Can You Get Cauliflower Ear from Jiu-Jitsu?

You may have noticed that many people who practice jiu-jitsu and grappling in general often come away with strange-looking ears. The condition that makes their ears look that way is called cauliflower ear, which is not only painful but can cause lasting damage to the structure and appearance of an ear.

Cauliflower ear is quite common in jiu-jitsu, but not all practitioners will get it. This injury typically arises following direct trauma to an otherwise healthy ear. Some positions and techniques are more likely to cause cauliflower ear, and there are some methods you can use to avoid this common ear injury, as well.  

This article will deal with the prevalence of cauliflower ear in jiu-jitsu and give you some ideas on how you can prevent it. But before we cover those topics, you should have a solid understanding of what cauliflower ear is.

What is Cauliflower Ear?

Cauliflower ear is a specific type of ear injury, often resulting from blunt force trauma, that causes an ear to take on a deformed appearance. Ear injuries that lead to cauliflower ear often include cartilage damage and blood flow disruption as well.

How Does Cauliflower Ear Form?

Not all blows to the ear will cause cauliflower ear to form. However, when cauliflower ear does form, it typically results from this sequence of events following a blunt force trauma:

• Ear skin detaches from ear cartilage

• A temporary hematoma may form under the skin

• Ear cartilage experiences a lack or disruption in blood flow

• Without blood flow, the cartilage does not receive vital nutrients

• Without nutrients, the cartilage will shrivel and die

All blood flow that ear cartilage receives comes from the thin layer of skin that covers it. When this connection is broken in some way, the cartilage will fail to receive the nutrients it needs to continue surviving and maintaining its normal structure.

Over time, a lack of nutrients will cause the cartilage to collapse, shrivel, and die. Once this shriveling occurs, the ear will become permanently deformed.

How Does Jiu-Jitsu Give You Cauliflower Ear?

Once you know the general way in which cauliflower ear forms, it is not at all difficult to see how one could experience this injury during jiu-jitsu. During jiu-jitsu training, it's not uncommon for your training partners to accidentally strike or rub against your ears. Such contact can occur in many different positions while you drill and spar.

Any time your ear gets rubbed or hit hard enough, it's possible for the skin to detach from the cartilage underneath. When this happens, cauliflower is likely to arise afterward. And while getting your ears rubbed and hit is difficult to avoid during training, there are some preventative measures you can take to make this injury less likely.

Preventing Cauliflower Ear While Training Jiu-Jitsu

Let's consider a few preventative measures you can take to prevent your ears from developing cauliflower ear. Remember that there is no guarantee that you can keep your ears intact while you train.

There may also be some inherent traits that make some people more likely to develop cauliflower ear than others. Interestingly, there are many cases in which a new practitioner may develop cauliflower ear right away, while someone who has trained for many years may never get cauliflower, despite a similar training routine.

With that said, there are at least three distinct tactics you can use to reduce the odds that you get cauliflower ear. The next sections will introduce you to each one.

Know Which Move Are More Likely to Cause Cauliflower Ear

During grappling exchanges, some moves are more likely to cause cauliflower ear than others. If you are interested in preventing cauliflower ear, it is in your best interest to identify these situations and circumvent them as best you can.

What Grappling Moves Are Most Likely to Lead to Cauliflower Ear?

Cauliflower ear could occur as the result of any kind of blunt force trauma. However, there are two types of grappling moves that are more often the cause of cauliflower ear than others:

• Takedowns: When performing a takedown, such as a double-leg or single-leg, your ear will often rub against your opponent's body. In fact, some techniques require you to create pressure with your head against your opponent to complete a takedown. These instances can easily place a lot of pressure on your ear, which is why wrestlers are among those most likely to have cauliflower ear.

• Headlocks: When you are in a headlock or trying to escape a headlock, it can be difficult to avoid crushing your ear against your opponent's torso or arm. The longer that pressure takes place, the greater the chance is that the skin on your ear will detach from the cartilage, beginning the process of cauliflower ear formation.

Plenty of other jiu-jitsu situations exist in which you can get cauliflower ear. However, the two listed above are the ones you'll want to avoid most if cauliflower ear is a concern for you.

Wear Head Gear to Protect Your Ears

Avoiding grappling situations that could cause cauliflower ear may not always be possible. As such, it is often wisest to protect your ears rather than trying to prevent certain grappling scenarios from taking place.

Wearing headgear is one of the best ways that you can keep your ears safe and intact while you grapple. Headgear is incredibly common in wrestling, especially for high school and college wrestlers, but is less common in the jiu-jitsu community.

But while headgear is not always a part of the standard jiu-jitsu training gear set, investing in a pair is well worth the cost if you don't want cauliflower ear. Headgear provides a reliable protective layer that will absorb forces so that your ears don't have to.

Treat Your Cauliflower Ear as soon as it Begins to Form

Our last tip for preventing cauliflower ear is to treat it as soon as you notice it forming. When cauliflower begins to form, it is often too late to prevent all potential deformation. However, it is possible to minimize the degree to which your ear alters its shape.

One of the most popular ways to treat cauliflower ear is by draining it. This process involves piercing your cauliflower ear with a syringe and drawing the blood and liquid out.

Draining a cauliflower ear is only an option just after the injury has occurred. Once your ear begins to harden, it will be too late to drain it, which is why you'll want to treat your cauliflower ear right away.

Many grapplers often perform cauliflower ear draining on their own. However, it is never a bad idea to seek professional medical attention any time you experience a training-related injury, including cauliflower ear.

Conclusion

Cauliflower ear is a widespread injury throughout the jiu-jitsu community, and there is a chance you may get it if you choose to train. However, as the article above shows, there are some ways you can try to avoid and treat cauliflower ear before it leads to extreme ear deformation.