Australian female athletes now have protection for their breasts, thanks to a new Aussie invention: Boob Armour.
Especially useful for women playing AFL, the armour helps to protect the breasts of the 550,000 women and girls playing for more than 2,300 teams from being elbowed, kicked, bumped and shirt-fronted.
58% of female athletes say they have experienced a contact breast injury during training or a game and almost half of those said the injury impacted their performance.
Boob Armour founder Suzie Betts is dedicated to educating women and girls on what happens to breasts during contact sports so they can take steps to protect their own breasts from impact and injury.
"You wouldn’t play impact sport without a mouthguard. You wouldn’t play impact sport without the right footwear. Women and girls shouldn’t play impact sport without adequate protection for their breasts.
"Officially licenced by the AFL/AFLW, Boob Armour was founded with one ambition; to give women and girls the confidence to play impact sports while protecting their breasts from impact and injury," she said.
Betts added that many aren't aware of the varying impacts of contact sports on breasts.
"Breasts aren’t just made of fat overlying the pectoral muscles. They are a complex system of glands, ducts, blood vessels, lymph vessels and nodes.
"Movement of the breasts during running and jumping stresses the weak ligaments and connective tissue supporting the breasts, often resulting in breast pain.
"Now add the impact forces sustained by the breast tissue during contact sports and it becomes clear why female breasts need adequate support and impact protection during these activities.
"As well as pain, missed games, or having your performance impacted, it has been shown that bruising from impact to women’s breasts can result in the formation of hard lumps in the breast tissue.
"While not shown to be cancerous, the investigations needed to differentiate them from possible cancer can cause a great deal of distress," she said.
The Boob Armour inserts are made from polyethylene and are two millimetres thick. They extend around the under arm for added protection and to help stabilise the breasts into position.
Six sizes of Boob Armour are available and players simply insert the armour into their regular sports bras.
Boob Armour is designed to protect breasts and prevent injury in women and girls playing impact and hard ball sports including AFL, Basketball, Netball, Rugby, Soccer, Hockey and Cricket.