Breast injury

Our boobs are more vulnerable in sport than we appreciate. Frankly, compared to the other parts of our anatomy, breasts fall a bit short when it comes to taking care of themselves. They’re composed of fatty tissue with just skin and ligaments for protection which considering their position on the body, their weight and sensitivity, is pretty underwhelming.

From frictional injuries and chafing to direct impact in both contact and ball sports, we need to be aware of how to protect our bodies and keep abreast (excuse the pun) with latest research and products designed to help our boobs stay safe whilst we play.

The same old problem

Breast injuries are almost certainly under-represented in sports injury research to date as a result of poor reporting by athletes. This skewed data has therefore contributed to a lack of breast injury awareness amongst both coaches and athletes themselves.

Types of breast injury

Soft tissue injuries can lead to bruising, swelling and pain. But after particularly traumatic breast injury, the fatty fibrous tissue may change which can be both painful and lead to a change in the shape of the breasts and the appearance of lumps. Not only is this aesthetically not ideal, there is a danger that we end up with lumps in our breasts that whilst not dangerous, could hide the ones that are. While not a cause of breast cancer, down the track these lumps can be difficult to differentiate from breast cancer, and several tests causing personal stress and increased medical costs may be needed before breast cancer can be ruled out.

We refer to harsher injuries as trauma, but it’s important to understand what constitutes a trauma on such a delicate part of the body. We’re not suggesting that you need to get shot in the boob to have an injury considered traumatic! Quite often women showing signs of fat necrosis can’t even remember the moment an injury happened.

Breast asymmetry

Cases of breast asymmetries have been reported developing after significant impact injury to the breast bud at an early age. Although some variation in breast size is normal and is common in most women, a large variation can disrupt a woman’s life. The increase of women playing heavy contact sports, especially at a young age when they are developing, and the potential direct impact injury in rapidly popular games such as cricket, means we need to be asking the question – are we sending girls out to play without the right equipment and protective gear?

To clarify, there is no evidence presently suggesting that breast injury at this level is causing more sinister consequences for women, but it is worth considering how it feels and affects women’s confidence to have lumps in their breasts as well as the emotional impact of worrying that they could be serious – all of which could be avoided with the right protection.

Breast injury in elite sport

Research done by the Australian Institute of Sport shows that over one-third of elite female athletes reported experiencing either contact or frictional breast injuries during sport. Despite a fifth of these elite athletes recognising their injury had negatively affected their performance, most had never reported their breast injury to a coach or medical professional.

21% of participants in these studies reported that breast injury negatively affected their performance, but only a tiny 3% reported wearing any padding or protection. However, a tenth admitted they would modify their movements to prevent injury by changing their playing or running style, avoid a tackle or place their hands or arms in front of their breasts. It’s hard to quantify the impact of that, but one thing is for sure, the player needing to do this isn’t 100% focussed on their game at this point!

What can we do?

We must normalise conversations around breast health so that athletes can be encouraged to report these injuries, and therefore help drive awareness and increase pressure to develop effective breast injury prevention strategies and products.

Boob Armour

Boob Armour® is an Australian brand recently launched here in the UK. They are on a mission to protect women’s breasts and to give athletes, sportspeople and those in physically demanding careers the confidence to play, work and live freely by alleviating breast impact and preventing injury. Suzie Betts, the founder, started Boob Armour after finding lumps in her breasts and needing medical intervention to rule our breast cancer.

Suzie recognises that breast impact happens in all contact sports and at all levels of play and, just like mouth and shin guards, we aim to make breast protection the new norm in all contact, impact and ball sports. We’re behind her all the way!