I recently got skin infections from Muay Thai training, which took me a couple weeks to recover from.

After a few doctor visits, I still don’t know what exactly it was or if it was a mix of things. Eventually with the mix of antibiotic and antifungal treatments, I’m recovered and back into action.

Here’s a post on how to deal with and reduce the risk of skin infections in contact sports.

Key learnings

• Skin infections like staph infection and ringworm are very common in contact sports. Sweat makes a perfect environment for germs to grow, If not cleaned promptly. 

• They tend to start off looking like an innocent blister, pimple or rash, then spread out quickly.

• See a doctor and get it treated as soon as possible. If it’s early enough, topical creams could fix it, otherwise oral treatments would be required.

How to prevent

Wash the sweat off as soon as possible

Shower as soon as possible. Wash or rinse hands, face and feet if possible, if there is no shower at the gym. Wash with a good antibacterial soap or with an anti-dandruff shampoo which kills the fungus. Don’t go grocery shopping on the way home. This was my mistake 1.

Protect your skin during training

If you get a minor scratch or cut, let it heal or make sure it’s covered during training. I find long sleeve rash guards very effective for protecting the skin from scratches. 

This was my mistake 2 and probable culprit. In Muay Thai, it’s easy to get scratched from the velcro on the gears. My first infection was on my arm, which got scratched by the velcro on the kick pads. I taped it up and kept training, but the tape comes off easily then the germs get in. My second infection was on my neck, which got scratched by the velcro on sparring partners’ gloves. I suspect some people’s gloves are a bit filthy too..

Disinfect your gym cloth

Wash everything you used in training, including the outer layers in winter. Now I wash my gym clothes and hand wraps with laundry disinfectant, so I can cold wash everything. This keeps the shiny bits on my Muay Thai shorts intact for longer (wash inside out in laundry bags for best results). A tip on washing hand wraps: I roughly roll one up after training then put the wraps in laundry bags so they don’t tangle up.

Disinfect your gears

Wipe the gloves (inside and outside) and shin guards with disinfecting wipes after training and air them out. Have a couple pairs of gloves to rotate so they dry out completely before you use them again. During humid days I put my gloves next to a dehumidifier so it blows dry air over them overnight. Keeping them dry is the key to extend the life of the gears and keep them smelling fresh.

Keep your immunity strong

Eating probiotic food and spices helps to build stronger immunity. Add more fruits, garlic, onions, turmeric, fermented foods to your diet.

Stress can reduce your immunity significantly. This includes mental and physical stress. Get enough rest and food.

How to treat

Treat it ASAP

We don’t want to visit a doctor whenever there’s a small blister or pimple on our body. But if it doesn’t go away with home treatment like tea tree oil, garlic and antiseptic creams, then seeing a doctor is necessary.

A note on the oral antibiotics: it made me feel sluggish and gave me stomach aches. But everyone reacts to the medecines differently, and my body tends to be quite sensitive. It also seemed to cause water retention. I gained 1.5~2kg while eating less than regular rest days, but quickly lost it once I finished the treatment. It’s the best to avoid letting the infection get bad enough for oral treatments, by treating it as soon as you can.

Disinfect everything

Clean your beddings, clothing, towels. I was cleaning my sheets every day to avoid re-infection. It was a lot of effort, but probably worth it.

Self-isolate

These germs are highly contagious. If you are still contagious, make sure you are very careful not to spread it to your family and friends. Otherwise it’s very annoying for everyone and it’d keep going around.

Other people’s great tips

How to Keep a BJJ Academy Ringworm and Staph Infection Free

How to Keep Ringworm, Staph, and MRSA Away From Your BJJ Gym

How to prevent & CURE staph / mrsa skin infection the natural way for MMA, BJJ, wrestling

• Contact sports
• health and fitness
• Skin infection