Head Pain after Sparring

[tchappy]

Hello!

A little about me: I’m doing 1 MT training and 2 mma training sessions each week for almost 1,5 years now. I’m 16 years old now and weigh 75kg with a size of 181cm.

I don’t spar regularly (like each week) but when I do (around 2 a month, so maybe 36 times now in total) it’s fairly hard and I often get hard shots to the head because my defense isn’t good enough yet.. (usually 20x1 minutes, Partner always changing)

After each training I can tell I took hits because there’s always that kind of uncomfortable pressure in my head, combined with a little pain. Usually ~24h it’s away though. Should I worry and go to the doctor or is it normal and a thing I have to get used to?

If you reply, thanks for your time.

 

[William Huggins]

Hello!

A little about me: I’m doing 1 MT training and 2 mma training sessions each week for almost 1,5 years now. I’m 16 years old now and weigh 75kg with a size of 181cm.

I don’t spar regularly (like each week) but when I do (around 2 a month, so maybe 36 times now in total) it’s fairly hard and I often get hard shots to the head because my defense isn’t good enough yet.. (usually 20x1 minutes, Partner always changing)

After each training I can tell I took hits because there’s always that kind of uncomfortable pressure in my head, combined with a little pain. Usually ~24h it’s away though. Should I worry and go to the doctor or is it normal and a thing I have to get used to?

If you reply, thanks for your time.

You shouldn't be on Sherdog, you should go to the doctor's

Also are you drinking plenty of water, including rehydration salts?

Taking hard shots to the head at 16, what is your trainer saying maybe your being matched up with gym warriors because more advanced training partners should be helping you to develop a defence......

 

[tchappy]

You shouldn't be on Sherdog, you should go to the doctor's

Also are you drinking plenty of water, including rehydration salts?

Taking hard shots to the head at 16, what is your trainer saying maybe your being matched up with gym warriors because more advanced training partners should be helping you to develop a defence......

Alright, wasn’t sure whether it’s a normal thing, I will go to the doctor then.

I’m drinking a lot of water, but none of those salts.

Actually we are a group of around 20 people, we got everything from beginner to 100+ Muay Thai competitions in Thailand..

It’s not always a „you get what you give“ game, that’s why sometimes punches get through that cause pain after training. (I’m not using the word hard as it’s very subjective)

 

[Valhoven]

Get a consultation with a general practitioner who can then refer you to a specialist if need be. Take care of yourself and welcome to the Community, of course. Hope to see you around.

 

[bad mojo]

What do you train for? If you're having an ambition of becoming a professional, keep it up. Get better, improve and push through. You're very young and probably won't stay in the same environment for years. Every gym has different sparring methods.

If you're doing it just for yourself, to be fit and able to defend yourself, avoid sparring, as much as possible. Damage comes with training martial arts, it cannot be avoided. No need to take a beating from someone far more experienced if it's just for recreation, all that stuff adds up over years. You'll feel it later in life.

 

[Sano]

Getting hit hard in the head = scrambled brain = headaches and other concussive signs. It's a fact of fight sports, it's as simply as that. You don't want to keep getting concussed over and over again, so stay away from sparring for a while untill your defense improves by doing more drills. That or spar lighter, and still work on your defense.

You are young, protect your brain. Don't be a gym hero, stay healthy, eat well and get the rest you need.

Someone might be able to take hard blows for years and years, and then suddenly they just can't anymore and the postconcussive signs prevents them from competing, others feel alright and then 20 years down the road they can't put two sentences together. It's the nature of the sport, although everyone is different.

 

[tchappy]

People, you make me scared.. haven’t thought it was that serious. When I asked my trainer if it’s normal that my brain hurts after sparring, he told me not to worry, If i wanted I could excercise my neck and it will get better.

To be honest, I would like to do one or two competitions in my life, maybe a few years, when I’m 20-25 years old.

I don’t want to be a professional later, I want to have my brain in best possible condition when I’m older, so I think I will have to spar lightly.

 

[spacetime]

People, you make me scared.. haven’t thought it was that serious. When I asked my trainer if it’s normal that my brain hurts after sparring, he told me not to worry, If i wanted I could excercise my neck and it will get better.

To be honest, I would like to do one or two competitions in my life, maybe a few years, when I’m 20-25 years old.

I don’t want to be a professional later, I want to have my brain in best possible condition when I’m older, so I think I will have to spar lightly.

Don't mean to rile you up but I have gotten kicked in the jaw, punched in the tempel etc. Never had a headache from it or anything else for that matter. It shouldn't hurt either.

 

[biscuitsbrah]

Twice a month isn’t that much. But you are 16. Don’t be afraid to completely take off a couple months at a time to rest your head.

 

[Sano]

People, you make me scared.. haven’t thought it was that serious. When I asked my trainer if it’s normal that my brain hurts after sparring, he told me not to worry, If i wanted I could excercise my neck and it will get better.

To be honest, I would like to do one or two competitions in my life, maybe a few years, when I’m 20-25 years old.

I don’t want to be a professional later, I want to have my brain in best possible condition when I’m older, so I think I will have to spar lightly.

Neck exercises wont magically make your headaches disappear after getting hit hard, nor prevent damage, although having a HEALTHY and strong neck definitely helps with overall recovery of brain trauma.

It is pretty normal having headaches and being foggy after hard sparring if you get tagged hard several times, that is true, but it's not a healthy thing. Why would you wait 4-9 years to have a fight when you've already been training for 1,5 years?

You don't have to be worried, you just have to listen to your body. Your trainer sounds very uneducated. Again, everyone is different. You are experiencing a "weird" feeling after getting tagged hard and headaches regularly after sparring. You need to change something, it's that simple. Take a break from sparring, work on your defense, spar lighter, do more drills instead, spar with guys who can control themselves, improve your cardiovascular conditioning, so on. Those are your options.

 

[tchappy]

Neck exercises wont magically make your headaches disappear after getting hit hard, nor prevent damage, although having a HEALTHY and strong neck definitely helps with overall recovery of brain trauma.

It is pretty normal having headaches and being foggy after hard sparring if you get tagged hard several times, that is true, but it's not a healthy thing. Why would you wait 4-9 years to have a fight when you've already been training for 1,5 years?

You don't have to be worried, you just have to listen to your body. Your trainer sounds very uneducated. Again, everyone is different. You are experiencing a "weird" feeling after getting tagged hard and headaches regularly after sparring. You need to change something, it's that simple. Take a break from sparring, work on your defense, spar lighter, do more drills instead, spar with guys who can control themselves, improve your cardiovascular conditioning, so on. Those are your options.

Thank you, that’s sounds very helpful.

I don’t want to do competitions at the moment, I want to graduate first and then I will maybe find the time to train everyday for competitions. I will spar lighter and work on my defense so that this won’t happen easily again..

 

[Sano]

Thank you, that’s sounds very helpful.

I don’t want to do competitions at the moment, I want to graduate first and then I will maybe find the time to train everyday for competitions. I will spar lighter and work on my defense so that this won’t happen easily again..

Good. If your plan is to focus on your school, then that's a very smart plan. Even more reason to build up your software (doing drills, getting better technique, practicing defense) without damaging your hardware (your head). If you get healthy and in better shape, you will also be able to pick drills up much faster AND recover better when getting hit or after the workout.

You have plenty of time.

BTW, if you're worried, visiting your doctor if you feel like you need to talk to him about what you've been experiencing might be smart too. He will be able to assess you.

Either way, good luck with school and martial arts! Be smart and get good.

 

[tchappy]

Good. If your plan is to focus on your school, then that's a very smart plan. Even more reason to build up your software (doing drills, getting better technique, practicing defense) without damaging your hardware (your head). If you get healthy and in better shape, you will also be able to pick drills up much faster AND recover better when getting hit or after the workout.

You have plenty of time.

BTW, if you're worried, visiting your doctor if you feel like you need to talk to him about what you've been experiencing might be smart too. He will be able to assess you.

Either way, good luck with school and martial arts! Be smart and get good.

Thank you very much for your advice man!
I will listen to my body more and take care of it.
I also talked with my trainer today, he advised me to drink more water and offered me to wear a head protector - I think this,combined with lighter sparring won’t cause pain and therefore damage to my brain. (At least I hope so, it really shouldn’t), I will go to the sparring session tomorrow and try that out.