Persistence is great in the pursuit of knowledge, and I'd encourage you to go explore the scientific literature ad nauseam (if that's your thing), but obsession and incessant self-projection will eat you alive.

Cheers!