Stretch Marks from Jiu Jitsu?

A while ago, I blogged about the spiderweb of bloody lines I had gotten on my shoulders after doing jiu jitsu. After searching the web, I had concluded that this was rotator cuff tendonitis/shoulder bursitis because my shoulders were sore and the skin was very warm.

Recently, I went to my doctor for a check-up and mentioned the red lines that appeared on my shoulders. By then, they’d gone (although they return every now and then), and he told me with surety that they had been stretch marks. Then I told him I’d gotten them after doing jiu jitsu, and again he told me they were stretch marks. STRETCH MARKS? Aren’t stretch marks WHITE? Don’t they not disappear?

Now I’ve got a sliver of a red “stretch mark” on my shoulder since I went back to jiu jitsu yesterday (damn, I’m in love with this sport). Is there something I’m missing here? Are there different kinds of stretch marks – like, ones that aren’t associated with gaining weight/rapid muscle gain – like, ones that aren’t white? Or is my doctor bullshitting me like he did when I sprained my ankle?

Oh, and I’m wearing a knee brace now, and there’s no way I’m going back to him for advice. I think I’d rather see a doctor who knows what he’s doing.

But, if I’m wrong, and you know for sure that jiu jitsu gives you stretch marks on your shoulders that eventually disappear, please let me know so I can renew my faith in this doctor I’ve been seeing for years.

Thankies.

P.S. In other news, I got promoted to yellow stripe before the summer ended! But now I’m back to white since I’m at another jiu jitsu school TT_TT hehe, ah well.

 

Jiu Jitsu Aches

Arghh! I started doing jiu jitsu about a month ago, maybe a little less, and it’s fun all right, though it’s weird to be so much smaller than everyone else. They always treat me like I’m made of glass. Hate putting me in chokeholds. It’s HILARIOUS because I never hold back on them. But…one time some guy sat on my chest and I thought my rib cage would be crushed, so I suppose it was very, very kind of him to not put his whole weight on me. Or else I’d be dead. But, what I wish I’d been warned about when I signed up, was the damage my shoulders were gonna take. I think I have rotator cuff tendonitis/shoulder bursitis ’cause they’re way sore and I woke up one day with a whole bunch of broken blood vessels visible through my skin (now normally that would translate into a bruise, but there was no bruise, just this net of bloody lines under my skin). So I’ve been making sure to ice my shoulders – anything to not go to the doctor – but I thought only the stress of jiu jitsu would make them hurt, but they’ve been burning since I came back from my dance class. No pain, no gain, right? but I don’t think messing up my body is worth it. I already have to wear an ankle brace (although that’s for preventative measures, not because something is seriously wrong there) and I don’t want to end up like other guys who mess up their knees, elbows, thighs… I can see that it’s hard to be a martial artist, but one should avoid permanent damage at all costs. Which is why I sometimes have trouble understanding how someone could do Ultimate Fighting. But then I remember why I would do it if it were my thing.

Still, I like jiu jitsu. It’s incredibly different from karate. You have to use muscles you might not normally focus on in karate, and there’s an increased emphasis on the hips. Last class I realized that because when you’re grappling you’re often on your back on the floor or on top of someone, different physics come into play than when you’re just fighting someone standing up. With your back on the floor, you can use that to your advantage, and during a fight, I used gravity to make myself heavier to keep a guy from getting out of my guard. One of the instructors explained that when you’re on someone, you can only use your weight to keep them pinned (not force, I guess, unless you’re doing MMA and are striking), which was pretty interesting. Still, I think there’s a difference between putting your weight on someone and really putting your weight on someone (like dead weight). I experienced the difference when I did carries in karate, and I don’t know how it works but it does…