Athletes don’t always have time to read in-depth articles, so here is the brief run down of the most important things you need to know about how Collar Up infections. Whether obvious and symptomatic, or hidden and asymptomatic, Collar Up infections can ruin your athletic performance and recovery–and in some cases your career.
Let’s take a look at the top 6 ways Collar Up infections can impact athletics.
- Slower recovery from injuries like post concussion syndrome
- Increased risk of cardiovascular event like heart attack
- Painful arthritis in joints and weakness in muscles
- Constantly feeling “under the weather” or catching colds
- Shortness of breath and lowered lung capacity due to inflammation
- Increased likelihood for serious, career-ending illness like breast cancer
A Deeper Dive
- Slower recovery from injuries like post concussion syndrome → In the sports world, quick, efficient recovery is the name of the game. Collar Up infections slow down and sometimes inhibit the healing process by causing further inflammation and immune activation. Constantly being under attack makes it nearly impossible for the body to focus on tissue repair and regeneration. One prime example is Post Concussion Syndrome. While your brain is likely to be affected in the short-term after a head injury, organisms involved in Collar Up infections can create conditions in the body that cause PCS symptoms to linger even a year post- injury.
- According to one study of 217 PCS patients, long term PCS symptoms over one year’s duration are associated with undiagnosed Lyme disease—a pathogen associated with Collar Up infections. 38% of athletes experience long-term PCS symptoms like memory problems, headaches, inability to focus. [7] In addition to organisms decreasing your recovery capacity, head injuries like TBIs can make you more susceptible to infections–especially in the region where the trauma occurred! [8]
- Increased risk of cardiovascular events like heart attacks and loss of peak cardio performance → The negative impact of Collar Up infections on heart health is probably the most researched area of the body when it comes to how local infections can affect seemingly unrelated organs. Collar Up infections are a major risk factor for both coronary artery disease and heart attacks. [9, 10, 11]
- Seen especially with dental infections, bacteria and other harmful organisms escape into the bloodstream and lymphatic system in the head. From here, the next stop for these fluids is the heart. Inflammation associated with these pathogens and their byproducts ends up causing damage to the heart muscle and blood vessels via “oxidative stress”. Over long periods of time, these toxic fluids entering the heart and blood vessels destroy the flexibility and resilience of the cardiovascular system. Not only does this affect your athletic performance—it could mean the difference between completing a race and dropping from a heart attack during the race!
- Painful arthritis in joints and weakness in muscles → There is an established link between dental infections and joint pain. Consider how many retired athletes you hear complaining of knee, should, and lower back pain. Even individuals who are still active are experiencing increasing levels of debilitating joint and muscle pain. So many people are suffering from lack of knowledge about the link between dental infections and joint pain. [12]
- One cause of this can be lymph stagnation due to inflammation, which may be caused by pathogenic organisms causing immune activation and oxidative stress. Certain bacteria in the mouth are capable of triggering arthritis in the joints, in some cases causing the autoimmune condition rheumatoid arthritis (RA).
- Inflammation, oxidative stress, and immune activation are not friendly to your mitochondria. As the “powerhouse of the cell”, mitochondria are extremely important in generating the energy needed by all of your muscles during training. Having stressed or weakened mitochondria can cause a decline in performance, muscle weakness, and overall fatigue.
- Constantly feeling “under the weather” or catching colds → When you are sick and in pain, you cannot perform at your peak. High-intensity training is associated with changes in the immune system that leave a person more susceptible to getting sick with a cold or flu. When you perform while you are in pain, you worsen your chances at healing effectively when you do finally take the chance to rest and recover. Chronic Collar Up infections that go unaddressed for weeks, months, or years can gradually leave you feeling like a shadow of your former glory. Who gets a PR when they are congested, can’t think straight, and feeling fatigued?
- Shortness of breath and lowered lung capacity due to inflammation → Your lungs are an essential part of your athletic potential. Most athletes avoid smoking and other activities that would harm their lung capacity—and yet the sports world rarely considers Collar Up infections as a cause of lowered lung capacity. Overtraining causes an increased risk for upper respiratory infections [13], which can turn into chronic Collar Up infections. Sinusitis leads to inflammation of the airways and reduces respiratory capacity, and therefore performance. Trouble with taking deep breaths, frequent sore throats or waking with a sore throat, or problems with swallowing or breathing may occur. If you experience asthma, this can make your symptoms much worse. Your lungs are one of your most delicate assets as an athlete!
- Increased likelihood for serious, career-ending illness → Collar Up infections can cause a lot of uncomfortable symptoms and have negative consequences when it comes to your training. However, these negative symptoms pale in comparison to the detrimental diseases that may occur as a result of chronic, unaddressed Collar Up infections causing inflammation and immune activation—slowly breaking the body down and leaving you unable to perform or properly recover.
Breast cancer is the most researched condition connected to Collar Up (and specifically dental) infections after cardiovascular disease. Thermography imaging has shown “hot spot” areas on both the breast and jaw with breast cancer patients, implying a possible link between inflammation in both of these regions.
The organisms and byproducts of the oral inflammation enter the bloodstream and lymphatic system, which may enhance cellular proliferation and mutagenesis, allowing for the development and spread of breast cancer [14]. Athletes turn everything pink for a month to raise awareness—and yet there is little to no awareness for the role of Collar Up infections in causing breast cancer! Epstein-Barr Virus is highly implicated in the connection between Collar Up infections and breast cancer, and possibly with Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s as well. [15,16] H. pylori found in the mouth is associated with periodontal disease, as well as peptic ulcers, which can eventually lead to gastric cancer.
Almost all conditions and disease states are caused by excessive inflammation and oxidative stress that the body is struggling to quench. Collar Up infections cause a massive amount of oxidative stress in the body, and thus can contribute to career—and sometimes life-ending—diseases.
Conclusions on Collar Up infections and athletic performance
Many athletes suffer from career-ending injuries and pain that forces them to stop competing. In fact, a survey of 3,357 retired Olympic athletes internationally reveals that 1 in 3 of them live in chronic pain that they attribute to significant injuries and overtraining from their Olympic careers [15]. How many people do you know complaining of joint pain and lowered vitality, despite being physically fit?
Don’t increase your risk of becoming a statistic in the athletic community by harboring insidious Collar Up infections. It will only hurt you down the road—and athletic longevity is key. If your lung capacity, cardiovascular fitness, injury recovery speed, and overall vitality matter to you—then pay attention to the signs. Understanding your susceptibility to Collar Up infections can significantly help your athletic performance, recovery, and quality of life!
The good news is that with enough awareness, proper dental hygiene, a solid diet, rest and recovery time, helpful devices, and other measures like having infections surgically addressed by a biological dentist, we can generally stop Collar Up infections in their tracks!
If you read this article and have suspicions that you or a loved one may be experiencing the detrimental effects of a Collar Up infection, please contact us at the Vagus Clinic right away so our Functional Medicine Practitioners and Health Coaches can help you regain your health and vitality.
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