Sports hygiene and infectious diseases
One thing that is often overlooked in sports is hygiene. The problem for sports players is the fact that while playing they sweat a lot and if they do not follow proper hygiene practises they can be prime candidates for infections and diseases. A lot of athletes do not take care of their personal hygiene and they do not properly clean themselves or their equipment and dirt and bacteria builds up over time and can spread from player to player. A lot of coaches and teams have pushed for better hygiene control in locker rooms and shower rooms and it looks as if better practises are being implemented. Still more work needs to be done; because a team works on the strength, fitness and health of its players in order to succeed.
The basic problem for maintaining good hygiene in locker rooms and amongst athletes is that a lot of them do not think it is a necessary part of their daily training regimes. Even though showering is an essential thing to do after a game, there are little things that an athlete needs to do to minimise the risk of infection spreading. Although, almost all professional athletes shower after a game and after practice, not all of them disinfect their equipment. By washing their uniforms after every game, they ensure that infections and bacteria do not spread to other player’s uniforms.
The reason why uniforms should be washed after every game is because in full contact sports, injuries can also occur and dirt and blood need to be cleaned from every uniform so that it does not mix with other clean uniforms. The equipment that athletes use should also be washed and disinfected after every game. Sometimes the equipment they wear can have close contact with the skin such as helmets, shin pads and guards. These items need to be clean before being worn by a player because they are one of the easiest ways in which infection can spread. Studies have shown that the two biggest sports where infections can spread very easily are American football and wrestling.
There are several basic rules that should be followed to keep on top of proper hygiene factors in sports. Firstly as stated above uniforms and all equipment should be thoroughly clean and disinfected before use. Then there are other things players can do to minimise spreading infections around to the whole team. One of them is not sharing water bottles. For some reason this is an accepted practice among sports players, they all seem to share their water bottles and they think that nothing will happen to them because the risk of infection is so small. They are wrong in that regard because sharing a water bottle with someone who is sick is the easiest and fastest way for a person to get ill as well. If water bottles are shared among many people on a team and one of them is sick, the whole team can come down with whatever is ailing that one person. Towels are another way for people on a sports team to get sick or contract infections. The same towels that are used by many people on a team are a perfect vehicle for spreading germs and bacteria. Each member on a team should get their own towel and they should be very well cleaned before they are used.
Even though sports teams consider themselves a unit and they like to do everything together, they should really not be sharing water bottles and towels. If they want to stay healthy and fit before games they should practise a little bit of personal hygiene and they will be good to go. The reason why hygiene is so important is because sickness debilitates players and they can be put out of action for a long time. It is devastating for a team when it’s star player gets injured, but imagine how bad it is for that team if half the players are sidelined with the flu and there is a big game coming up. With a little bit of precaution used, this type of situation can be avoided and a team can be healthy and fit before every game.
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