# Olympic Menstruation **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 29, 2012, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympic-menstruation/629728 "2012-07-29T03:01:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Voluble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/4af34b/32.png) [@Voluble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voluble)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2012, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympic-menstruation/629728/21 "2012-07-29T19:13:22Z")
Another factor not mentioned is that there will also be some self-selection at work. Women who have difficult periods are probably less likely to take up sports or stick with them to the point of competing at the highest levels. The fact that these athletes are there show that they have found some way to deal with the problem or that it is not so much of a factor in their cases. And yeah, birth control where you don’t have periods at all is fairly common now. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2012, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympic-menstruation/629728/22 "2012-07-29T19:22:05Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > Holy cammoly. I know this off-topic, but can tell me about this? A hysterectomy? My aunt had endometriosis, as was mentioned and yes, she had to have a hysterectomy. It can be quite debilitating. Now my periods vary from month to month. One month they’ll be fairly mild, the next I’ll have major cramps, migraines, I’ll be bitchy as hell, and sometimes I get somewhat clumsy. And before my meds were finally adjusted, my seizures would get worse around that time. What I’d mostly be concerned about, not so much the cramping is what happened to Pippig – a tampon or something leak, and showing through my leotard, or whatever. I’d just about want to curl up and die. **Martian Bigfoot** , ALL athletes play through severe injuries, not just women on their periods. Mario Lemieux was playing through back pain so severe he couldn’t even bend over and tie his own skates. Does that mean every man with back problems is a wimp for taking time off to heal? ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2012, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympic-menstruation/629728/23 "2012-07-29T20:16:22Z")
… whew. I was afraid we were going to see a new demonstration sport. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2012, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympic-menstruation/629728/24 "2012-07-30T01:53:59Z")
Even assuming that a given athlete has painful cramps, I doubt it would prevent her from competing. Frankly, look at all the athlete who keep running, cycling, skiing or whatever with severe pain from sport-related wounds. Most of them seem to be able, when competing, to handle a level of pain ordinary people would be unable to cope with. ---
**Author:** ![AaronX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7bcc69/32.png) [@AaronX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AaronX)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2012, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympic-menstruation/629728/25 "2012-07-30T02:04:18Z")
I’ve heard some students even use birth control pills for their exams. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2012, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympic-menstruation/629728/26 "2012-07-30T02:54:19Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > There really does seem to be a meme out there that All Women Are Alike, seen in the OP with the assumption that menstruation is somehow equally debilitating to all women… C’mon, gimme a _little_ credit. I do not suggest (or assume) that all women are _equally_ debilitated by their periods. **KarlGrenze’s** answer notwithstanding, my assumption was merely that a woman’s period is, generally speaking, detrimental to athletic performance in a non-zero way. At the Olympic level, when an athlete is trying to deliver her absolute best performance and her competition is just a hundredth of a second/point behind her, _anything_ that compromises performance is a liability, and I just wondered how they coped with that. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2012, 9:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympic-menstruation/629728/27 "2012-07-30T09:17:59Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > … my assumption was merely that a woman’s period is, generally speaking, detrimental to athletic performance in a non-zero way. Well… is that assumption actually true? Even for non-elite women? Is the average women actually negatively impacted at all in regard to sports when she’s on the rag? ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2012, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympic-menstruation/629728/28 "2012-07-30T19:37:52Z")
> [@runner pat](#): > > A lack of periods is common among high(and not so high) level women athletes. According to my cousin this is also common in boot camp, leading to alot of pregnancy scares. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2012, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympic-menstruation/629728/29 "2012-07-30T20:15:57Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > Well… is that assumption actually true? Even for non-elite women? Is the average women actually negatively impacted at all in regard to sports when she’s on the rag? [Short answer: No.](http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/07/20/athletic-performance-and-the-monthly-cycle/) Long answer: Maybe a little, for high-performance athletes in sports involving “hopping, landing, and cutting.” The foot apparently flexes slightly differently at different times of the month. Researchers found no variations in endurance or strength, though. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2012, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympic-menstruation/629728/30 "2012-07-30T21:06:01Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > Holy cammoly. I know this off-topic, but can tell me about this? A hysterectomy? Endometriosis runs in my family. My maternal grandmother and my mother both had hysterectomies in their thirties - they were filled with tumors and fibroids. Periods are hell when you have these genes. Severe cramping, severe depression, anxiety, skin breakouts, back pain, nausea, diarrhea, sometimes vomiting. I’m 29 now and last year my symptoms began to ramp up at an alarming rate. I knew where this was going, and was utterly terrified. But six weeks ago my doctor diagnosed me with presumed endometriosis and she prescribed something amazing. I am not even kidding, it has changed my life - even my personality - into something positive and worthwhile. And it’s so simple - Jolessa/Seasonale, a continuous BC that I take every day, skipping placebo week and never have a period. Physically, I feel so much better. Crazy lifelong problems that I thought had nothing to do with my period have just stopped. Psychologically, it’s like I’m discovering myself, the person that’s been buried underneath all this depression and malaise, for the first time. I think I may not have to get a hysterectomy! So yes, it varies greatly from woman to woman. One option female athletes have is just to take a continuous BC (you can do this with any of them, actually) and never have a period by skipping placebo days. This stuff is complete trial and error with women, though. I tried like ten things before I found something that worked. And sometimes hysterectomy is the only viable option. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2012, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympic-menstruation/629728/31 "2012-07-30T22:11:11Z")
Congratulations on your newfound ability to not be such a complete bitch all the time. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2012, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympic-menstruation/629728/32 "2012-07-30T22:19:02Z")
> [@purplehorseshoe](#): > > Congratulations on your newfound ability to not be such a complete bitch all the time. I need you to explain this joke to me. ---
**Author:** ![you\_with\_the\_face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ecccb3/32.png) [@you\_with\_the\_face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/you_with_the_face)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2012, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympic-menstruation/629728/33 "2012-07-31T01:49:11Z")
> [@MsWhatsit](#): > > The foot apparently flexes slightly differently at different times of the month. I thought this was just me! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympic-menstruation/629728.md?page=1)