Our menstrual cycles and periods in general can be very finicky at the best of times. But imagine having to deal with your period while being a professional athlete. This is the reality so many face, and one such person who knows the challenges all too well is Olympic swimmer Cate Campbell.
Because in 2018, she suffered a near career-ending injury that was directly related to trying to manage her menstrual cycle. She spoke about this experience on Here If You Need, Mamamia's new podcast celebrating womens' sport.
"It actually had a real impact on me. I wanted to look at how I could manage my periods, because I didn't want to race while I was on my period," Campbell explained to pod co-host and sports journalist Hayley Willis.
"I tried to explore a few contraceptive options and at the time there wasn't really a good sports referral network for females to go down, so I just asked a bunch of swimmers what they were doing and decided to try the contraceptive implant. It's a bar that sits in your inner arm."
In 2018, Campbell had the procedure. But for her, it unfortunately went "horribly wrong".
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"That actually gave me permanent nerve damage down the right side of my arm. On the nerve I have strange sensations in my hand and palm because the bar was not inserted correctly. When we then tried to move the bar, it wasn't doing what it was supposed to do and the GP dug around and hit my nerve so much that I now have a permanent strange feeling."
Given the upper body is pivotal to a swimmer's success, Campbell explained that the damage caused by the improperly implanted contraceptive bar could have "ended my swimming career".
"It quite literally could have ended my career back in 2018. Not having access to a good female referral network in swimming and sport. It was really, really scary. It's now an injury I have to manage – my grip strength isn't strong on that side and when I start to get really tight then that nerve pain gets a little bit worse."
It's something Campbell hasn't spoken much about before, and an experience she said made her feel quite lonely.
"It's so important to talk about female health and the things we have to go through and how that impacts us."
Campbell also elaborated on it all via her Instagram, saying not knowing where to turn for help ultimately came down to "discussions around periods and female health problems being taboo".
But thanks to more conversations and a better understanding, she said: "Fortunately, this [stigma] is changing – but there is still a long way to go."
Campbell's comments come amid a wider conversation taking place about the challenges women in sport face when trying to manage their menstruation cycle.
Take, for example, the story surrounding Wimbledon's all-white dress code.
Australian tennis player Daria Saville (née Gavrilova) highlighted the glaring issue with Wimbledon's longest-standing tradition, saying it adds an extra level of stress for female players on their period.
"Recently just being at Wimbledon, I was talking with my friend saying that I love the all-white look, but then a few girls said they hate it because it sucks to wear all white while being on your period," the tennis player told The Daily Aus.
"It's true, I myself had to skip my period around Wimbledon for the reason that I didn't want to worry about bleeding through. We already have enough stress. Imagine being a swimmer or a dancer..."
And for lots of the tennis players at Wimbledon, they're often only allowed two toilet breaks during the match.
"Thank god I had a female umpire. I explained to her what is happening and then I waited for someone to bring me a tampon because I didn't have any," Saville said. "It was also 38 degrees on that day, that's why I said it sucks to be a girl sometimes."
As for how other female athletes manage their menstrual cycle, many said it comes down to using a reliable period tracker app.
Olympic hockey gold medallist Sam Quek said she tracks her period as part of her daily morning routine. And when Women's Health interviewed Lioness and Chelsea FC football player Fran Kirby, she said her team uses an app as well, helping them watch their cycles so they can adjust and achieve optimum performance.
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In October 2022, the NRLW, in conjunction with the Australian Institute of Sport, began studying menstrual cycles and how the use of hormonal contraceptives impact female performance.
It comes after a recent study by these partnering organisations found that one in two girls have skipped playing sport because of their period – due to feelings of shame and fears of leaks. It's a statistics lots of women in sports are trying to change.
"It's really sad to think we lose 50 per cent of our potential athletes due to the fact they are uncomfortable with their periods," Parramatta Eels NRLW player Tiana Penitani said to The Australian. "If we can create support and normality about being active and having your period, we could really change the world of sport and young minds, to not let that inhibit them."
As Here If You Need co-host Hayley Willis said: "We've just got to normalise it and have a bit of period pride. I saw that phrase 'period pride' and I loved it because we get it once a month, and it's always going to be there – so we should just embrace it and talk about it."
"Just because men don't feel comfortable talking about periods – we need to shine a light on this topic, even if it's sometimes seen as taboo."
Feature Image: Getty/Instagram @cate_campbell.
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