Medical Research
The Facts
Breast injury in female contact sports – a previously hidden/unreported injury
Why protect your breasts in female contact sports?
Breast movement during running and jumping has recently been described by the Research Group in Breast Health Institute at The University of Portsmouth in the UK. During running, 50% of this breast movement occurs in a vertical direction, 25% in a forwards/backwards direction, and 25% in a side-to-side direction with larger breasts having greater movement. In addition it has been shown that the breast does not follow the movement of the chest wall during running, having its own independent pattern of motion. According to research by this group, exercise induced breast pain, thought to be caused by tension on breast skin and internal ligaments/fascia during breast motion is reported in up to 72% of exercising females. (Brown N et al 2016).
However breast pain is not the only problem here
While the breasts are situated over the pectoral muscles on the front of the chest, these muscles do not support the breasts. The main support comes from the skin and internally located Coopers ligaments, which are not strong and may be irreversibly stretched due to excessive breast movement during running and jumping. Of course over time this ligament damage may lead to or accentuate the breasts sagging in an undesirable manner.
Now consider what happens in contact sports such as women’s AFL football
Not only is there a lot of running and jumping there is likelihood of considerable added impact force on the breast(s) during a football match. Dr Brooke Brisbine, Medical Research Scientist at the University of Melbourne, is passionate about increasing awareness of female breast injury in contact sport. In her recently published paper Dr Brisbine stated that 58% of female players reported experiencing a contact injury, and 48% perceived that their injury affected their football performance. These results came from her breast injury survey which was funded by the Australian Institute of Sport and was completed by 297 female Australian Rules Football, Rugby League, Rugby Union (XVs) and Rugby 7s players (Brisbine et al 2020). In addition, a staff survey was completed by 242 coaching and medical staff associated with female contact football teams. Half of the coaches and medical professionals surveyed were not even aware that breast injuries were a problem for female contact football players. It is clear that prevention of breast injury during female contact sports is needed.
So why is this important?
Apart from the pain, and maybe having to miss a game, or having your performance affected, it has been shown that impact bruising to the female breast results in the formation of hard nodules/ lumps in the breast tissue. While not cancerous, these lumps are difficult to differentiate from breast cancer. This may lead to the person suffering a lot of stress and having many tests before Breast cancer can be ruled out. In addition, although some variation in breast size is normal and is common in most women, injury to the breast of premenarchal girls has been shown to result in asymmetrical breast growth (Janse et al 2008), which may cause embarrassment and disrupt self esteem. For this reason, protection against impact in contact sports is important for those girls whose breasts are still developing and where impact is particularly painful.
In summary
It becomes obvious that the female breasts NEED GOOD SUPPORT to minimise breast movement during running and jumping, and be adequately PROTECTED FROM IMPACT in contact sports.
Brown N, Burnett E, Scurr J. Is Breast Pain Greater in Active Females Compared to the General Population in the UK? Breast Journal. 2016;22(2):194-201
Brisbine BR, Steele JR, Phillips EJ, McGhee DE. Breast pain affects the performance of elite female athletes. Journal of sports sciences. 2020;38(5):528-533
Burnett E, White J, Scurr J. The influence of the breast on physical activity participation in females. J. Phys. Act. Health. 2015; 12(4):588–94.
Smith LJ, Eichelberger TD, Kane EJ. Breast Injuries in Female Collegiate Basketball, Soccer, Softball and Volleyball Athletes: Prevalence, Type and Impact on Sports Participation. Eur J Breast Health. 2018 Jan; 14(1): 46–50.) Brisbine BR,
Steele JR, Phillips EJ and McGhee DE. Breast injuries reported by female contact football players based on football code, player position and competition level. Science and Medicine in Football. 2020;4(2):1-8.
Breast movement during running and jumping has recently been described by the Research Group in Breast Health Institute at The University of Portsmouth in the UK. During running, 50% of this breast movement occurs in a vertical direction, 25% in a forwards/backwards direction, and 25% in a side-to-side direction with larger breasts having greater movement. In addition it has been shown that the breast does not follow the movement of the chest wall during running, having its own independent pattern of motion. According to research by this group, exercise induced breast pain, thought to be caused by tension on breast skin and internal ligaments/fascia during breast motion is reported in up to 72% of exercising females. (Brown N et al 2016).
However breast pain is not the only problem here
While the breasts are situated over the pectoral muscles on the front of the chest, these muscles do not support the breasts. The main support comes from the skin and internally located Coopers ligaments, which are not strong and may be irreversibly stretched due to excessive breast movement during running and jumping. Of course over time this ligament damage may lead to or accentuate the breasts sagging in an undesirable manner.
Now consider what happens in contact sports such as women’s AFL football
Not only is there a lot of running and jumping there is likelihood of considerable added impact force on the breast(s) during a football match. Dr Brooke Brisbine, Medical Research Scientist at the University of Melbourne, is passionate about increasing awareness of female breast injury in contact sport. In her recently published paper Dr Brisbine stated that 58% of female players reported experiencing a contact injury, and 48% perceived that their injury affected their football performance. These results came from her breast injury survey which was funded by the Australian Institute of Sport and was completed by 297 female Australian Rules Football, Rugby League, Rugby Union (XVs) and Rugby 7s players (Brisbine et al 2020). In addition, a staff survey was completed by 242 coaching and medical staff associated with female contact football teams. Half of the coaches and medical professionals surveyed were not even aware that breast injuries were a problem for female contact football players. It is clear that prevention of breast injury during female contact sports is needed.
So why is this important?
Apart from the pain, and maybe having to miss a game, or having your performance affected, it has been shown that impact bruising to the female breast results in the formation of hard nodules/ lumps in the breast tissue. While not cancerous, these lumps are difficult to differentiate from breast cancer. This may lead to the person suffering a lot of stress and having many tests before Breast cancer can be ruled out. In addition, although some variation in breast size is normal and is common in most women, injury to the breast of premenarchal girls has been shown to result in asymmetrical breast growth (Janse et al 2008), which may cause embarrassment and disrupt self esteem. For this reason, protection against impact in contact sports is important for those girls whose breasts are still developing and where impact is particularly painful.
In summary
It becomes obvious that the female breasts NEED GOOD SUPPORT to minimise breast movement during running and jumping, and be adequately PROTECTED FROM IMPACT in contact sports.