Transcript
EMMA ROSS
A female athlete might use hormonal contraception for one of three reasons. So the first for its intended purpose to as a contraceptive and to prevent unwanted pregnancy. A female athlete might use it for what we call menstrual management. So that means making the cycle more predictable, managing any symptoms which might interfere with her training or performing, and even to manage symptoms around a particularly big event or competition.
And the third reason might be because they have particularly debilitating symptoms associated with the hormonal fluctuations of the cycle. And they might be heavy menstrual bleeding, acne, or very debilitating period pain. In a typical menstrual cycle, you have these peaks and troughs as the hormones oestrogen and progesterone fluctuate across the cycle.
But what happens when you’re using hormonal contraceptives is that you are delivering synthetic hormones into your system. And so your body’s own production of oestrogen and progesterone is suppressed and you no longer have a natural menstrual cycle.
Some women won’t have a bleed at all whilst they’re using hormonal contraception and for others they still will have a regular bleed. But it’s important to note that this isn’t actually a period, it’s known as a withdrawal bleed. And the reason that’s important is because the period is a vital sign of health, but this bleed that you have when you’re using hormonal contraception doesn’t actually represent that.