Who here has caught anything grappling?

zenshin

zenshin

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With all the reading I was wondering who here since started grappling/BJJ has contracted herpes, staph or anything else? How common is it to catch something while grappling and how is it preventable?
 
zenshin said:
With all the reading I was wondering who here since started grappling/BJJ has contracted herpes, staph or anything else? How common is it to catch something while grappling and how is it preventable?
Click to expand...

I send this out on our club's email list once a year:

It is important for all members to be aware of the ways to prevent the
spread of disease during practice. Communicable diseases are a threat
to wrestlers because of constant contact and repeated minor abrasions.
Skin diseases can sweep through a team unless monitored and treated
effectively.

It is imperative that all club members check themselves for any skin
irritations, sores, and rashes prior to any practice. Even if you have
a sore or wound that is not infectious such as a mat burn you can
become easily infected by diseases that are on the mat from other
people because you have an open area that bacteria can enter. For this
reason, it is advisable that no one roll if they have any open cuts,
sores, or rashes etc.

The main problem is that the mats in Trees Hall are not often cleaned.
In addition, there are many clubs and classes in which people walk all
over the mats wearing street shoes which are very dirty. Now, some of
the main culprits of this are the very clubs that purchased the mats
in the first place (you know who you are) so there isn't much we can
say about the way they contaminate their own mats and we just have to
be extra careful ourselves!

The major skin problems that you can pick up from rolling on the mats
are ringworm (tinea corporis), herpes gladiatorum, MRSA and Staph, and
Hepatitis.

Staph is a bacterium that lives on the skin of many healthy people.
Infections generally show up as pus-producing boils on the skin.
Folliculitis, boils, and impetigo are common examples. MRSA is a
dangerous variant of Staph that is resistant to all the traditional
antibiotics. Infections of MRSA are often mistaken for recluse spider
bites.

Herpes is another virus to watch out for infection. It produces
blister-like sores on the skin. Herpes viruses can cause fever
blisters or cold sores on the mouth, shingles and chicken pox, or even
some STDs.

Ringworm is a fungal infection of the skin. It is not caused by a
worm. Ringworm is characterized by one or more red raised patches with
a rough, scaly, circular border. They are often often clear in the
center and very itchy. The lesions vary in size from very small
circular patches to large clumps.

Theoretically HIV may also be contracted from blood contamination, but
I am aware of no cases where any wrestler contracted HIV from a mat!
Practicality it is not really a concern under typical conditions.

Of these germs, by far the most common is ringworm and folliculitis.
The greatest danger comes from MRSA. Follow these guidelines to help
protect yourself from contracting a serious illness:

1) Never roll with any open sore. And watch out for any open sores on
yourself or other club members. Don't be shy, mention any rashes you
might notice. The worst thing that will happen is that a club member
might have to take a week or two off. They can use it to study extra
and be back to rolling in no time.

2) Always shower immediately after rolling. Wash beforehand too if you
are dirty. Use an antibacterial soap and deodorant to help guard
against these germs. Nobody will want to roll with you if you stink!

3) After you shower, make sure to completely dry yourself off before
covering up. Staph, ringworm and other nasty stuff love to breed in
warm, damp environments. This is why the most common places for
ringworm to show up are the feet (athletes foot) the crotch (jock
itch) and the armpits.

4) Wear a gi or a rash guard to help limit contact. However, it is not
a substitute for cleaning up after practice.

5) Always wash your gi, shorts, or rash guard between every work out!
Sometimes it is tempting to just hang up a gi or pair of shorts to dry
out between workouts. Don't do it! Even if you didn't swear in that
gi, it was in contact with the mat and the mat has all kinds of funky
little critters just waiting to find a home in your body! NEVER EVER
roll in a dirty gi.

If we all follow these simple rules, hopefully we can all roll without
picking up any annoying diseases from the other people who contaminate
the mats.

-- Jim and Matt
 
man what a huge downer. the one shitty thing about grappling. i have never got ring worm but i did have a skin rash for about two weeks and i went crazy buying shit to clean my gi and using antibacterial soap and so on. a few guys dont always wash their gi and that definately pisses me off. showering before and after rolling should be mandatory
 
i got ring worm 3 times in high school, pretty sure it was from the same wrestling team i got it from every year too. haven't gotten anything else since thank goodness
 
I got MRSA last year which is similar to Staph. It starts out looking like a big zit. My doc(navy corpsman) on my ship ended up cutting it so we could drain it. It took a little bit but eventually got better. One of the things to look for is fever. When I had it, I got a fever, cold chills, and kind of shaky so my doc made sure I was on Anti-biotics.
 
I havent caught anything....from grappling..:rolleyes: ...**knock on wood **
 
I caught staph for the first time about two weeks ago (I was also one of those guys that just never thought it would happen to me--I'm a clean freak, and I'm not training as frequently as I used to). It looked like a pimple, filled with pus, then sort of spread into a small cigarette-burn sized sore. There are three on my wrist.

It's a serious fucking downer. Four hours waiting in a walk in clinic to have a doctor tell me I had what I already knew I had, but then not really be able to answer any of my questions about it (maybe it will recur, maybe it won't. Maybe it's contagious even after it's healed, maybe not...what the hell?). I'm taking a 10 day course of antibiotics. See how it goes.
 
BOS,
I feel your pain I got STAPH about 3 months ago, started as the smallest little pimple, like an in grown hair on my wrist, right were my Gi rubs, within in a week, it was the size of a quarter. Went to the doctor, they gave me an antibiotic(Bactrim) for 10 days, it did not work. Needless to say, it ended up taking about 2 months to get rid of. Now I use hand sanatizer about 10 times a day, wash my body when I can. The whole process really sucked.
 
had ring worm many times. no biggie, sound a lot grosser than it really is.

i didnt know you get herpes, someone gives me herpes from grappling and theyre getting kicked in the junk.
 
armtriangle said:
i didnt know you get herpes, someone gives me herpes from grappling and theyre getting kicked in the junk.
Click to expand...

seriously, WTF??? I really hope herpes gladiatorium can only affect the skin where it infects me and won't give me fucking cold sores or genital herpes (edit: for the REST OF MY LIFE). this is some seriously scary shit. does anyone have more information about this? I can't find anything good online
 
In Japan, at the end of every class (rolling or stand up) all the students would go to the sink grab a hand towel and clean the mat from end to end. I thought it was a great custom, not just to keep the mats just a bit cleaner, but it also gives a sense of respecting your school/dojo: all the students participating in its care. It's a custom I'd really like to see more often in the states. I know my school sanitizes the mats every night, but there are several classes during the day, and could have been a hundred students rolling before the night classes even begin. It wouldn't eliminate all germs, but an ounce of prevention...
 
I got ringworm twice, and warts on my hands/wrists/knees more times than I can count. Fing gross. The warts are small and easily removed with liquid nitrogen (I work in a lab), but it still pisses me off. Not as much as the ringworm on my face did, but still a lot.
 
Staph, ringworm - that kind of shiet - Love grappling when i dont have it, and hate grappling when i do.
 
Are there any possible ways to prevent this? There has to be a solution because these are not small things especially herpes, I think this has to get some real serious concern. This is 100% why I have not ever grappled and stick to my boxing/kick boxing. I would love to grapple but if someone has to be concerned about catching something then it becomes not fun anymore. Your school could be 100% bacteria clean, but when you compete which is about once a month I think you are competing with people from different gyms with different levels of hygiene or who's school is not as clean.
 
Got ringworm once, no big deal. There is a guy I train with who has a wart on his hand the size of a quarter though and Im scared shitless to roll with him. No way i want that thing rubbing on my face or near my mouth......
 
Well Zeshin,
Make sure the dojo/gym you are checking out is always clean. Is there a on the spot janitor at the gym who is always cleaning and disenfecting the mats?

At 5Points they started doing no-gi grappling once week, but they got a guy always mopping and cleaning the mats. Im so glad they ahve someone dedicated to cleaning the place.

This applies to everyone who is considered grappling- Is the place dedicated in maintaining a clean environment.:icon_chee
 
I might have got ringworm once... but before it developed too much... i took a cotton swab with bleach, and rubbed it off until i bled and it left a huge scar... = \ ... i hate disgusting shit like that, i didnt even wanna risk it...
 
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