Breakdancers were told that too many headspins could give them a 'cone head'

Are you going to breakdance today? If so, maybe be careful with head twists. Unless you want to end up with a “cone head,” that is.

The extreme physical demands of breakdancing mean that 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: that spinning too much on their heads could lead them to develop a noticeable bump on the top of their head.

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

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

The case report, written by two of the doctors who treated him at Copenhagen University Hospital, details how “his training regimen consisted of approximately five sessions per week, each lasting around an hour and a half. During each session, direct pressure was applied to the vertex of the head. [from spinning on it] with durations ranging between two and seven minutes.”

In the five years before he was referred for treatment for his lump, “there was a noticeable increase in its size and the onset of tenderness. The presence of the lesion and the associated discomfort were aesthetically unpleasant for the patient, but the protuberance had not prevented him from continuing his dizzying activities.”

Initially, doctors considered a number of possible diagnoses, including that the lump could be cancer or a benign tumor.

An MRI showed it to be what the authors of the case report call “a subgaleal mass measuring 34 cm x 0.6 cm x 2.9 cm near the midline apex.”

It turned out to be an extreme example of the scalp lump that “spinning hole” can involve. “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 rather than receive steroid injections, which may have shrunk him.

He was pleased to have a more regularly shaped head again, he told BMJ Case Experiences. “The result is much better than it looked before and I'm glad I did it,” he said. “I would choose to do it again if I had the choice.

“Now I can go out in public without a hat, which of course is a very nice feeling. I have received a lot of positive comments and people say that it looks well done, that I have a nice scar and that my normal appearance has improved significantly.”

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