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Roller Coaster Headaches Could Be Dangerous

© Barbara J. Mitchell

An interesting report came out of Japan recently. Dr. T. Fukutake of Ciba University School of Medicine in Japan wrote that roller coaster rides have resulted in the formation of subdural hematomas, which cause unremitting headaches, and require surgical intervention.

A person riding on a roller coaster is subject to violent movements of the head similar to what happens in whiplash injuries. This can cause bridging veins within the skull to tear and hemorrhage. The trapped blood builds up and slowly forms a blood clot called a subdural hematoma. The headache may not begin for a few days after the roller coaster ride, but once it starts, it won't go away.

Normally such hematomas are caused by a fall or blow to the head, and they are usually seen in elderly people or alcoholics. However, one of the men in Japan who developed this condition after riding a double-loop, corkscrew-type roller coaster was only 26, and a 24 year woman had subdural hematomas after riding three different roller coasters in one day. One coaster she rode was the world's highest at 259 feet and fastest at 81 mph.

This young woman didn't think to mention the roller coaster rides to her doctor when she consulted him about the constant headache she had developed. She hadn't lost consciousness and had no head injury that she knew of. When she was still suffering two months later, her doctor ordered an MRI which revealed the hematomas. They were surgically removed and she recovered completely.

WARNING: This isn't a common cause of headaches, of course, but there is one definite warning about roller coasters to be noted. People who are on Coumadin (warfarin) to thin the blood should not ride on a roller coaster. They are much more likely than anyone else to have a problem.

Also, elderly people might want to consider carefully whether they want to subject themselves to this violent whiplash movement. A young person has strong muscles to withstand such forces, but an elderly person might be putting himself in danger. People who have neck or upper back problems would be wise to stay off of roller coasters as well.

In addition to headache, subdural hematomas can cause symptoms similar to those of a stroke, i.e. episodes of confusion, drowsiness, one-sided weakness and/or paralysis.

WebMD Medical News consulted David Hovda, PhD, director of the Brain Injury Program at UCLA about this. He said he would be more concerned about someone with a heart condition riding roller coasters than he would the possibility of developing subdural hematomas.

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