SUMMER TIME HYGIENE REMINDERS!

With the warmer months of Spring and Summer upon us, and so many new students, we wanted to take the opportunity to go over good hygiene practices for BJJ! We rely on all of you to help prevent the spread of any mat cooties!

Perhaps the most important takeaway from this entire blog post:

Please, please, PLEASE! If you have ANY suspicious spots on your skin that are new and you are unsure of what they are, DO NOT TRAIN! 

You must be:

• Sure of what is affecting your skin- and seek a medical care if needed; 
• Actively treating the infection (ringworm) for at least 48 and continue to do so DAILY
  
• Keep ringworm that is being treated covered entirely while training and let your training partner know ahead of time;
• Cleared by a doctor and, if prescribed, finish your entire course of antibiotics/antifungals, for more serious infections such as staph/MRSA and invasive Candida that targets the skin.  

If you are aware of a potential issue with your skin and you continue to train without letting Kevin or the Assistant Instructor know, you may be contagious and putting teammates at risk... No one wants to do that and certainly no one appreciates that type of sharing!

We completely understand that taking time off... Well... SUCKS. If you have to take a break from training due to illness or injury, we can pause your membership at your request! Just let us know! 

At KWBJJ, the mats are sanitized multiple times every single day and are deep cleaned once a week as a baseline and more frequently as needed. We keep a tight protocol on ensuring the mats are sanitized to prevent any issues before they arise, but alas, BJJ athletes are prone to numerous skin conditions. The two most common are the annoying and unsightly ringworm... and the more serious staph infection.

Why are we all still susceptible to these things if the mats are constantly cleaned?!  Well... because of the sport’s skin-on-skin contact, the frequency of scrapes/cuts/mat burns, and humid training conditions that unfortunately encourage the growth of bacteria. We can't keep distance between us when we train, so we must take the proper steps to keep ourselves- and our teammates- healthy!

In addition to practicing good personal hygiene, students and visitors to KWBJJ should:

• Keep hands AND feet clean by washing often with soap and water or using alcohol-based hand sanitizer on hands, and wipes that we provide on feet before stepping on the mat!
• At a minimum, hands should be cleaned before and after class- and (of course) after using the toilet.
• FOOTWEAR MUST BE WORN TO THE BATHROOM! There are flip flops available for bathroom trips and students are encouraged to bring in a pair of their own to leave at the school (under the chairs that line the hallway) for bathroom purposes.
• If your hands are not visibly dirty alcohol-based hand sanitizers with at least 60% alcohol content may be used.
• ALWAYS SHOWER IMMEDIATELY AFTER CLASS! This is the number one priority when we get home! Not washing off all of the sweat we created, and the sweat of our training partners, as soon as possible is arguably the biggest mistake we can make when it comes to preventing skin issues. Even if it wasn't a sweaty class, there are still skin cells being shed by everyone on the mat, thanks to our exfoliating gis. So....If you trained, shower! :-) 
• Wash your gi and any other gear after each use.  Throwing it in the dryer to dry the sweat does not count!  :-P
• Take care of your skin- exfoliate and moisturize to promote healthy, resilient skin and deter open wounds, such as cracking from dryness. 
• Cover cuts and minor wounds completely with clean, dry bandages until completely healed if you are training.
• Use a barrier (such as rashguards) between your skin and your gi- imagine if no one wore rashies under their gis and how much more skin-to-skin (germ-to-germ) contact there would be! Minimizing bare skin to skin contact as much as possible will help deter swapping more than training tricks with your partners. 

Why does staph and ringworm always seem to spread among us?

• Folks are training with active skin issues, and aren't telling Kevin or their partners :-(
• We have repeated skin-to-skin contact;
• We get breaks in the skin such as cuts and abrasions that, if left uncovered, allow bacteria/fungus to enter and cause infection;
• We are sometimes unable to shower or wipe down immediately after training. 

How can I help prevent spreading ringworm or staph?

If you have staph:

• ABSOLUTELY NO TRAINING UNTIL YOU ARE HEALED!
• Staph infections MUST be treated by a medical professional. Follow their advice about proper care of the wound. Pus from infected wounds can contain MRSA so keeping the infection covered- and staying off the mat- will help prevent the spread to others. Bandages and tape can be thrown away with the regular trash. Do not try to treat the infection yourself by picking or popping the sore.
• Clean your hands often. You, your family, and others in close contact should also wash their hands often with soap and water or use an alcohol-based sanitizer, especially after changing the bandage or touching the infected wound.
• Do not share personal items. Personal items include gis and any other gear.
• Wash used sheets, towels, and clothes with water and laundry detergent. Use a dryer to dry them completely. Wash your clothes according to manufacturer’s instructions on the label and ALWAYS clean your hands after touching dirty clothes.

If you have ringworm:

• NO TRAINING UNTIL TREATMENT HAS BEGUN AND ANY WEEPING HAS SUBSIDED. 
• Ringworm is contagious as soon as lesions are present-- HOWEVER-- it stops being contagious about 24-48 hours after treatment begins.
• Ringworm symptoms usually disappear quickly with treatment, but the treatment should be continued for 2-4 weeks to eliminate all of the fungus.

These two skin infections are the most common, but if you have any infectious- or potentially infectious- skins lesions (such as cold sores, forms of Candida [fungal infection] that affect the skin, etc.  you should avoid training until you skin is COMPLETELY healed!

Thank you all for doing your best to help combat these buggers! See you on the mat!