Dojo Etiquette: Bloody Noses

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[Rev_Sully]

Onegai Shimasu,

I am going to stepping back on the mat for the first time in a while soon enough.
Been away for far too long.
Bad aikidoka, bad! It's not good enough just to think it, but as O-Seinsei said "...achieve Enlightenment through practice!".
Enough of the chit-chat. ;)

My question is this:
I have a propensity for bloody noses.
Weak lining or something. No I cannot do the hankie trick and I could never afford a trendy habit.
But there is the probability that I should have several nose bleeds as an aikidoka in the future.

What is the proper dojo etiquette for nose bleeds?
I mean from having to wipe it off the mat and with what & how & when to do you wait for sempai/sensei to instruct you to take care of the spill?
Do you clean it immediately therefore interrupting the flow of the class?
After a nosebleed do you call it a night if you do not have a spare dogi?
Any and all information would be great.

Thank you.

[shihonage]

Get off the mat, come back with an alcohol cleaning solution and scrub the blood off the mat.

Get off the mat, go into bathroom, you can use hot water to get "really small" blood stains off your gi.

I don't know what should be used for larger stains... maybe laundry.

It appears that having blood in the open is a concern for transmission of certain diseases, so I would suppose not being able to get a large stain off your gi would warrant going home.

[Arianah]

http://www.aikidofaq.com/health/blood_policy.html

The above is a very good guide for how to deal with blood on the mat. It is more a guide for dojo policy and procedure than for the individual, but you can get an idea of what is expected of you. Blood-borne pathogens are a serious concern and blood on the mat cannot be treated nonchalantly, even if you feel there is no reason for such concern.

Sarah, reminding everyone that stains on gi/the mat from blood should be the least of anyone's concerns...

[Musuko]

Get off the mat, go into bathroom, you can use hot water to get "really small" blood stains off your gi.
Rinse with cold water, if you use hot water the blod will coagulate faster, or so I have heard.

[Rev_Sully]

Thank you all very much. Sarah, the link was wonderful.

[Kevin Wilbanks]

Most dojo should have a hydrogen peroxide solution in a squirt bottle (if they have a canvas mat). H2O2 eats up blood like nothing else. Dab it on spots on your gi or the mat and watch them disappear. Of course, it may also bleach the fabric bright white, so be aware.

If you have really frequent nose bleed problems, you may want to have an MD look into it. It could be just one or two vessels that could be cauterized as an outpatient. I've heard it hurts real bad, but it may be worth it.

[warriorwoman]

Or, how about discussing the problem with your sensei. It's amazing how they can come up with some good advice!

janet dtantirojanarat

www.warriorwoman.org

[ian]

Your sensei should have a health and safety procedure which everyone is aware of. Nose bleeds will generally have to be wiped up immediately with a disinfectant solution due to the risk of aids/hepatitus.

Ian

[erikmenzel]

Normaly just cleaning the mats with a soapy cloth is more than enough to prevent transmission of bloodborn pathogenes when there is blood on the mats.

All the rest is just paranoia at work.

[Wormwood]

Rub the blood stain with ice (ie. really cold water as mentioned before). Ice will get most blood stains out even if they have sat for a while.

Nathan

[MattRice]

h202 is the way to go

we get off right away and deal with the blood on the mat, But we let sensei know so she/he knows if someone is hurt, who is on/off the mat etc...

[willy_lee]

I used to get bloody noses a lot too. Just from blowing my nose too hard, or sometimes just thinking about blowing my nose. Sometimes I wasn't even thinking about anything in particular.

Anyways, I went to a doctor about 10 years ago and he just cauterized the inside of my nose with silver nitrite (nitrate?). Took about half an hour in the office. Haven't had a bloody nose since.

I don't remember it hurting at all. I was too fascinated watching the cool machine that was clearing the mucus out of my nose and watching the doctor roll his own q-tips out of balls of cotton and small sticks.

=wl

[Rev_Sully]

I used to get bloody noses a lot too. Just from blowing my nose too hard, or sometimes just thinking about blowing my nose. Sometimes I wasn't even thinking about anything in particular.

Anyways, I went to a doctor about 10 years ago and he just cauterized the inside of my nose with silver nitrite (nitrate?). Took about half an hour in the office. Haven't had a bloody nose since.

I don't remember it hurting at all. I was too fascinated watching the cool machine that was clearing the mucus out of my nose and watching the doctor roll his own q-tips out of balls of cotton and small sticks.

=wl
You must not have to worry about grooming your nostrils anymore also. I haven't given that much thought and it was not a problem before. I'll jinx myself by saying that I have never had a bloody nose on the mat but I think it's very probable that it will happen in the future.

Thank you all.

[Lan Powers]

Been a butcher in retail grocery for 'bout 20 years...............use the peroxide.

Wash with cold water when you do the laundry to get the remainder out of the material

(The stain doesn't just "vanish" from the peroxide, but it gets it ready to be washed out).

Lan

[willy_lee]

You must not have to worry about grooming your nostrils anymore also.
LOL!

I always thought those ads for "rotary nose hair clippers" in magazines were weird and gross. Now that I'm getting older I find the hair in my nose to be _more_ weird and gross.

=wl

[Genex]

definatly hydrogen peroxide H2O2 this will clear it no probs, also you can touch up your highlights too.

pete

[one4k4]

I tend to bleed semi-easily as well. Not from nosebleeds but from those little "holy crap, when did I get *that* cut there?" things.. first time on the mat I stumped my toe.. blood. Last practice, I fell, and even though my partner's toe-nails were short, I cut my wrist.. didn't really bleed, just reddened. (IE: not dripping) but each time, I've stopped, looked for spots on the mat, gotten off the mat, cleaned up, and came back if it was possible. See talk of health risks above..