Women in sport: Swimmer Cate Campbell reveals the ‘taboo’ health scare that almost ended her career

In a bid to highlight the impact of women’s health in sport, champion swimmer Cate Campbell has revealed she suffered near career-ending nerve damage due to a contraceptive implant

Australian swim star Cate Campbell has revealed she suffered near career-ending nerve damage due to a failed contraceptive implant.

Shining a spotlight on the taboo issue of women’s health in professional sport, Campbell opened up about the health scare in 2018 which has resulted in permanent nerve pain in her right arm and weakened grip strength.

Speaking on her podcast Here If You Need, the four-time Olympic gold medallist said she was looking into managing her period at the time because she didn’t want to race while she was menstruating.

Olympic swimming champion Cate Campbell pictured at Kangaroo Point, Brisbane 4th of November 2021. Photo: Josh Woning

“It is not something I’ve ever really spoken about but quite literally could’ve ended my career in 2018,” Campbell told co-host, sports journalist Hayley Willis.

“Just because men didn’t feel comfortable talking about periods.”

“So it’s so important to talk about female health and how that impacts us. “

Without an accessible sports referral network in 2018, the Brisbane swimmer instead consulted with other swimmers to gain advice around managing her period.

She decided to trial an Implanon, which is a contraceptive implant inserted into a woman’s upper arm that slowly releases progesterone.

“That actually went terribly wrong,” Campbell said.

Cate Campbell suffered near career-ending nerve damage due to a failed contraceptive implant. Photo: Instagram/ @cate_campbell

“I have permanent nerve damage down the right side of my arm. I have strained sensation in my hand and palm, because the Implanon was inserted not in between the fascia layer and your skin, it sat against my muscle.”

After the implant failed, Campbell explained that her general practitioner had to then remove the bar and “dug around and hit my ulnar nerve so much that I now have permanent strange feeling”.

The ulnar nerve transmits electrical signals to muscles in the forearm and hand.

“It potentially could have ended my swimming career, not having access to a good female health referral network in sport. It was really, really scary,” she said.

“It is definitely now an injury that I have to manage. My grip strength isn’t as strong on that side, and when I start to get really tight that nerve pain gets a little bit worse.”

Emma McKeon, Bronte Campbell, Meg Harris and Cate Campbell of Team Australia celebrate after winning the gold medal in the Women's 4 x 100m Freestyle Relay Final on day two of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at Tokyo Aquatics Centre on July 25, 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. (Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images)

Campbell shared the podcast episode to her Instagram account on Thursday along with a photo of her severely bruised arm following the procedure.

“I suffered a near career-ending injury, partly because discussions around periods and female health problems were taboo. Fortunately, this is changing – but there is still a long way to go,” she wrote.

Campbell won three gold medals in the pool at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games in 2018 and another four at the Pan Pacific Swimming Championships in Japan that year.

She won two gold medals in Australian relay teams at the Tokyo Olympics last year.