How Many UFC and Boxing Fighters Have Tinnitus?

Well not necessarily "punched." Cauliflower Ear was common among wrestlers before ear guards were mandatory. Wrestlers would grab and claw, and repeated injuries would cause the scar tissue.

I order everyday why this happened to me when I see many idiots going around without a care in the world.
 
I wonder how many UFC and Boxing fighters have tinnitus? They have that cauliflower ear from being punched in the ear so many times...
As a big boxing aficionado I've always asked myself this exact question.

I know a few amateur boxers along with some professional ones. They all told me it's pretty common to have tinnitus. Repeated blows in the head lead to many injuries. Eye floaters, partial blindness, deafness, tinnitus, hyperacusis, TMJ issues and so on. I wish they were more open to speak out about all this but I guess the list would be endless.
 
I thought the question was cauliflower ear and tinnitus, which do not necessarily correlate.

It's pretty obvious if people are in a profession (boxing) where it is known they get punched... it stands to reason that there is a larger number of jaw issues, eye issues (detached retina), ruptured kidneys... etc.

Not many boxers with cauliflower ear... many with broken noses. :)
 
Interesting you also see rugby players with cauliflower ears they have quite a few head knocks. I watched that film with will smith film concussion so most likely football players have it too. What about soccer players heading the ball?
 
I thought the question was cauliflower ear and tinnitus, which do not necessarily correlate.

It's pretty obvious if people are in a profession (boxing) where it is known they get punched... it stands to reason that there is a larger number of jaw issues, eye issues (detached retina), ruptured kidneys... etc.

Not many boxers with cauliflower ear... many with broken noses. :)
Nah I was saying the cauliflower ear is evidence of being punched in the ear a lot, especially in the ufc.

wondering how many of these people have tinnitus
 
Nah I was saying the cauliflower ear is evidence of being punched in the ear a lot, especially in the ufc.

wondering how many of these people have tinnitus

As avid UFC and boxing fan I thought about that too. How about NFL players, the constant head banging. But I would imagine saying on the injury report "ears ringing" would not be seen as manly.
 
I worry that my middle ears suffered damage as some have stated that our ossicles are fragile. But I had similar question as you, except that I'm wondering how many fighters have suffered middle ear damage. I've watched Kick Boxing and MMA in general, in which fighters get kicked right on or very close to the ear. In UFC, especially if it gets to the ground, you'll see fighters get punched repeatedly on the side of the head and many directly to the ear. Remember Brocks ground and pound? In the NFL/Rugby you get some direct helmet to helmet shots. That's a lot of force.

Maybe our ossicles are a bit more resilient than I think. Or maybe this is just my brain being in denial.
 
As avid UFC and boxing fan I thought about that too. How about NFL players, the constant head banging. But I would imagine saying on the injury report "ears ringing" would not be seen as manly.
Many NFL players have talked openly about all their health issues after retirement, brain damage, cognitive damage etc etc

In general terms, working kills people, but some jobs are harder than others. Just imagine if we could just work at what we like, and our health can take, irrespective of financial issues or paying bills...
 
Dana White has tinnitus.

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I got up early to watch Wilder Fury 2 and Fury got his eardrum busted early on. He had blood streaming from his ear so there's a chance he may have tinnitus in that ear from now on.
 
@Ed209 - I was thinking the exact same thing. Also in the context of the noise of the ringwalks, the crowd and the usual nightclub after parties.

I read an interview once with Dave Allen where he described having both of his eardrums perforated in a fight and only being able to hear as if he was underwater for several weeks.

He carried on fighting and never seems to mention it anymore...
 
I was thinking about taking up boxing to let off some steam, and per my standard procedure I did a search for "tinnitus" on some boxing forums and subreddits. Those places are full of tinnitus sufferers, people. Professionals may not talk about tinnitus, or there might be selection bias and only extremely tinnitus-resistant people become pros, but among amateurs tinnitus is very widespread.

Needless to say I'm not taking up boxing...
 
I was thinking about taking up boxing to let off some steam, and per my standard procedure I did a search for "tinnitus" on some boxing forums and subreddits. Those places are full of tinnitus sufferers, people. Professionals may not talk about tinnitus, or there might be selection bias and only extremely tinnitus-resistant people become pros, but among amateurs tinnitus is very widespread.

Needless to say I'm not taking up boxing...

I've also wanted to take it up many times and I've trained here and there, but never sparred or fought due to concerns about (a) getting punched in the ears, (b) being unable to wear earplugs and (c) being required to enter the ring to loud music (and being unable to plug my ears, given that my hands would be gloved).

I'd love to do a white knuckle fight, just to experience it. This has been a bucket list item for me since childhood, but I know I'll never realise it, unless something drastically alters in the world of tinnitus and hyperacusis treatment...
 
It's a shame how none of them tell their supporters about tinnitus and hyperacusis. Imagine if they told everyone it would make them more aware about sound exposure.

We hear all sorts of things such as wear sunblock to protect your skin, don't stare at a computer screen as it is bad for your eyes but where was the warning about sound exposure causing tinnitus and hyperacusis.
 
I'd love to do a white knuckle fight, just to experience it. This has been a bucket list item for me since childhood, but I know I'll never realise it, unless something drastically alters in the world of tinnitus and hyperacusis treatment...
Before I was aware of the dangers I did karate and krav-maga for a few years. There's nothing which pushes you more to your limits of performance than an one-on-one fight. Ten minutes of sparring (4x2.5 minute sessions with different people) was more exhausting than a two-hour workout before that, because the harder you push, the harder your opponent pushes, and this creates a feedback loop. Further intensified by the visceral rage you feel as you get hit or succeed in hitting your opponent. You get tunnel vision laser-focused on the other guy, your heart almost bursts, sweat pours, you don't really feel pain. It's a heady cocktail. I can understand why so many people get hooked up on it.

...but yeah, it takes one good roundhouse kick to the head to trash the ear on that side and suffer for the rest of your life. We weren't even using sparring helmets, for God's sake! I was lucky not to suffer that kind of injury over those years. I shudder to think of what could have happened...
 
It's not really ear damage so much as neck and brain damage you need to worry about. Most people with tinnitus suffer from somatosensory tinnitus which is any combination of neck/jaw/hearing damage. I personally know a guy who goes to my gym who got his tinnitus from a toolbox being dropped on his head - he was an airplane mechanic. Knocked him out cold and when he came to he had tinnitus - which he's had for 20 years. It's luck of the draw and genetics really. I understand people wanting to challenge themselves but it's really tempting fate. It's much safer to participate in full contact origami. :p
 
I am a professional MMA trainer from the Netherlands... I was very open to my students when I got it and the moment I told them... a lot of others told me they had the same thing. It is just something people do not talk about that much.

After I talked about it people were more open in the gym about it... when they were hitting the bags they ask me if I want to plug my ears so they did not get more damaged. I also fought in MMA myself and BJJ and Jiu Jitsu matches but I never had tinnitus during that time... I had a freak accident with a soda can :-(

I am the guy right from my fighter and left from the ring girl... to make it easy... the only colored from the group :)

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I am a professional MMA trainer from the Netherlands... I was very open to my students when I got it and the moment I told them... a lot of others told me they had the same thing. It is just something people do not talk about that much.

After I talked about it people were more open in the gym about it... when they were hitting the bags they ask me if I want to plug my ears so they did not get more damaged. I also fought in MMA myself and BJJ and Jiu Jitsu matches but I never had tinnitus during that time... I had a freak accident with a soda can :-(

I am the guy right from my fighter and left from the ring girl... to make it easy... the only colored from the group :)

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Perhaps the soda can was the "last straw" no pun intended. I know I went to too many loud concerts. But it wasn't until a decade or so later that tinnitus manifested. I think it was finally triggered by a a bad bout of inflammation. Poly myalgia Rheumatica.
 
Omg - what kind of accident can you have with a soda can that causes permanent tinnitus?

I'm eyeing my Coke suspiciously now.

It was like this... I was riding in my car with the windows closed and I tried to open the soda can... I thought it was Fernandes or something.... But the clip to open the can slipt from my nail back onto the can which made an extreme high pitched sound which resonated through the car.
My ears went numb and it was like they were imploding... I quickly opened my windows so the sound could get out.
Back home I was getting better and my ears seemed to go back to normal.
The day after we went to Texel for a short holiday....and then the ringing started... but I could still block it out and thought it was something from in the house.

Back home when everybody was to bed and I was sitting late at night in front of the tv... I turned it off to also go to bad and then the ringing became extremely loud. My whole body went in to shock because I knew what it was cause a friend of mine already had it..... The rest is history .... it never left me ever... Sometimes it became way less and then after couple of months it came back....

Now after 6 years it a stable sound (still not one to enjoy, but I do not have to much anxiety about it anymore) ...
In the beginning in silence it would keep amplifying with no end in sight... it was very scary.
Now in silence it is still very loud but it has its max volume.

You better learn to deal with it because for some (like me) it is I guess a thing i never get used to but have learn to accept and not fight it anymore. If you fight it , it will just get louder ..
 

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