Cauliflower ear (complication of hematoma auris, perichondrial hematoma, or traumatic auricular hematoma) is a condition that occurs when the external portion of the ear suffers a blow, blood clot or other collection of fluid under the perichondrium. This separates the cartilage from the overlying perichondrium that supplies its nutrients, causing it to die and resulting in the formation of fibrous tissue in the overlying skin. As a result, the outer ear becomes permanently swollen and deformed, resembling a cauliflower.
The condition is most common among boxers, wrestlers, mixed martial artists and forwards in rugby union.
Headgear (called a "scrum cap" in rugby, or simply "headgear" or earguard in wrestling and other martial arts) that protects the ears is worn in wrestling and rugby, many martial arts, and other contact sports to help prevent this condition. For some athletes, however, a cauliflower ear is considered a badge of courage or experience.
Famous quotes containing the words cauliflower and/or ear:
“Training is everything. The peach was once a bitter almond; cauliflower is nothing but cabbage with a college education.”
—Mark Twain [Samuel Langhorne Clemens] (1835–1910)
“What is line? It is life. A line must live at each point along its course in such a way that the artist’s presence makes itself felt above that of the model.... With the writer, line takes precedence over form and content. It runs through the words he assembles. It strikes a continuous note unperceived by ear or eye. It is, in a way, the soul’s style, and if the line ceases to have a life of its own, if it only describes an arabesque, the soul is missing and the writing dies.”
—Jean Cocteau (1889–1963)