Skin Issues

One month into the season and we are experiencing a few instances in which our coaches have become concerned about a blemish.  If you read the wrestling blogs / forums you may have come across some teams that are forfeiting three to eight weight classes in a dual match – one explanation is that they are experiencing a rash of staph, ring-worm, or another form of outbreak.   

bd coaches have idenitified a few cases / blemishes in our room that require the attention / clearance of a physician.  The coaches are talking to the wrestler and they are expecting the wrestler to communicate with their parents i.e., a need to schedule an appointment with their physician.  For the good of the entire team the coaching staff is electing not to let wrestlers with questionable blemishes wrestle (matches and or practice) without clearance from a physician.  Note that neither the school nurse nor the school trainer can diagnose the blemish.  If the coach says a blemish needs to be checked out do not take it personal, they are doing us and the whole team a favor, get it checked out.  The sooner the wrestler is cleared by a physician the sooner they can return to practice and competition.

I've been around wrestling for about twenty years as a youth coach.  I have personal experience with ring-worm (easy fix if caught early, if it gets into the scalp area it is extremely difficult to clear), staph (neosporin does not kill it – prescribed antibiotics are required), foliculitis (prescribed antibiotics required), and MRSA (methicillin resistant staph aeuros – this is a painful ozzing red raised mess - a culture has to be taken, takes three days to cultivate so that a "specific antibiotic" can be prescribed and administered often via IV, may likely require hospitalization), and cellulitis (can be extremely painful and is hot to the touch, another not very friendly skin infection – for me it required two weeks of inactivity and a lengthy course of strong antibiotics).  If you are required to care for any of the above, latex gloves should be used, gloves and bandages should be sealed in a plastic (sandwich bag) for disposal (don't want to inadvertently pass along to the rest of the family when they throw something in the trash).  The potential seriousness of some these conditions has not been overstated.      

A file will be sent out via e-mail that contains graphic pictures of various contagious skin conditions.  Many of the conditions look very similar and a layman (parents, coaches, wrestlers) is not qualified to make the diagnosis.  Some of the skin conditions can be life threatening, don't take them lightly. 

Talk to your kids.  Ask them if they have any red areas, raised areas, ozzing areas, and or hot spots.  Again, for the health and safety of the entire team our coaches are being very cautious.  So, if coach has asked that a blemish be checked-out then do so as soon as possible.  If it's not an issue they'll be right back on mat.  If it is an issue then it needs to professionally diagnosed and treated as soon as possible.

So talk to and look at your kids.

Stay healthy, Steve Henson