If you are thinking of getting into boxing, either as a hobby or as a career, there’s something that you must know: you will get hurt! In fact, it doesn’t take a genius to know that boxing is one of the sports with the most injured practitioners, with the overall incidence rate of injury being 17.1 per 100 boxer-matches. And as you probably have guessed already, nose trauma makes up a significant number of these injuries.
Because of this, many boxers over the years have tried different things to protect this body part. Some of this advice is completely ridiculous, and some of it is actually pretty good. In this article, I will give you my best tips on how to protect your nose, what to do after a nose injury, how to know if your nose was broken or just bloody and more. I hope you find this article useful!
1. Sparring Gloves: A Must Have For Nose Protection
If you are still sparring with normal training, bag, or even fight gloves, then let me tell you that switching to sparring gloves is the best thing you can do to protect your nose, head and body! Sparring gloves differentiate from other gloves by the fact that they have much more padding than other ones because these are usually 16 oz gloves (14 oz for women or men who weigh less than 155 lbs).
The cushioning found inside them will do a great job of making sure your and your opponent’s nose isn’t too banged up after a few rounds of sparring. If you won’t wear or aren’t able to find headgear with nose protection, then this is perhaps the second-best choice.
Sparring gloves are physically identical to other gloves, but you will notice the difference as soon as you touch the padding. It is super soft, which will seriously reduce the chance of a broken nose in a fight. They will effectively protect the whole body really, but the only thing that I do not like about them is how they feel when you hit somebody. They feel like you are punching a pillow, something that I personally hate. It is what it is though, and if you really care about your nose you are going to have to get used to it.
The sparring gloves that I personally recommend are called the Ringside Apex Flash Sparring Gloves. These are a good balance between soft and firm, and fit very well in your hand. I personally tend to wrap my hands a little bit less when using these gloves, and I recommend that you do so too.
2. Headgear: An Effective Way To Protect Your Nose
If you want to make sure you don’t break your nose or hurt it in a major way, you are going to have to wear a special type of headgear. Normal headgear will protect your cheeks, part of your forehead, and the ears, among other parts, but it doesn’t cover your nose at all. Many equipment manufacturers realized this and eventually, a different headgear with a nose bar was introduced.
This equipment does a heck of a job protecting the cartilage and the bones of your nose. In fact, it does such a great job that it is a great way to keep sparring if you have a broken nose. I have a few friends that got their noses broken, but they didn’t really stop fighting, they simply started wearing headgear with a strong nose bar.
The only thing that I do not like about it when compared to the normal headgear is the fact that your vision suffers a bit. If the nose bar does a good job protecting your face, then it’s probably going to be pretty bulky, potentially affecting your vision. It is still a solid option for people looking to protect their nose area.
In short, headgear is the very best way to effectively protect your nose bones & cartilage. The headgear that I personally most recommend for people looking to protect their nose is called the Cleto Reyes Traditional Headgear you can check if it’s available on Amazon here.
Aside from being super comfortable when sparring in a hot boxing gym, the nose bar from this beauty is super stiff and resistant. It’s so protective that I was surprised when I heard that It was made from nylon! This is overall the best headgear for nose protection you could buy today. Highly recommended!
Here I am going to give you some technical tips that generally apply to boxing defense but they will help you especially to defend your nose from hard blows:
3. Keep your Chin Tucked
If your chin is up high while boxing the chances for you get knocked out increase dramatically. But that also puts your nose in danger of hook, overhands who can easily damage it because of the angle the punches are coming. But when your chin is tucked that not only protect your brain but also your nose because it becomes much harder to hit.
By tucking your chin I don’t mean trying to touch your chest with your chin or something like that. I simply mean tilting your heal slightly forward so your forehead becomes like a shield from punches. The forehead is so sound that if your opponent isn’t wearing gloves he can even break his hand while hitting it. For more information on how to take punches without getting much damage check out this article: 22 Tips on How to Take a Punch in Boxing Like a Pro
4. Don’t dip your head while exchanging
The number 1 punch I notice boxers break, or give a bloody nose to their opponents/sparring partners is the rear uppercut. And that usually happens when someone dips their head to avoid the punch and the other boxer sees that and throws an uppercut to intercept his opponent. When you do that, the power of the punch doubles because you are basically moving your head to the punch. And the uppercuts are also designed to find the chin or the nose (if you dip your head).
So instead of doing that, I recommend trying to slip the punch or block it. You can even disengage by using your footwork to move back or move at an angle if you don’t feel comfortable exchanging with someone because of their power, speed, experience or other reason. But don’t forget keeping your hands up or using your jab to create some distance while disengaging.
5. Look at the punches
The number one tip that I can give you, that will help you to avoid strikes or at least don’t get hit clean is to look at the punches. By doing that you will have enough time to block, slip, or move away from the punch. That way you won’t get clean punches to your nose.
But even if you don’t manage to do that and you get hit, your natural reflexes will protect you. Your jaw and neck muscles will tighten which will absorb some of the force and you won’t get hurt so badly. Also, the chances you get knocked out with a punch you see are slim.
In the beginning, you are taught that you should keep your hands up, all the time. And that’s not true particularly true because when your hands are up like in high guard all the time (both hands above your eyebrows), the gloves prevent you from seeing the punches.
That’s why I prefer using long guard where your rear hand is on your jaw while your lead hand is far forward. That helps you create distance but also see the punches. I even sometimes use the Philly shell guard sometimes at a short distance. You can check this article if you are interested in learning everything about boxing guards and stances: The Best Boxing Stance and Guard for Beginners (+5 Advanced) or you can check our Youtube video on why you should use the high guard.
Is There Any Way To Do Some Conditioning For The Nose?
This is something that many boxers have wondered over the years: aside from protective gear, is there any kind of conditioning that you can do for your nose? And the answer is that yes, there are a few little things that boxers have done to kind of “soften” the cartilage of their noses so that it becomes more flexible and less likely to suffer an injury after repeated blows. This by no means will free you from a broken nose or any kind of similar injury, but at least it’s going to lower the chances of suffering it though.
To do this, you are going to grab the tip of your nose and you are going to stretch and massage the bottom part of it. The top of your nose consists of bone and the bottom part consists of cartilage, which is much softer and more pliable. Manipulating the cartilage will soften it up a little, lessening the chances of the bone on the top of your nose breaking. I have years using this technique, and it seems to do a good job of making sure my nose doesn’t get bloody or broken.
Also, there are a few other ways to make sure your nose is as protected as possible. This technically doesn’t even classify as conditioning per se, but It’s still a brilliant way to protect your precious nose. And that technique is applying some vaseline to your whole nose. Vaseline is often smeared on the face of boxers before they are going to spar, but many trainers tend to skip the nose for some reason.
As you probably know, vaseline is applied to the face so that punches have an increased chance of slipping, lowering the chances of a big laceration, and the same thing applies to your nose. A bit of petroleum jelly is going to do a world of difference in how your nose looks after a few rounds of sparring, and as I said above, it helps you avoid a broken or bloody nose!
Another way to make sure your nose stays as uninjured as possible is by avoiding blowing your nose when in a fight. This is a very common tip many trainers tell their fighters before they get to the ring, but many people often do not really even know how that helps a boxer. The answer is this: if you have been hit several times in the face already, there’s a chance that you have broken blood vessels inside your nose.
Blowing your nose while it is in that state is only likely going to promote a nosebleed that might even make the ref stop the fight. Blowing your nose could even damage injured blood vessels near your eye, so make sure you avoid doing so for at least a few hours after you stop fighting.
Aside from the above tips, there’s honestly not that much you can do to thoroughly protect your nose. The only way to comprehensively protect it is by wearing headgear with a nose bar when sparring, but you obviously won’t be able to do that in a pro bout. The vaseline and cartilage stretching tips will help you a bit, but still, boxing is a contact sport. No matter how much you care for your nose, it’s likely going to get bloodied up eventually, especially if you spar often.
How To Know If Your Nose Is Broken Or Just Bloody
If you tend to fight or spar a lot, then one of the things that you must want to know is how can you tell if your nose was broken or just bloody. In the heat of the fight, actually knowing that can be pretty tricky, but there are some surefire ways that you can easily tell.
The first one is to touch your nose. Does the bony part feel out of place, disjointed, or crooked? If so, then your nose was probably broken. This is especially true if it hurts a lot when you put pressure on it or you can move something in an unnatural way. Also, try to get feedback from a coach or a trainer, they should be able to spot the fracture immediately. A broken nose can easily be spotted visually, so even if you don’t have a coach or a trainer nearby, checking the mirror can be enough to tell it happened.
If your nose is bleeding but your nose is structurally sound, then your nose is probably just a little bit bloody. It will probably be red and swollen, which means that your nose’s cartilage has been mistreated. This is usually true when there’s only a little blood. If your nose is bleeding a lot though, then there’s the chance that your nose is broken.
Another way to know if your nose is broken is you got a black eye as if you got hit there. Many people tend to suffer from this after suffering a broken nose, and it is a surefire way to know that you need to go to the doctor.
Also, another surefire way to know if your nose is broken is if it feels stuffy when you breathe in as if you had a cold. If this is the case, then there’s the chance that the bones inside your nose are interfering with your breathing. So again if this is your case, you probably should go to the doctor.
What To Do Right After A Nose Injury
If you suspect that your nose is broken, then there are a few things you should be doing in order to limit the damage as much as possible. Doing this will not only decrease the inevitable bleeding, but it will also reduce the probability that your nose will suffer permanent damage.
The first thing you must do if you got your nose broken is to apply some ice. This can easily increase the pain of the injury at first, but it also helps reduce the swelling, giving you a clearer view of the damage. After this, it’s time to stop the bleeding. You are going to sit down, pinch your nostrils, and then lean forward.
Keep your nostrils pinched for 10-20 minutes while you breathe through your nose. By doing so, you are making sure your nose stops bleeding. However, about doing this if pinching your nose is very painful. If this is the case, just apply some ice. After this, you are going to have to go to see a doctor. He will most likely do some x-rays to know exactly which bones were affected, and they might put a splint in your nose.
Conclude
So as I mentioned above, boxing is one of the sports with the most injured practitioners, and nose injuries make up a big part of these. If you are just getting into boxing, then let me tell you that you are eventually going to have your nose busted up. It’s just an inevitable part of our sport, but thankfully, there are a few things you can do to reduce the likelihood of a broken nose, like massaging your nose’s cartilage and wearing headgear with a nose bar.
But sometimes this isn’t enough and you injure your nose anyways. If that’s the case, then you should apply ice immediately! After this, make sure you cover your nose while breathing with your nostrils to stop the bleeding, and after that, you are going to have to see a doctor so that he can proceed with the treatment.