Athletes' injury risk altered by menstrual cycle, research indicates
CBC
Canadian coxswain Kristen Kit has had a long, successful career competing for Canada in the women's eight boat, winning two Olympic medals in the process.
But in all her years on the national team, Kit has never taken a day off for her menstrual cramps.
"Never, in my 16 years," she said in an interview with CBC Sports. "I don't think I've ever known when anyone on my team, myself included, took a practice off or took a day off for cramps."
For some, menstrual cramps can feel like intense throbbing in the lower abdomen and pain that radiates to your lower back and thighs, but recent research from the University of Vigo in Pontevedra, Spain has found that a female athlete's hormonal changes could also lead to potential injuries.
"I am mind blown by this," Kit said. "For Olympic athletes, why do we not have someone coming to talk with us about this stuff? I don't want to get injured."
The same study found that a woman's monthly hormonal changes could alter biomechanics and movement patterns, creating a higher chance for injury.
The study also indicates that female athletes have a harder time balancing, or building and rebuilding muscle tissue, when hormones like estrogen and progesterone increase in the body.
According to Joanna Blodgett, a Canadian researcher who works as a senior research fellow at the Institute of Sport Exercise and Health in London, sports science only focuses about six per cent of its research exclusively on female athletes. As a result, "most athlete training programs, injury prevention strategies, and recovery protocols" are designed for male athletes, said Blodgett.
WATCH | Link between menstruation and injuries:
The research also indicates that an athlete's risk of injury is significantly higher during the luteal phase of a female's menstrual cycle, which was found to be the five days leading up to menstruation.
"Seeing that injury risk isn't the same across the menstrual cycle is very important," Blodgett said. "Of course, we can't control competitive fixture schedules against every athlete's cycle."
Kit has suffered several injuries in her career, most of which she recalls happening a few days before getting her period.
"[In January] I was running with my dog, and hit a rock wrong, and twisted my ankle," she said. "I wonder too, if I'm just a little bit less paying attention leading up to my period. l really think five days before I am kind of all over the place.
"In bike racing, all of my big crashes seem to happen right before my period. When I shattered my collarbone … I got my period a few days later, waiting for surgery."
