About Us

PERSONAL TESTIMONY FROM THE FOUNDER – NICK TIMMS

The original concept for Earcovery began over three years ago as a way to help to reduce the swelling to my ears and to limit my chances of developing cauliflower ear after hard (bjj) rolls with gorillas in the gym.

Going back, my first major ear injury resulted directly from getting my head crushed into the mat by a much heavier opponent. I distinctly remember listening to my right ear crinkle loudly as it got involuntarily folded in half (and seemingly, into quarters) from an opponent setting up a submission. It was awful.

That night, my ears felt like they were on fire. They were warm to the touch and they were noticeably pink. I didn’t think much of it and I simply continued to train through the soreness.

A couple days later I got caught inside a nasty triangle. While I realize that my defense could be better, the truth is, this second episode of trauma to my ears would only compound matters worse for my initial injury.

That night, both my ears were not only sore, warm and pink, they were now also very sensitive to the touch. Even putting my head on a pillow was uncomfortable. The next morning, I woke up surprised to find that my ear had lost its familiar definition because now blood that had pooled and collected beneath the skin.

To get scientific on you, an auricular hematoma usually results when blood fills into the open space after the ear’s skin has separated from the nearby cartilage. Left untreated, the auricular hematoma can result in a permanent deformity caused by the fibrocartilage overgrowth.

In my case, it looked like a kidney bean had been inserted beneath the skin near the top of my ear. I wasn’t sure what to do so I just left it for a few days to see if it would go away. After seven days, I noticed that it wasn’t getting better, so a decision had to be made. Either live with it or try to drain the blood out with a syringe.

For those of you who have never had to drain your ears, I’ll quickly go over how inconvenient it is. For starters, you need to source syringes and you’ll need to either syphon the blood out yourself (which can be fairly awkward) or you can ask someone to help you do it for you. Either way, it’s not fun.

Once you’re done drawing the blood from your ears and the pressure is relieved, it’s critical that you clamp and compress the troubled area using a binder clip or magnets to prevent the affected area from filling back up with blood. If that happens, you will have to go through the entire draining process again. If you choose to continue to train during the healing process, then it’s ideal to wear headgear for a week or so, and I’ve found that it usually takes a couple weeks for the skin and the cartilage to fully heal themselves back together again.

Personally, I’ve had three separate incidences where I’ve had to invasively draw blood to relieve the pressure. Each time, it took numerous drains and anywhere from 2-4 weeks before I could train BJJ comfortably without worrying about the same injury.

I’ve been using the Earcovery system for about a year and a half, and so far my ears have not progressed to a stage to where a large deformity has settled. I realize that this product is by no means a guarantee against the development of “cauliflower ear.” However, it’s worked for me as a proactive and a complementary tool to help me to reduce the inflammation from ear injuries resulting from my journey through jujitsu.

I’ve been very happy with the product so far, and my dream is to share Earcovery with as many people as I can who are also concerned about their own ears as they continue down their own journeys of athletic proficiency.

I would be happy to answer any questions that you may have. Please feel free to drop us a note and we'll get back to you as soon as possible.

Thank you for your support! 🙌🏽

 

Nick Timms