Athletes & Back Pain: Episode 126 with Dr Fiona Wilson

Hello & Welcome! I'm so excited to share this discussion with a leader in the field of sports medicine, who brings her personal experience as a high performance athlete, her vast clinical experience and her research insights to today's conversation. I'm talking about Dr Fiona Wilson,who as well as all of the above is also a Deputy Editor of the BJSM; the highest ranking sports and exercise medicine journal globally. She is also a professor of physiotherapy in Trinity College Dublin, as well as Deputy Editor of the Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport, leading their Injury Prevention subsection, and she is on the editorial board of the Journal of Sport Sciences and the German Journal of Sports Medicine.

Her research focus is the role of sport and exercise on low back pain (LBP) and on brain health, and she's published many clinical practice papers that are changing how we manage back pain in athletes, as well as a growing interest in menstrual pain in athletes (she was a coauthor on the Harrison 2026 paper that I discussed in a recent episode on menstrual pain, as well as a co-author on Dr Ciara Everard's paper on menstrual health (check out episode 113 where I chatted with Ciara about that paper)

In today's episode, Fiona shared her personal journey from becoming an elite rower to transitioning into sports medicine research, including her experience with a career-ending back injury that motivated her to study athlete-specific approaches to back pain management.

Our conversation focused on how athletes' back pain differs from general population back pain due to the unique nature of using their bodies as tools for performance, and the importance of keeping athletes' voices centered in research rather than relying solely on average population data.

We discussed the specific challenges female athletes face with menstrual pain and pelvic health issues, highlighting gaps in knowledge and the need for better support systems. Fiona emphasised the importance of precision rehabilitation approaches that consider multiple factors including biomechanics, systemic inflammation, and the athlete's individual circumstances rather than using generic interventions like static exercises (planks - we are talking to you!)

Our conversation also covered the stigma surrounding menstrual health in sports and the need for athletes to lead conversations about normalising these issues, with Fiona noting that better support could help retain female athletes who might otherwise drop out of sports during their periods.

Some of Fiona's publications that we talked about today include:

Whittaker JL, Schulz JM, Galarneau JM, Moore IS, Ackerman KE, Butler M, Dane K, Dubé MO, Ferraz Pazzinatto M, Gomez CD, Hayden KA, Marmura H, Mizuta R, Mosler AB, Schneider G, Schneider KJ, Sharma S, Trease L, Wilson F, Thornton JS, Crossley KM, Emery CA., Prevention strategies and modifiable risk factors for spine, chest, abdominal and/or pelvic injury and pain: a systematic review and meta-analysis for the Female, woman and/or girl Athlete Injury pRevention (FAIR) consensus., British Journal of Sports Medicine, 2025

"The pain isn't the hardest challenge...it’s the frustration at how much it affects my day-to-day life, my mental health and my ability to train”: a qualitative thematic analysis of elite athletes’ lived experiences of persisting low back pain'' Trease et al 2026

'“I'm breaking my back for this sport and they're not supporting me” Trease et al 2024

Fiona is an absolute legend in the world of sports medicine - for good reason, I'm sure you'll agree after listening to this episode!

Want to learn more about supporting female athletes? When you join the online course 'The Menstrual Detective'. you'll get access to the bonus course 'Pelvic Health for the Young Female Athlete' for free! All the details are at CelebrateMuliebrity.com

Until next time, Onwards & Upwards! Mx #celebratemuliebrity