How to prevent cauliflower ear in BJJ

Cauliflower ear is a condition that is caused by trauma to the ears. This can be trauma of blunt force (such as punching and kicking) or due to repeated and heavy irritation (such as always trying to pull yourself out of headlocks and chokes). What happens is the skins gets removed from the cartilage in the ear, which leaves room for blood to flow in. The blood has nowhere to go, so it solidifies into a cartilage like substance. The cycle repeats itself and the end result is a deformed looking ear.

When you see somebody with cauliflower ear, you know they are an experienced fighter – usually with grappling and striking (think MMA). As such, it has become a status symbol amongst fighters, especially in Brazil. However, there are reasons why you wouldn’t want it:

Randy Couture's Cauliflower Ear

1. Your ear is deformed, and that doesn’t look pretty. May make you look intimidating, but perhaps not so attractive
2. It hurts like a SOB when it happens (so I hear)
3. It can grow to the point of blocking your hearing and prevent you from using in-ear headphones
4. It can even grow to the point of chunks of your ear falling off. Yikes.
5. It does not look professional. Think about what your employer or prospective employer might think

So, how do you prevent cauliflower ear? Well, there are 3 main things you can do:

1. Drain the blood out of your ear each time (and immediately after) it happens. However, this is a lot of maintenance and it is painful.
2. Get plastic surgery after the fact if it gets too bad. Talk about expensive, and you’ll end up having to do #3 below afterwards anyway.
3. Wear protective headgear when you train. This is the easiest way to avoid it. You’ll want something that is made for grappling – meaning it should have a very low profile so you don’t give your opponent more to hold onto when choking you. Think how much harder it will be to pull your head out of a choke or just to maneuver around if you have something big attached to your head.

MatMan Ear Guard no. 35

Cliff Keen Twister Ear Guard

Regarding headgear, I have tried the Matman #35. I like it because the low profile and they are soft on the outside (more a courtesy to my opponent than me). I also want to give the Cliff Keen Twister head gear a try as I hear they are great for BJJ. They are also low profile, but not as soft on the outside. This might actually be better because the smoother surface won’t cause as much friction, which should make it easy to escape holds and chokes.