Figure skaters and cold / flu

[jjane45]

Maybe it's just a perception, I somehow feel the elite skaters tend to get sick a lot during competitions. Percentage-wise, are figure skaters more likely to get cold / flu, compared to hockey, speed skating, and non-winter sports in general? 

If so, what are the possible reasons?  Maybe the temperature change on and off the ice at different facilities can be a factor if one is not careful? 

[hopskipjump]

For us, regionals came just five weeks of school starting.  Getting sick happens!  I don't think skaters get sick more often.

[sarahspins]

If there is really an increase I think it's the stress of travel, exposure to lots of different people, and the season in general that contribute to it more than anything else.

[SynchKat]

I second what Sarahspins wrote. 

I know I am not elite but I am on my third cold of the season.  Hubby and son seem to be okay, why am I getting everything?  Maybe there is something to a skating correlation. 

[jjane45]

I second what Sarahspins wrote. 

I know I am not elite but I am on my third cold of the season.  Hubby and son seem to be okay, why am I getting everything?  Maybe there is something to a skating correlation. 

That's why I am curious about the comparison to other ice sports (traveling hockey for example), and non-ice sports (soccer, swimming, volleyball etc). Are there parents with children doing different sports?

[Janie]

This is totally speculation so I'm not taking any responsibility for what I'm saying here

I wonder if skaters and non-skaters get sick just the same (from normal reasons such as seasonal changes, stress and such like sarahspins said), but for non-skaters they may be on the brink of catching a cold but manages to fend it off, but for skaters, the cold air may accelerate the cold. I'm speculating this since on my recent bout of coughing, I would be sort of okay at home, but as I got to the rink and breathed in the dry, cold air, it would make the cough a lot worse. Getting up super early to train on freestyle and not getting enough rest probably doesn't help either.

This speculation doesn't help with any comparison to ice hockey/speed skating though 

[hopskipjump]

Cold air really helps my daughter breath better.  I think because it's climate controlled and she has a tenancy to asthma/bronchitis.  But we live where it is warm!

[Sk8tmum]

Temperature changes don't affect cold/flu incidence ... so arenas per se don't create the problem.  What does is having lots of people around, particularly kids.  So, when LTS kicks in in fall and winter, having little ones around sneezing, etc, spreads germs ... particularly as they may not be as capable of hygenic actions.  Plus, more people are physically inside the arenas as winter sports ramp up ...

Then, you get the back-to-school germ pool issue when kids are shoved back in to classes and they spread germs around and around.

If you are finding that your coughs and colds are worsened at the arena, then, that's a bronchial issue not cold and flu.

With comps, you travel, you meet a different germ pool ... you don't have resistance to the new germs. You get sick. If you are shifting time zones, then, that reduces the body's resistance to germs too ... and if you are flying, well, you're trapped in that airplane with all of the people and germs ...

Yeah, my kids swam competitively, play baseball, dance, etc etc etc.  If anything, I think we had more disease type stuff with pools, as they humid and muggy air in change rooms and around the pool were great breeding grounds for germs ...

[Janie]

Lol okay. I was just speculating though - wrong guess!

[kiwiskater]

Never wrong until scientifically proven otherwise

[VAsk8r]

My coach has remarked on the inevitability of skaters getting sick the week before a competition or exhibition. I'm no expert either, but I think it's just a coincidence. Lots of people have allergies, there's a lot of stuff going around right now, there will be a lot of stuff going around for the next several months due to everyone being inside, and then it's time for spring allergy season. Yay! 

If anything, I've noticed I get sick a lot less now than I did before I started seriously skating several years ago.

Anyone looking to get a PhD in viruses or epidemiology? Here's a good research topic!

[blue111moon]

I would suspect that the percentage of skaters getting sick around competition season is pretty similar to the percentage of students getting sick around major exam times.  Stress, proximity to other people, travel probably all contribute to a lowering of the immune system.

[jamesleo629]

The figure skating is a really graceful dancing with so much hard work and practice needed for new figure skates.The cold and flu happens due to temperature change which they should be taken care of with much precautions.

[jjane45]

I suspect the rate is somewhat different for athletes competing in different environments, indoor vs outdoor, summer or winter etc.

Do we usually hear reports about swimmers or gymnasts competing thru cold/flu/fever? Sometimes maybe the likelihood of getting sick is the same, but the news reporters are not as likely to report sicknesses (vs injuries).

Pure speculation fun

[hopskipjump]

I know from gym that the girls seem to give and get lice as well as skin infections.

Fungal infections seem to hit a lot of wrestlers and swimmers. 

I think skating is a little cleaner - you wear personal gloves, you don't rub bare sweaty skin on shared equipment.