Head Jerking: Causes & Reasons

Warning: Do not use in emergencies, if pregnant, if under 18, or as a substitute for a doctor’s advice or diagnosis. Learn more

Possible Causes for Head Jerking

Tic Disorder

Examples of these movements are eye blinking, head jerking, nose twitching, or shoulder shrugging. [nationalcprfoundation.com]

There are two types of tics: Motor : Sudden movements of the muscles, often involving a specific body part (eye blinking, facial movements, shoulder shrugging, head jerking [advocatechildrenshospital.com]

Simple tics are a very brief movement or vocalization (eg, head jerk, grunt), typically without social meaning. [msdmanuals.com]

Tourette Syndrome

Tics that involve movements (motor tics) include things like blinking, frowning, and head jerking Tics that involve sounds (vocal tics) include things like throat clearing [merckmanuals.com]

With time, other motor tics may appear, such as head jerking, neck stretching, floor stamping, body twisting and bending. [ucdmc.ucdavis.edu]

They include: Blinking Frowning Head jerking Shoulder shrugging Grunting or barking Sniffing or snorting Repeated throat clearing Because simple tics are just quick movements [merckmanuals.com]

Autosomal Dominant Spastic Ataxia Type 1

The requested URL /neurological-diseases-spastic-ataxia-type-1-autosomal-dominant-vamp1-genetic-c1620.html was not found on this server. [dnadiagnostics.co.in]

Whiplash Injury

The head's jerking action pulls muscles and ligaments beyond their typical range of motion, causing fibers to tear. [livescience.com]

Condition: Cervical whiplash is an injury to the neck that occurs when the head is jerked forward and back very quickly. [aapmr.org]

Whiplash is caused by a sudden jerking motion of the head, either backward or forward. [my.clevelandclinic.org]

Spasmodic Torticollis

[…] to jerk or tilt. [wisegeekhealth.com]

Head jerks, twisting movements (inclined head, rotations). Uncontrollable spasms in the neck. Pain in the craniocervical region. Abnormal vestibular function. [symptoma.com]

These spasms can cause the head to turn, jerk or pull to one side (rotational), towards the shoulder (laterocollis), forward (anterocollis) or backward (retrocollis). [umanitoba.ca]

Facial Tic Disorder

Simple rapid movements, resembling a body spasm, are termed simple motor tics such as eye blinking, head jerks, and facial grimace. [ocdtypes.com]

More common simple tics include eye blinking, facial grimacing, shoulder shrugging, and head jerking and shoulder jerking. [finspeds.com]

For example: eye blinking, jaw movements, shoulder shrugging, head bobbing/jerking, facial grimacing, neck stretching, arm jerking, etc. [hmhk.com.au]

Benign Familial Neonatal Epilepsy Type 3

[…] side and then jerks a few times. [epilepsy.org.uk]

[…] or bilateral clonic jerks of the limbs. [orpha.net]

Previous names for self-limited neonatal convulsions Benign neonatal convulsions Fifth day fits Symptoms The seizures can appear in different forms: The head turns to one [epilepsy.org.uk]

Cogan Syndrome

The jerking-head movements associated with this disorder usually appear by the third or fourth month of life. [rarediseases.org]

[…] movements Head jerking Jerking head movements [ more ] 0006961 Nephronophthisis 0000090 Oculomotor apraxia 0000657 Showing of 5 | Last updated: 7/1/2019 Unfortunately, there [rarediseases.info.nih.gov]

To compensate for this, these infants will sharply jerk their heads past the desired object in effort to bring the eyes to a position where they can view the object. [checkorphan.org]

Young Syndrome

Motor tics are typically characterized by facial grimacing, head jerks, extremity movements, and other stereotyped movements. [managedcaremag.com]

Symptoms may include: Involuntary, purposeless, motor movements (may involve different parts of the body, such as the face, neck, shoulders, trunk, or hands): Head jerking [childrensnational.org]

About Tics Two types of tics are associated with Tourette syndrome: Motor tics — sudden, apparently uncontrollable movements such as exaggerated eye blinking, grimacing, head [kidshealth.org]

Hereditary Hyperekplexia

All patients with hyperekplexia showed an abnormal short-latency (15-20 ms) reflex in the trapezius muscle with a characteristic clinical appearance ("head retraction jerk [ncbi.nlm.nih.gov]

neck, spinal, and sometimes, limb musculature, resulting in involuntary shouting, jerking, jumping, and falling; autosomal dominant and recessive inheritance forms, with [medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com]

Arching of the head (exaggerated head-retraction reflex), jerking movements (myoclonic jerks) or falling stiffly to the ground without losing consciousness tends to occur [geneticdisordersuk.org]

Atonic Seizures

Epilepsy onset was at 3years and 5months: he presented with myoclonic-atonic seizures, head drops, myoclonic jerks, and absences. [ncbi.nlm.nih.gov]

Other symptoms may include: Going limp and falling to the ground Remaining conscious Experiencing a brief loss of consciousness Drooping eyelids Head nods Jerking Because [cedars-sinai.edu]

Puckering (jerking) of the lips, twitching of the corners of the mouth, or jaw jerking can also be seen. Sometimes rhythmic jerks of the head and legs may occur. [epilepsy.org.au]

Myoclonic Seizures

Some of these involved sudden jerks of either arm, while other instances involved the trunk and head. [neurologyadvisor.com]

In MAE, myoclonic jerks consist of symmetric, mostly generalised jerks, accentuated in the arms and in the shoulders and frequently simultaneously with a head nod; both the [doosesyndrome.org]

Puckering (jerking) of the lips, twitching of the corners of the mouth, or jaw jerking can also be seen. Sometimes rhythmic jerks of the head and legs may occur. [epilepsy.org.au]

Frontal Lobe Epilepsy

Sudden thrashing movements during sleep, posturing with the head jerking to one side, and the arm rising with it into a brief, frozen state are some of the common symptoms [depression-guide.com]

The epileptic origin of attacks was contradicted by the peculiar motor pattern, characterized by asynchronous jerks of the head, trunk and limbs, resembling a puppet on a [academic.oup.com]

heads and moved their hands to the face (5%) or arched their trunks (4%). [academic.oup.com]

Epilepsy with Generalized Tonic-Clonic Seizures

My head jerked too now, like it was being dragged by my eyes jerk, jerk, jerk, I tried to push out a sound, a grunt. Nothing but spittle. [jessradio.wordpress.com]

Two seizures started with forced version of the head to the left along with clonic left arm jerking, two seizures started with left leg jerking, and in one seizure the onset [jnnp.bmj.com]

[…] part of your body Brief, irregular jerks in part of your body Your head and eyes turning to one side Lip smacking, repeated swallowing or chewing A jerking movement that starts [epilepsy.org.uk]

Autosomal Recessive Spastic Paraplegia Type 63

Mutations in VAMP1 gene are causing spastic ataxia 1 (SPAX1), a rare neurodegenerative disorder characterized by lower-limb spasticity and ataxia in the form of head jerks [centogene.com]

Spasmus Nutans

Her mother described three episodes of eyes jerking and head bobbing, each occurring on waking from a nap and lasting about 30 seconds. [shmabstracts.com]

Symptoms Nystagmus (fine, rapid jerking of the eyes from side to side) Head nodding Head tilting Signs and tests A neurologic examination confirms the presence of the symptoms [health.am]

She reported the patient’s eyes jerking rapidly to the right and slower back to the left and described the head movement “like a very fast bobble head doll.” [shmabstracts.com]

Hyperekplexia Type 4

On examination, an exaggerated head-retraction reflex, hesitant gait, tremulous jerks in all extremities, and tremor of variable frequency were evident; the latter indicates [ng.neurology.org]

Other symptoms that may accompany HPX include: Arching of the head in conjunction with the startle reaction Jerking movements after the startle reaction or when trying to [verywellhealth.com]

Arching of the head (exaggerated head-retraction reflex or HRR), spastic jerking movements (myoclonic jerks) or falling stiffly to the ground (without losing consciousness [rarediseases.org]

Atypical Absence Seizure

They are often associated with other features such as loss of muscle tone of the head, trunk or limbs (often a gradual slump) and subtle myoclonic jerks. [monarchinitiative.org]

This may lead to retropulsion, which may cause eyelids to twitch rapidly, eyes may jerk upwards or the patients head may rock back and forth slowly, as if nodding.[5][6][7 [en.wikipedia.org]

If the patient is standing, the head may be drawn backward and the trunk may arch. [en.wikipedia.org]

Autosomal Dominant Congenital Nystagmus 3

Eye movement recordings reveal that infantile nystagmus is predominantly a horizontal jerk waveform, with a diagnostic accelerating velocity slow phase. [diseaseinfosearch.org]

OMIM : 58 Classic congenital or infantile nystagmus presents as conjugate, horizontal oscillations of the eyes, in primary or eccentric gaze, often with a preferred head turn [malacards.org]

Other associated features may include mildly decreased visual acuity, strabismus, astigmatism, and occasionally head nodding. [diseaseinfosearch.org]

Congenital Deafness

Neonatal responses► Startling reflex (Responds to loud sound)► Aural-palpebral reflex► Change in heart rate► Change in pattern of respiration► Backward head jerk► Moro reflex [slideshare.net]

Autosomal Recessive Spastic Paraplegia Type 56

Mutations in VAMP1 gene are causing spastic ataxia 1 (SPAX1), a rare neurodegenerative disorder characterized by lower-limb spasticity and ataxia in the form of head jerks [centogene.com]

Onset Age Variable Typical: 10 to 20 years Range: Early childhood to 20's No anticipation Leg spasticity Spasticity Legs Severe Tendon reflexes: Brisk Cerebellar Involuntary head [neuromuscular.wustl.edu]

jerks Dysarthria Dysphagia Gait disorder Ocular: Supranuclear gaze palsy Sensory: Vibration loss in legs Not affected: Life span; Cognition Pathology Degeneration of: Corticospinal [neuromuscular.wustl.edu]

Subacute Sclerosing Panencephalitis

[…] movements of the head, trunk or limbs called myoclonic jerks. [ninds.nih.gov]

The symptoms that follow are commonly involuntary jerking movements of the person's head, limb or trunk jerks, and additional motor function disturbances. [disabled-world.com]

[…] mental deterioration (such as memory loss) and changes in behavior (such as irritability) followed by disturbances in motor function, including uncontrollable involuntary jerking [ninds.nih.gov]

Myoclonic-Astatic Epilepsy

They cause lightning-like falls, head nodding, or bending of the knees. [epilepsy.com]

This kind of seizure results in a sudden loss of muscle tone, which commonly presents as a head nod or a fall to the ground preceded by a brief muscle jerk. [epilepsygenetics.co.uk]

Studies using video-EEG recordings have demonstrated that the myoclonic jerks involve the axis of the body and the arms, provoking a head drop, and commonly result in an upward [mhmedical.com]

Autosomal Dominant Congenital Nystagmus 7

Eye movement recordings reveal that infantile nystagmus is predominantly a horizontal jerk waveform, with a diagnostic accelerating velocity slow phase. [malacards.org]

OMIM : 58 Classic congenital or infantile nystagmus presents as conjugate, horizontal oscillations of the eyes, in primary or eccentric gaze, often with a preferred head turn [malacards.org]

Classic congenital or infantile nystagmus presents as conjugate, horizontal oscillations of the eyes, in primary or eccentric gaze, often with a preferred head turn or tilt [diseaseinfosearch.org]

Ataxia-Oculomotor Apraxia Syndrome

The jerking-head movements associated with this disorder usually appear by the third or fourth month of life. [rarediseases.org]

Before these head jerkings occur, an infant’s inability to fixate on an object may sometimes be mistaken for blindness. [rarediseases.org]

These jerking head movements are the most noticeable sign of Cogan type ocular motor apraxia and are usually recognized three to four months after birth. [rarediseases.org]

Focal-Onset Impaired-Awareness Seizure

Adam says: ’My attacks consisted of head jerking, arms and legs flaying, my hands and feet contorting so much that they hurt, losing control of my legs, I also used to go [nonepilepticattacks.info]

Puckering (jerking) of the lips, twitching of the corners of the mouth, or jaw jerking can also be seen. Sometimes rhythmic jerks of the head and legs may occur. [epilepsy.org.au]

Jerking, muscle rigidity, spasms, head-turning b. Unusual sensations affecting either the vision, hearing, smell taste or touch c. Memory or emotional disturbances 2. [medicinenet.com]

Versive Seizure

[…] of the head, limbs, and rest of the body. [healthtap.com]

The myoclonic jerks are typically bilateral but may be unilateral or asymmetric. Perioral myoclonias and rhythmic jerks of the head and legs may occur. [slideshare.net]

[…] movements and axial clonic jerks and falls and autonomic signs. [epilepsy.com]

X-linked Spastic Paraplegia Type 16

Mutations in VAMP1 gene are causing spastic ataxia 1 (SPAX1), a rare neurodegenerative disorder characterized by lower-limb spasticity and ataxia in the form of head jerks [centogene.com]

Autosomal Recessive Spastic Paraplegia Type 27

Mutations in VAMP1 gene are causing spastic ataxia 1 (SPAX1), a rare neurodegenerative disorder characterized by lower-limb spasticity and ataxia in the form of head jerks [centogene.com]

Cerebellar Ataxia - Neuropathy - Vestibular Areflexia Syndrome

[…] testing Subject VOR Abnormal, HIT Abnormal, Jerk Nystagmus, Gaze Evoked Nystagmus, Square Wave Jerks Creator Daniel R. [collections.lib.utah.edu]

Abnormal visually-enhanced VOR in cerebellar ataxia, neuropathy, vestibular areflexia syndrome (CANVAS) Subject Abnormal Pursuit, Abnormal VOR, Abnormal HIT, Cerebellar, Jerk [collections.lib.utah.edu]

Examination showed excessive square-wave jerks, bilateral horizontal gaze-evoked nystagmus, impairment of the visually-enhanced vestibular ocular reflex (vVOR - see with slow [collections.lib.utah.edu]