{"id":3855,"date":"2024-04-17T06:12:46","date_gmt":"2024-04-17T06:12:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/?p=3855"},"modified":"2024-04-17T06:12:46","modified_gmt":"2024-04-17T06:12:46","slug":"i-had-massive-period-anxiety-playing-for-the-lionesses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/?p=3855","title":{"rendered":"‘I had massive period anxiety playing for the Lionesses’"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\"Karen\n<\/div>

Karen Carney featured in four World Cups and was part of the 2012 Great Britain Olympics team (Picture: Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

With the roars of the crowd at World Cup matches, Karen Carney would be overcome with a sense of pride at playing for her country. But as she walked onto the pitch, she also often grappled with a secret fear.<\/p>\n

The Lioness \u2013 who played for Arsenal, Birmingham City, Chicago Red Stars and Chelsea throughout her career- was paranoid about leaking through her all-white kit.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u2018I had, and still have, heavy periods so there was a massive anxiety for me about wearing white,\u2019 Karen explains. \u2018I hated it. I\u2019d go out in major tournaments and turn to my teammates and ask \u201cAm I alright? Can you check that I haven\u2019t leaked?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u2018That\u2019s the last thing you want to be thinking when you\u2019re going out onto a pitch in front of thousands of people, about to represent your country.\u2019<\/p>\n

In an exclusive interview with Metro, Karen shares how she struggled with periods for the majority of her career.<\/p>\n

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\"Karen\n<\/div>

Karen spoke ahead of the release of Nuffield Health\u2019s Healthier Nation Index, which revealed how women still see their menstrual cycle as a barrier to sport(Picture: James Baylis \u2013 AMA\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u2018The anxiety was always there. Even if my mate had gone \u201cOh no Kaz, you\u2019ve leaked\u201d what could I have done? Could I have walked off during the game, or would that have made it even more obvious? There\u2019s nothing I could have done, really.\u2019<\/p>\n

Having retired from football in 2019 after 144 appearances for England, Karen is the third most capped Lioness behind Fara Williams and Jill Scott.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Five years from her retirement, the conversation around women\u2019s health is only just beginning to improve.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Research from Nuffield Health\u2019s Healthier Nation Index, released today, shows that just over 1\/4 (26%) of women say menstrual cycle and period symptoms stop them from exercising, a number that increases amongst 16-24s (47.91%). It\u2019s an issue that still needs addressing, as across the country, girls drop out of sport as puberty hits.<\/p>\n

Karen \u2013 who grew up in Solihull in the West Midlands \u2013 is sharing her own story in a bid to break the taboo surrounding periods and inspire more open conversations.<\/p>\n

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\"England\n<\/div>

Karen, far right, with England\u2019s 2011 World Cup squad in Germany (Picture: John Macdougall\/AFP\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u2018I think it [periods] always had an impact on me as a footballer\u2019, she recalls. \u2018There was a fear of humiliation if you leaked, especially as a teenager. I remember going to one of my first England camps and we had to do swimming and recovery strategies, and I really wasn\u2019t comfortable doing it. <\/p>\n

\u2018But I thought \u201cWell, what can you do?\u201d I struggled to have conversations about my periods with women, so how was I supposed to talk to my male coaches about it?<\/p>\n

\u2018Looking back, one of the biggest problems was the lack of education. My mum would say things like \u201cKaren, you\u2019re just not the same when you\u2019re due on\u201d and that was just an observation from her, she didn\u2019t mean it in a bad or mean way. But imagine if I, and other girls, had known more about what it was doing to my body, imagine knowing it was doing more to me from a psychological standpoint.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n