Wearing Wrong Bra Size Can Damage Breasts: Study Warns

Either ignorant or embarrassed about their true bust size, millions of women worldwide could be damaging their breasts by simply wearing a wrong sized bra, researchers from the University of Portsmouth, England highlight.

Wearing the wrong bra – functionally the busts’ support system – could lead to irreparable stretching of the fragile breast ligaments, the breast biomechanics team warned.

Researchers lead by Dr Joanna Scurr tested over 50 bra designs over 100 women for almost three years.

To track down the distance traveled by breasts and the speed at which they moved in all directions, women were asked to take a treadmill test.

Budging everywhere, up and down, in and out and from side to side, breasts moved up to 21cm (8.26 inches) during exercise, researchers noted.

Unfortunately, most bras were designed to limit just vertical movement and did not allow for breasts to move in and out or from side to side, Scurr marked.

"Many women have strong preferences for certain styles of bra and won't buy anything else,” Wendy Hedger, study’s co- researcher noted.

"In sports bras, for example, many women won't buy a bra that resembles their everyday bra — they think if it can't be pulled over their heads like a crop top, then it's not a real sports bra.”

"But this is not true and many sports bras do up at the back in the same way as a traditional bra and do a very good job of supporting women."

The bottom-line, choose a bra that is going to support your breasts whether you’re walking down the street or running on a treadmill, researchers said.

Ill-fitting bras are the prime cause of discomfort and pain in the breasts. They can have pensive psychological effect, body pain (i.e back, neck and shoulder pain) and breast cancerdefine at the later part of your life.

Moreover, while some women are unaware of the fact that they are wearing a wrong size, others are often assured by shop sellers that it is correct.

How To Choose The Right Bra?
Supported by the pectoral muscle - the muscles of the chest on which they lie – breasts are best supported from beneath.

To find your exact breast size
• Measure directly under the breast
• Then measure the fullest part of the body.

Tips
• To check whether you have the right support, slip of the straps and see whether it stays in place without them.
• Check if the bra fits snugly around and does not dig into your breast. One should be able to fit one or two fingers under the band comfortably.
• Check if the cups fabric is wrinkled. If yes, then go in for a smaller size.
• Check if you have extra space in the cup, the breast should completely fill the cup. If there is a space then reduce the cup size.