With today’s much anticipated release of “Conan the Barbarian,” all eyes are on star Jason Momoa’s… hair? The Hawaiian native, best known for his role as Ronan Dex on Stargate: Atlantis, recently chopped off his signature locks because he said they were causing him migraines and whiplash. Of all the reasons for headaches, hair is rarely identified as the culprit. There is, however, a medical explanation for the “pain in the brain”.
The hair itself, of course, is not alive; but the muscles in the scalp are. The connective tissue around the muscles have associated pain fibers which make the scalp, face and ears extra sensitive to stimuli. With repeated irritation, a tension headache can develop. It is likely that Momoa’s long dreadlocks were heavy, and constantly pulled on his scalp—eventually causing headaches. Other causes of tension headaches include: ponytails, headbands, tight-fitting hats, hair extensions, and even heavy earrings.
Mamoa first complained of pain while filming action scenes for Stargate: Atlantis. The problem became so severe that he had to cut them off in Season Five. The show’s producers were supportive, and even planned to film a scene where his character cuts off his hair in an episode entitled “Broken Ties.” They scrapped the idea last minute and decided to have him wear artificial dreadlock hair extensions. While wearing the dreadlocks only temporarily may have solved the headache problem, Momoa continued to experience problems with whiplash.
