Injury risk is higher at some phases of the menstrual cycle

Study Type: Cross-sectional survey study (observational) Participants: 147 elite female rugby players from UK. This is self-reported perceptions only - no objective measurements. There is not evidence of statistical significance in the study. There's no evidence this study design can determine whether injury risk is actually higher during the menstrual cycle - only that about half of athletes believe it is.

This study tracked injuries in elite 113 England women's football players over 4 years to see if injury rates varied across the menstrual cycle. Researchers found that muscle and tendon injuries occurred nearly twice as often during the "late follicular phase" - the 3 days around ovulation when estrogen levels peak. Limitation: the **lack of exposure data (training/match time ) and statistical testing **means we cannot determine if injury risk actually increases during specific menstrual cycle phases.

Researchers tracked 179 elite female futsal players in Spain over two seasons, recording when injuries occurred relative to menstrual cycle phases (follicular, ovulatory, luteal). Players self-tracked their cycles using apps. Main Findings: The study found NO statistically significant differences in injury rates between menstrual cycle phases. Classification Rationale: The paper's title suggests a relationship between follicular phase and injuries, but the data doesn't support this claim.