Preventing Skin Disease In BJJ
Posted by Corey Kuropas on
While ninety nine percent of Jiu Jitsu training is an enjoyable and fun experience, the one percent that isn’t is the contracting of skin disease. Skin disease comes in many forms. Some of the most common cases of skin disease include ring worm, impetigo and staph infection. All three are nasty to deal with, but need to be taken care of at first sight. The worst thing you can do to yourself and your training partners is to train when you have one of those diseases. You can worsen your own condition and of course spread them to those you train with. If you have one, go see a doctor immediately and get it taken care of. But, before all of that, how can you prevent yourself from contracting skin disease? Here are some great tips to stop all of those disease from becoming a reality.
Wash Your Training Gear!
This should be the biggest piece of common sense on this list. You need to wash your gear. Your gis, your rashguards, your shorts, your jock…whatever you wear on that mats need a thorough cleaning through a washing machine using laundry detergent. You come in contact with a lot of people in Jiu Jitsu. Skin, skin oil, sweat, hair and dirt are just some of the stuff that will rub off on your training gear. Be safe, be smart and make sure all of it gets cleaned before the next time you go on the mats. Otherwise, you have the possibility of creating and spreading skin disease.
Wash Yourself!
This is another common sense piece that should not be ignored. All of the things that come into contact with your training gear, will also come in contact with you! After training, do not jump into bed without a good shower where you use soap and shampoo. Those hygiene items will cleanse your body of all of the nitty gritty stuff that stays on your hair and skin. This also goes for using the bathroom at the gym. After using the bathroom, please wash your hands. And this brings me to my next point…
Wear Shoes In The Bathroom!
This is my biggest pet peeve of all time when it comes to hygiene in Jiu Jitsu. It does not matter if you are at your BJJ school or if you are at a tournament. If you head to the bathroom, put on a pair of shoes. The grossest thing you can do is go and use the bathroom while barefoot. When you step into a bathroom barefoot then go back on the mats, you are bringing a ton of bacteria on the mat which will end up on you and your training partners. Bring a pair of flip flops to wear so if you have to use the bathroom, you won’t bring the bathroom on the mats with you.
Use care and use thought when it comes to avoiding skin disease. It is nasty, and not fun to deal with. If we all use our common sense, follow good hygienic tips and think about our schools and those we train with, we can cut down and eliminate the possibility of contracting skin disease in Jiu Jitsu and prevent it from happening.
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