Should my boyfriend practice Aikido even when he has pharyngitis and acute otitis media (an ear infection)?

Question

He also has some slight cough and colds due to the pharingitis infection. He can hear though, although, his hearing is reduced by 25% or so. Should he go back to the Aikido Dojo?

Answer 1

Never mind the worry about passing infection on to others in the dojo, the problem with otitis media is that it may cause dizziness including the following:

The main symptom is pain in the ear.

Sometimes the ear drum may burst causing a discharge of fluid from the ear. (Incidentally, this releases the pressure behind the ear drum, and therefore the pain usually disappears.)

Sickness (vomiting) when they have a feverish illness, and so may be sick with middle ear infection.

There may be some decrease in hearing.

I would recommend that your boyfriend recovers at home for another few days.

Answer 2

As long as he isn't being the class rag doll for the day he should be fine. I was able to show up to my Aikido classes with light injuries without getting more injured. Generally they are pretty accepting of someone injured or sick who comes to class still willing to learn.

Answer 3

He should wait until the pharyngitis is cleared up because :

A) It is infectious

B) Give the body a chance to rest while it heals

Is he taking medicine for this?

Answer 4

lol he sounds kinda sickly but from what I know (I could not be 100% right) Aikido is not that intense of a martial art for training.. that's all I can tell you

Answer 5

I wouldn't recommend it. He should heal first.

Answer 6

I belive he shouldn't because he could get everybody a infectin he should rest until he is ready or ask a doctor i recommend to ask a doctor and trian for a bit until he is ready(also it whould be a good idea to wait until it wears off and then train until he is ready)

Answer 7

If the medical issues he has are communicable, then he should wait until he isn't contagious.

If they are not communicable, its up to him.

Its the right thing to do - the wants of the few are outweighed by the needs of the many - its not fair for other members of the dojo to be introduced to possible illness just because a single person WANTS to train.

It has nothing to do with if he can handle it or not - that's up to him.  What really matters is should other people have to deal with results of his decision (ie - potentially getting sick themselves)

Got a cold?  Athlete's Foot?  Staph Infection? ... don't train until you are over it.

Got a Sunburn?  Halitosis?  Broken Finger?  Go ahead and train to your ability as long as you can stay safe.

To train is to take an accepted risk - its not fair to introduce pathogens into the dojo that can be avoided.

Same reason why you don't go to work when you are sick.  In part it is to heal but just as much its to avoid spreading it around.

Answer 8

People who train have a responsibility to protect the people they train with.  If you're sick with something contagious STAY AT HOME!!

Sometimes it's unavoidable, colds and flus go around and just get everybody.  But it's inconsiderate, and downright irresponsible to expose other people to illness because you're thinking only of yourself.