Cauliflower ear**** Self treatment

[ROTNROTT]

I have seen this posted a few times but there has been a lot of misinformation, so I thought I would help out by posting a how-to-guide to cauliflower ear drainage. If your like me you don't have a lot of money laying around so going to the doctor is out of the question. Further a doc often wants to slice into your ear or have you sit out of grappling for an extended period of time which also is out of the question for me. This technique is if you have recently (within the first two weeks) gotten a new pocket of fluid on your cauliflower ear. If your ear has hardened sorry but you are going to often need surgery to clear it up. The following is a step-by-step to removing fluid.

1. Take a shower and make sure your ear is totally clean (use a clean towel as well)
2. Put on some hospital style gloves (utilize non-latex if at all possible in case you have a allergy you don't know about)
3. Use some sort of cleaning agent for you ear and let it dry. (ie- Chlorhexidine, Iodine,etc) rubbing alcohol will also work in a pinch but make sure to let it dry.
4. Get a new (absolutely a must!!!!) needle/syringe. The gauge I personally use is 25G the reason being is that is large enough to get out thick fluid that might not go through an insulin needle. But the needle is not so big that it looks like you put a new percing through your ear. The syringe size you need is atleast 3 cc's, as often what looks like a small amount of fluid can really be much more. The reason I don't like using diabetic insulin needles/syringes is that the syringe can only hold 0.5 cc's of fluid which might require you sticking yourself numerous times if you have a larger amount of fluid.
5. While standing infront of the mirror slowly insert the needle into the plumpiest part of the pocket taking into account that usually the bottom part of the pocket is the best place to put it into as fluid likes to follow gravity.
6. Slowly with draw the plunger on the syringe until all fluid is evacuated, or no more is being excreted.
7. Ice immediately afterwards.
8. This process may need to be repeated a few times within the first week if fluid continues to be building up.
9. As a rule of thumb always use a new needle/syringe each time you are sticking yourself, give your ear a day or so to recover and then you will be good as new.

Supplies needed: non-latex exam gloves, 25G needle, 3cc or bigger syringe, a cleaning agent for insertion site.

Hope this helps and remember I am not a doctor and am only expressing a technique I have personally performed many times. The correct way to take care of your cauliflower ear would be to see a physcian

Cheers,

 

[justinnnn]

maybe its because im weird but I like the idea of having cauliflower ear.

 

[hayliks]

you'll never fully beat cauli ear this way, and can end up being more expensive and certainly much more time consuming than a clinic. go to a clinic, make sure they suture or stitch your each so the fluid doesn't build up inside.

 

[ROTNROTT]

you'll never fully beat cauli ear this way, and can end up being more expensive and certainly much more time consuming than a clinic. go to a clinic, make sure they suture or stitch your each so the fluid doesn't build up inside.

Your right then you should quit rolling for 4-6 weeks and always wear headgear. Also as a side note carrying scissors with the point up is dangerous to your health, especially if you run.

 

[TheCardioKing]

I've always just kinda needled it then squeezed the shit directly into the sink. Your way probably alot better but my ears dont look too bad

 

[Davidinho]

you'll never fully beat cauli ear this way, and can end up being more expensive and certainly much more time consuming than a clinic. go to a clinic, make sure they suture or stitch your each so the fluid doesn't build up inside.

I've been grappling mostly no-gi BJJ and doing Muay Thai/Kickboxing for about 7 months now. I took a knee to the ear during a roll and got my first case of cauliflower ear a few weeks ago, small and on the inside part of my ear but I decided to go to the urgent care clinic at the Eye and Ear infirmary here in NYC where I knew they'd be able to treat it that day. After 5 hours of waiting and paying $100 just to register to see a doc, I got a nice M.D. both knowledgeable and a fan of MMA who drained about 2 cc's of fluid (reddish clear stuff) and then stitched on a suture that I kept on for 5 days. I went back to have the suture removed and the doc cleared me to training (with ear guards of course) but didn't recommend how to treat new episodes of c-flower ear without coming back to him. Went back to training and rolled the next day. BAM! blood all back in the ear, popped my ear right back to where it was. Even with the ear guards on, the blood pressure in my head/ear area from rolling was too much for the fresh ear.

Point of the story: I ended up spending around $500 (we'll see what my insurance covers, not looking good) to learn that 1) ear guards are worth their weight in gold if you want to avoid cauli ear and 2) self-treatment is really the most viable option for most BJJ, wrestling, etc. practitioner. I'm not going to be able to go back to that clinic because of time and money constraints and also because it'd require me stopping training for a few weeks at a time--not happening.

Thanks for the post! Gonna try this today or tomorrow.

 

[The Economist]

TS is completely right. Just man up and do it yourself.

 

[J Storm**]

i can't get my hands on a damn hypodermic needle! i go to a pharmacy and they say i need a prescription, for a damn needle.

i have these things called 'lancets' that are just like sterilized needles diabetics use to draw blood. i poke my ear and squeeze the juice/ooze out.

where the hell can i get my hands on some damn needles?

 

[Newcastle]

i can't get my hands on a damn hypodermic needle! i go to a pharmacy and they say i need a prescription, for a damn needle.

i have these things called 'lancets' that are just like sterilized needles diabetics use to draw blood. i poke my ear and squeeze the juice/ooze out.

where the hell can i get my hands on some damn needles?

Try a different pharmacy or get your GF to do it. My GF never has had a problem getting them for me. :icon_chee

 

[ShanghaiBJJ]

Your right then you should quit rolling for 4-6 weeks and always wear headgear. Also as a side note carrying scissors with the point up is dangerous to your health, especially if you run.

Did he just tell Hayliks to f*** off?

 

[Bluemirage]

i can't get my hands on a damn hypodermic needle! i go to a pharmacy and they say i need a prescription, for a damn needle.

i have these things called 'lancets' that are just like sterilized needles diabetics use to draw blood. i poke my ear and squeeze the juice/ooze out.

where the hell can i get my hands on some damn needles?

I think you can order them online.

 

[brianX]

My doc passed along a good tip: get a nose clip for synchronized swimmers and use it to keep pressure on the ear. On most parts of the ear, it does a good job of keeping the fluid from re-collecting.

The old time catch wrestlers used to burn off cauliflower ear with an acetylne torch, but that's not recommended.

 

[easternbloc7]

When drawing it back, SLOWLY is a key word; otherwise you can screw your shit up.

 

[Eric Renzo NH]

My doc passed along a good tip: get a nose clip for synchronized swimmers and use it to keep pressure on the ear. On most parts of the ear, it does a good job of keeping the fluid from re-collecting.

The old time catch wrestlers used to burn off cauliflower ear with an acetylne torch, but that's not recommended.

LOL i'm sorry, but if that catch wrestling fact is true, then old time catch wrestlers are borderline retarded. I understand, it's not like back then they had high tech things like...sharp things.