HOW DO WE GET CAULIFLOWER EAR?

You earn cauliflower ear by putting time on the mats (and by not wearing headgear lol). The ear deformity is common amongst almost most grapplers that compete at high levels. Your instructor probably has it and all the people in the MMA circuit have it. Treating cauliflower ears is fairly simple. If you get it, to not irritate the damage further it is best to wear headgear or drain the fluid that is present.

When you are rolling around and getting violent with people on the mats injuries are bound to happen. This is just one of those things. The way you can get cauliflower ear in BJJ is by the Gi rubbing against your ear too hard or by someone accidentally hitting your head/ear area. You will know when you are starting to get it. Your ears will be sore for days on end and they may be pretty sensitive to touch. When people continue to touch or damage the ear while in this stage the deformity can worsen so be careful (as much as you can be).

Cauliflower ear treatment is as simple as it gets. Wear head gear and you will be able to prevent it from happening.

Ways To Prevent Cauliflower Ear

You can prevent cauliflower ear by not training martial arts entirely or wearing headgear while training. Headgear can be uncomfortable to wear at times but nonetheless, if you do not want your ear to look mangled it will have to be the sacrifice you make.

How to Avoid Cauliflower Ear BJJ:

1. Don’t train

2. Wear headgear

3. When you get sore ears ice them

4. Take a break if your ears start to get sore

5. Use Headgear

6. (Bonus) If you get the deformity, drain it, and use magnets (Or EarSplintz)

What are the signs and symptoms of cauliflower ear?

You will know when you are starting to get cauliflower ear or not. Typically the first sign that your outer ear is damaged is redness in the area and swelling around the area. When the cartilage is damaged from some type of way it can get very sensitive to touch. A simple gesture of resting your head on a pillow when cauliflower ear is starting to appear can be irritating.

Now it is important to notify the difference in symptoms of cauliflower ear. When the ear is initially damaged it may swell. In cases of serious trauma to the ear cartilage blood will rush to the ear causing a blood clot, better known as an ear auricular hematoma. Managing auricular hematoma is fairly simple in most cases. It is important if you are having a large amount of swelling to go seek treatment immediately. If left untreated you are at increased risk to suffer from intense pain. Draining the blood from the ear with a sanitized syringe is recommended.

After draining the ear or the swollen area, the cartilage that is left to harden is known as the cauliflower ear. There is typically a three-step process of how the injury occurs:

• First: Trauma to the ear occurs

• Second: The ear is swollen, tender, or red in the damaged area. Accumulated blood in any area of the ear can be drained with a syringe. Some wrestling coaches know how to do it themselves but it is always advised to seek a medical professional who knows what they are doing.

• Third: After swelling goes down, the ear is possibly drained and what is left is a small deformity

HOW TO PROPERLY DRAIN CAULIFLOWER EAR

Properly draining the most common ear injury in grappling sports (known as cauliflower ear) is done typically in two ways. The first way is through a medical professional who is certified to drain the blood for the auricular hematoma. You would think this is the best route in most cases but we have heard that some medical professionals have never drained it before making the experience less desirable then it already is. Most people who get Cauliflower ear go for the second option and that is finding a wrestling coach or someone in their circle who has drained the ear injury before.

Typically through experience, coaches will take on treating wrestler’s ear. Blood stored in cauliflower ear needs to be drained using a clean syringe and you must make sure the area is clean so no infection occurs.

Treating Cauliflower Ear

The treatment for cauliflower ear is pretty simple. When you start to notice your ear getting sore or tender to touch you have a couple of options. The options are to relax on the amount of time you train, get headgear and start to wear it, or do nothing. If you do nothing your ear will eventually swell if it keeps getting hit (the likelihood of this happening is high).

Some people may not want to walk around with a mangled ear some may see it as a trophy. The choice is yours on what you want to do.

We do not believe having cauliflower ear is a big deal. It does not affect anything on how the body functions. It may look funky but we would argue that having this ear deformity is a badge of honor. When you see someone out and they have cauliflower ear you know they are a warrior. If you see someone on the street and they have this do not pick a fight with them, you will most likely be fighting someone who is trained!

Who does cauliflower ear affect?

Cauliflower ears affect most wrestlers, boxing enthusiasts, and most grapplers (BJJ athletes, sambo practitioners, even Judokas). The cauliflower ear was originally known as the fighter ear, anyone with an injury in their ears was always known to a tough individual who frequently fought.

Cauliflower ear is not a contagious thing, it is common for many people to even train in grappling or combat-based sports and never experience getting the injury. Typically cauliflower ear is avoided by those that frequently wear headgear.

It is important to note that cauliflower ear is a permanent deformity of the ear unless you go and get plastic surgery to get it fixed. In all honesty, it is not needed, you look more like a badass with it, plus why spend that type of money to fix your ear cartilage?

The only reason we think it would make sense to get plastic surgery to fix it is if you were an MMA fighter and had a portion of your ear cartilage come off or the deformity is causing issues with hearing.