chief108
19th November 2009, 14:52
stukje door Cam McHargue (http://www.praxisma.com/TeamMemberDetail.aspx?TeamMemberID=39):
OK, this is about the recent concern with MRSA and the repercussions within martial art training.
This is not anything new. It has been in the community for years. Not just people involved in sports develop it. Anyone can develop it. I actually find the current hysteria about it a tad amusing because it's been around and out in the communities for a long time. When it first appeared in the MMA community it was misdiagnosed as brown recluse spider bites.
The fact is everyone has the staph bug on them. It's not just on mats or dirty clothes... the flora is on everyone's body. What happens is you can get a sore or a scratch and the flora will infect the wound.
Over the past 5 years we had about 3 or 4 cases in both our schools (each). One guy was a nurse and worked in a hospital so he more than likely got it there. Because we were familiar with it we caught it early and no one really developed any problems with it. I think the worst case we had was Scott who spent 3 days in the hospital (his case progressed really rapidly). Blue got it on his leg and he went to the Air Force docs. They went "old school" on him and simply cut a hole in his leg the size of a golf ball and packed and drained it daily for a week while shooting him up with antibiotics. The hole in the leg was probably a tad overkill...lol. We had a guy named Chris who got one on the side of his face... it got really bad. He looked like that guy from Gooney's. He wound up taking a few weeks off from training and a lot of antibiotics but it cleared up. I don't think he had to spend any time in the hospital.
Bottom line...
The stuff is dangerous and it can kill you if it goes untreated or gets systemic. It can paralyze you and/or cause organ failure or amputation.
It starts off looking like a pimple and then turns into a lesion cancre sore that looks like a small volcano within 24 hours to 3 days. If you get something like this go to the emergency room so they can get you on the correct antibiotics.
If you train, here are some tips to help prevention.
1.) Wash your training clothes after every session. Also clean the mats regularly.
2.) Do not put dirty or sweaty clothes in your training bag to take them home. This will contaminate the bag and then subsequently re-contaminate everything you put into the bag. Take a plastic trash bag to put dirty and sweaty clothes in.
3.) Same goes for training gear (gloves, shin pads, headgear, etc...). Put them in the plastic bag with the other stuff. When you get home spray them down with alcohol, let sit for a few minutes, wipe down and then spray again and let room dry. You can spray the inside of the gloves and stuff with lysol. If the gloves are leather and the alcohol dries them out get some leather conditioner and treat the leather equipment every so often. You can also use febreeze on the equipment to keep it smelling decent.
4.) Rash guards help a lot. Not only do they cut down skin to skin contact they cut down on abrasions which can develop staph infection.
5.) Wash your mouthpiece(s) out (and the case) with hot water after every use. Let dry. Spray with alcohol and let dry.
6.) Do not take multiple showers a day or use antibacterial soap all the time. Your body contains a lot of bacterial flora... a lot of it bad and a lot of it good, meaning it kills the bad stuff. Too much showering and antibacterial soap will kill all the good stuff, too, making you more succeptible to the bad stuff. If you use antibacterial soap, use it sparingly and not so often. I use plain ol' Ivory soap. I am in the gym 5 nights a week on the same mats with every student in the school and I have never had MRSA.... knock on wood... so I highly recommend the Ivory. It's good stuff. I never use antibacterial soap except when I wash my hands in the kitchen.
Just practice good hygeine and make sure all your training partners do the same. Don't roll with people who have suspicious looking sores on them... If you have a lesion and you have to train (meaning you are a pro fighter and have a fight coming up or something) then cover up the infected area really well so it will not come uncovered. I'm not advocating to train with infected persons, I'm just saying it can be done... I have trained with numerous people who have had it (often times unknowingly) and I always practice good hygeine and shower directly after and keep my clothes clean. So far I have been lucky.
Awareness is the key. But remember you don't have to train to get the stuff. I know a handful of people who have gotten it that have never stepped foot on a mat, in a gym or in a dojo or kwoon.
OK, this is about the recent concern with MRSA and the repercussions within martial art training.
This is not anything new. It has been in the community for years. Not just people involved in sports develop it. Anyone can develop it. I actually find the current hysteria about it a tad amusing because it's been around and out in the communities for a long time. When it first appeared in the MMA community it was misdiagnosed as brown recluse spider bites.
The fact is everyone has the staph bug on them. It's not just on mats or dirty clothes... the flora is on everyone's body. What happens is you can get a sore or a scratch and the flora will infect the wound.
Over the past 5 years we had about 3 or 4 cases in both our schools (each). One guy was a nurse and worked in a hospital so he more than likely got it there. Because we were familiar with it we caught it early and no one really developed any problems with it. I think the worst case we had was Scott who spent 3 days in the hospital (his case progressed really rapidly). Blue got it on his leg and he went to the Air Force docs. They went "old school" on him and simply cut a hole in his leg the size of a golf ball and packed and drained it daily for a week while shooting him up with antibiotics. The hole in the leg was probably a tad overkill...lol. We had a guy named Chris who got one on the side of his face... it got really bad. He looked like that guy from Gooney's. He wound up taking a few weeks off from training and a lot of antibiotics but it cleared up. I don't think he had to spend any time in the hospital.
Bottom line...
The stuff is dangerous and it can kill you if it goes untreated or gets systemic. It can paralyze you and/or cause organ failure or amputation.
It starts off looking like a pimple and then turns into a lesion cancre sore that looks like a small volcano within 24 hours to 3 days. If you get something like this go to the emergency room so they can get you on the correct antibiotics.
If you train, here are some tips to help prevention.
1.) Wash your training clothes after every session. Also clean the mats regularly.
2.) Do not put dirty or sweaty clothes in your training bag to take them home. This will contaminate the bag and then subsequently re-contaminate everything you put into the bag. Take a plastic trash bag to put dirty and sweaty clothes in.
3.) Same goes for training gear (gloves, shin pads, headgear, etc...). Put them in the plastic bag with the other stuff. When you get home spray them down with alcohol, let sit for a few minutes, wipe down and then spray again and let room dry. You can spray the inside of the gloves and stuff with lysol. If the gloves are leather and the alcohol dries them out get some leather conditioner and treat the leather equipment every so often. You can also use febreeze on the equipment to keep it smelling decent.
4.) Rash guards help a lot. Not only do they cut down skin to skin contact they cut down on abrasions which can develop staph infection.
5.) Wash your mouthpiece(s) out (and the case) with hot water after every use. Let dry. Spray with alcohol and let dry.
6.) Do not take multiple showers a day or use antibacterial soap all the time. Your body contains a lot of bacterial flora... a lot of it bad and a lot of it good, meaning it kills the bad stuff. Too much showering and antibacterial soap will kill all the good stuff, too, making you more succeptible to the bad stuff. If you use antibacterial soap, use it sparingly and not so often. I use plain ol' Ivory soap. I am in the gym 5 nights a week on the same mats with every student in the school and I have never had MRSA.... knock on wood... so I highly recommend the Ivory. It's good stuff. I never use antibacterial soap except when I wash my hands in the kitchen.
Just practice good hygeine and make sure all your training partners do the same. Don't roll with people who have suspicious looking sores on them... If you have a lesion and you have to train (meaning you are a pro fighter and have a fight coming up or something) then cover up the infected area really well so it will not come uncovered. I'm not advocating to train with infected persons, I'm just saying it can be done... I have trained with numerous people who have had it (often times unknowingly) and I always practice good hygeine and shower directly after and keep my clothes clean. So far I have been lucky.
Awareness is the key. But remember you don't have to train to get the stuff. I know a handful of people who have gotten it that have never stepped foot on a mat, in a gym or in a dojo or kwoon.