What Injuries Can You Train Through?

Injuries are an inevitable part of training Jujitsu, but when do you work through the pain and when do you set your training aside and seek professional care for your injury so you don't end up with permanent damage? Here are some tips and questions to ask yourself to help clear up questions about what you should do about your injuries and whether or not you should take some time off or train through your injury.

First off, when the injury occurred, did you feel any "pops" or "snaps"? Did you wake up the next day with bruising or swelling? Well if so, I've got some bad news for you; you probably dislocated something or tore a ligament or tendon and you need to seek professional care. You can't train through this type of injury as you may need surgery or some type of therapy.

If you do find yourself with a potential torn ligament or tendon, what you don't want to do is go to the ER. The emergency room is to make sure your life is not in immediate danger, not to act as your family doctor and manage your case of a torn ligament. They will probably offer you some pain medication and take an x-ray, which could cost you a small fortune. Then they will refer you to an orthopedic specialist who will then exam the injury and probably send you off for and MRI. So if you think you have a torn ligament or tendon, skip the ER (unless you truly feel your heath and safety are at risk) and try to get in with an orthopedist or sports medicine specialist instead. In many cities, there are now walk in orthopedic clinics open which would be perfect for these types of injuries.

If you end up injuring yourself, but there isn't any major swelling or bruising and there weren't any "pops" or "snaps", the injury is probably a sprain/strain injury and have a 2-8 week recovery time depending on how severe the sprain is, but if you wait a week or two and there in no improvement, you may have done more damage to yourself than you thought and you need to seek professional help.

Now can you train through a sprain/strain? Well that depends on multiple factors: where is the injury, how fresh is the injury, what do you mean by "training", etc.

Be smart while training with sprain. You may be able to participate in drilling technique but you may need to sit out of live grappling, basically if it hurts don't do it. Also, wear the proper braces or tape up appropriately while training.

When dealing with an acute injury it is important for it to heal properly so it doesn't turn into a chronic injury that causes long term problems.

My goal, which is hopefully your goal, is to train BJJ for a long time. Part of being able to do this is to be able to deal with injuries properly even if it means limiting mat time for a short period.

Happy Rolling,

Matt Palladino