My son is competing in cross country skiing and is training a lot. He is repeatedly bothered by sore throat, particularly after hard interval workouts. The doctor finds and tests show nothing wrong. Will most sore throats be worsened by training, or does this fact point to some more likely diagnoses?
Over-training, such as training to exhaustion, increases the trainee's stress hormone (epinephrine and cortisol) level. These hormones lower a person's immune response, making that person more vulnerable to infections. Streptococcus is a normal inhabitant of the mouth cavity, and normally causes no symptoms, unless or until that person's immunity is compromised. It is therefore no surprise that the doctor's tests show nothing wrong when you son is well rested. The same phenomenon has been observed in marathon runners, who have become more susceptible to cold and flu during training. The antidote to over-training is over-resting. If your son normally needs 8 hours of sleep a night, he may need more (like 10-12 hours) depending on how hard he trains. Massage therapy has been clinically proven to lower the levels of epinephrine and cortisol, and is well worth your investment.