Have you ever seen someone whose ear looks bumpy and lumpy?  This type of deformity of the outer ear is called “Cauliflower Ear”. For cauliflower ear to form, the ear has to be struck hard enough for a large blood clot (lump of blood) to develop under the skin; the ear can shrivel up and fold in on itself and appear pale, giving it a cauliflower-like appearance, hence the term cauliflower ear.

Accompanying this ear deformity is the possible loss of hearing and frequent infection.  None of those seem like very exciting effects to me, and they shouldn’t to you. Wrestlers, boxers and martial artists in particular are susceptible to this type of injury.  Now, I know that if I were a boxer or whatnot, I’d be pretty pissed if my opponents were doing that kind of damage to my ears!  So we have targeted a few ways to prevent this deformity from happening. 

You can go down the painful route and have the blood drained from the ears by a doctor through a cut in the skin, which I really don’t think you would want to do.  For preventing cauliflower ear injuries, wearing proper headgear to protect the ears is very important when playing contact sports. A good ear guard is the best cauliflower ear prevention I can recommend.  It is a pair of cups worn over the ears that strap onto the head.  They are easy to adjust, and aren’t a nuisance to wear.  I know it sounds a bit loopy, but I guarantee that it is an A+ solution in prevention of the nasty deformity.

All in all, forget about the whole badge of honor thing that wrestlers, grapplers, and fighters claim cauliflower ear to be.  And chicks may dig scars, but they don’t dig cauliflower ear!  So do yourself a favor and wear ear guards. This is the easiest way to prevent cauliflower ear.