Anyone familiar with cauliflower ear?

[SarahFair]

My son is in wrestling and does wear ear protection, but sometimes it's not enough..

He mentioned having cauliflower ear to me for the first time about a week ago, but I thought once you had it, you had it, but a couple days ago he said it got hit again, it got bigger and the coach said it needed to be drained..

I didn't know there was such a short window to drain it til today, and from what everyone is saying a lot if Dr's don't even know what they are doing, and by the time we got an appointment, I didn't want it to be too late.
Poking around the internet, I've seen most people in combat sports just learn to drain it themselves, so naturally I went and bought all the supplies

I used a 25g needle from the pharmacy, cleaned the area real good, and drained the syringe full (1ml) of a clear yellow liquid, hardly any blood towards the end.

The ear still has some swelling (Im betting there is another pocket), but my son had had enough, so I put antibiotic ointment on it, some gauze over it, and clamped it with 2 magnets (not as strong as I was hoping it'd be).

From what I've read, the clear yellow liquid is a seroma vs if it was blood I had drained it would have been a hematoma.
I'm reading seromas mostly hall naturally and will absorb back.

So my question is, for anyone that has dealt with cauliflower ear, what type did you have, what was your experience, and did yours need continuous draining?


I followed this video, did exactly as he did and got the same results.

 

[livinoutdoors]

You did what you needed to do, but i'll be honest here, if he keeps wrestling he's gonna have a little bit of it. Dont worry though, its a badge of honor for those who know what it is.

 

[SarahFair]

You did what you needed to do, but i'll be honest here, if he keeps wrestling he's gonna have a little bit of it. Dont worry though, its a badge of honor for those who know what it is.

It coming with the territory is the main reason I went ahead and learned to do it myself, I'm just not sure if I need to keep draining something with the yellow fluid, or if it'll go away on its own now that the majority of the swelling is gone..

It was a little smaller than the size of a pecan

 

[livinoutdoors]

It coming with the territory is the main reason I went ahead and learned to do it myself, I'm just not sure if I need to keep draining something with the yellow fluid, or if it'll go away on its own now that the majority of the swelling is gone..

It was a little smaller than the size of a pecan

Drain it, ice it, and clamp it. Thats about it. He'll be fine!

 

[basshappy]

@SarahFair you want to drain ASAP. I would think an Urgent Care clinic would do it for you.

I wrestled 2nd grade through college and have no ear indicators. But I, my parents, and my coaches were adamant about wearing headgear. Wasn't an option. Mandatory. Every practice. I can't think of anything of us who grew up wrestling together through high school that got cauliflower ear before graduation. A few in college who opted not to wear the head gear. We were state and national champions, wrestling year round folkstyle, freestyle and greco, traveling throughout the country, easily 100 plus matches every year. 2.5 hour practices. So lots of mat time. Head gear works. Get your kid to wear it and not have to contend with cauliflower ear again.

 

[crackerdave]

Boxers get this a lot,if they don't wear headgear.

 

[SarahFair]

@SarahFair you want to drain ASAP. I would think an Urgent Care clinic would do it for you.

I wrestled 2nd grade through college and have no ear indicators. But I, my parents, and my coaches were adamant about wearing headgear. Wasn't an option. Mandatory. Every practice. I can't think of anything of us who grew up wrestling together through high school that got cauliflower ear before graduation. A few in college who opted not to wear the head gear. We were state and national champions, wrestling year round folkstyle, freestyle and greco, traveling throughout the country, easily 100 plus matches every year. 2.5 hour practices. So lots of mat time. Head gear works. Get your kid to wear it and not have to contend with cauliflower ear again.

He wears headgear, it's required, but sometimes it slips and there's not much you can do in the middle of a match except cross your fingers

 

[basshappy]

@SarahFair which headgear does he wear - the cups that go around his ear essentially not touching it, or the flat type that rest directly on the ear? The cups are the style that touch the ear way less. Might be a solution?

 

[SarahFair]

Cliff Keen

 

[ChidJ]

I got a little bit of it. Not as a kid but as an adult. Did about what you described. I sorta just figured it out myself, though. Never wore any headgear. I think some folks get it worse than others. Its been a long time now as I don't fight anymore but my ears look mostly normal now. There are still some lumpy hard bits in there but I ain't entering any beauty contests so it doesn't bother me

 

[basshappy]

@SarahFair that headgear should protect his ears. Just needs to wear it every time on the mat. All practice and every match.

 

[biggdogg]

My son and I both have it to some extent. If not drained quickly, it will harden and become permanent. Neither of us ever bothered having it drained. Most wrestlers don't bother much with it to be honest. As far as his headgear slipping during matches, that wouldn't be enough to to cause it, so chances are, he isn't wearing it in practice as much as you likely hope he is. Chances are, few, if any guys in the wrestling room are wearing them and let's face it, no one wants to be "that guy". Cauliflower ear comes from repeated slamming, rubbing and grinding in the mat or the other guys shoulders, knees, etc.

And another thing to keep a close eye on. Go online and order some Defense shampoo, body soap and wipes. Staph and ringworm will be a much bigger concern at some point than cauliflower ear. That's why (hopefully, if they're cleaning the mats regularly) your gym smells like a bleach bomb went off.

 

[SarahFair]

My son and I both have it to some extent. If not drained quickly, it will harden and become permanent. Neither of us ever bothered having it drained. Most wrestlers don't bother much with it to be honest. As far as his headgear slipping during matches, that wouldn't be enough to to cause it, so chances are, he isn't wearing it in practice as much as you likely hope he is. Chances are, few, if any guys in the wrestling room are wearing them and let's face it, no one wants to be "that guy". Cauliflower ear comes from repeated slamming, rubbing and grinding in the mat or the other guys shoulders, knees, etc.

And another thing to keep a close eye on. Go online and order some Defense shampoo, body soap and wipes. Staph and ringworm will be a much bigger concern at some point than cauliflower ear. That's why (hopefully, if they're cleaning the mats regularly) your gym smells like a bleach bomb went off.

Oh yeah, we had a lot of "fun" with staph last year.

One tournament last year landed several of our kids with staph and or ringworm.

 

[biggdogg]

Yep, ringworm and especially staph can get nasty real quick. You'll likely encounter it more if he wrestles freestyle/greco in the spring/summer. They don't tend to be as diligent with skin checks as the schools are.

 

[basshappy]

@SarahFair does your team use the Sterilaser UV device? Team I work with does. This year not one case of worm. Last year same time without Sterilaser 7 cases already.

 

[SarahFair]

@SarahFair does your team use the Sterilaser UV device? Team I work with does. This year not one case of worm. Last year same time without Sterilaser 7 cases already.

I dont think they do, but I dont think they've had any ringworm or staph cases this year either (knock on wood)

 

[Danuwoa]

You did what you needed to do, but i'll be honest here, if he keeps wrestling he's gonna have a little bit of it. Dont worry though, its a badge of honor for those who know what it is.

This. It’s just part of it.

 

[basshappy]

I dont think they do, but I dont think they've had any ringworm or staph cases this year either (knock on wood)

The best $1800 investment his team can make. With respect to hygiene and health.

 

[basshappy]

This. It’s just part of it.

Fortunately our coaches had a simple rule - headgear worn 100% of the time on the mat for drills and live wrestling. On average we wrestled 100 matches a year, and this was back in mid-80s through the mid-90s. Gradeschool through high school. If you forgot your headgear you didn't step on the mat. You ran, jumped rope, squats, mountain climbers etc the duration of practice (2 hours). Where headgear during matches was optional - freestyle, Greco-Roman, and sambo) our coaches made us wear it. I am glad, too, no cauli ear here. No one I grew up with (gradeschool through high school) got it either. In college when we all went to different programs some picked it up then.