A New Study Says Bras Can Be Harmful And Scientists Encourage Women To Reconsider Wearing Them

Aug 09, 2019

Most women have been wearing bras every day of their lives since they hit puberty. You probably do so to be accepted at work or school. Bras are said to lift your breasts, give extra support, and reduce back pain, and they serve this purpose well when working out.

However, scientists say that wearing one all the time may not be actually good for your breast. Here are reasons why you could sometimes go braless.

Jean-Denis Rouillan is a professor who did a study on why bras are not as necessary as people think. His study showed that bras have no anatomic or medical benefits to women. He discovered that they lead to sagging of the breasts and hinder growth.

Professor Jean conducted the study on 330 volunteers aged 18-35 years. Their breasts were measured each year for 15 years. He noted that the braless women go a 7mm lift in the nipples every year, which goes against the notion that your breasts will sag when you don't wear a bra.

Their breasts were firmer than those who wore bras. So, his study shows that going braless gives your breasts good posture, as the bra does not offer all the support. Your breasts will also develop the muscles that prevent sagging while giving support.

Simply put, going braless makes your body use all the muscles for protecting your breasts from sagging. When your bra is doing all the work, those muscles become useless. A woman from this study went braless for two years and said that she didn't experience back pain, her posture improved, and didn't have trouble breathing. It means that those who market bras have been lying since they say that bras reduce back pain and size of breasts.

Shopping for bras is never an easy process. You end up trying many different sizes without finding the perfect fit since the size of bras is not universal. Thus, you end up leaving the store empty-handed and frustrated.

Quality bras are not cheap. Statista says that in 2017, most women bought a bra costing $16-$30. A store such as Victoria's Secret sells bras at much higher prices. Plus, the majority of ladies buy many bras at once. This cost goes up if one is buying different bras for various activities such as leisure, work, sports, and many more.

Bras don't give you much comfort unless they are wireless. The underwire could break and pierce into your skin when you least expect. You would then be forced to either go back home and change or bear the discomfort for the remaining part of the day.

Sports bras are usually too tight making it hard to breathe well. They make some women feel like they are trapped. When your breasts remain in a bra throughout the day, it's common to feel uncomfortable.

Wearing a bra prevents your breasts from being free. Nowadays, women should not wear a bra at all times. According to society, women are required to have a bra on during every activity except for when sleeping. This is a just a social norm, and no woman should have to go by it.

Some women will be judged when they go braless outside of their home. However, this should not be the case because it is their choice. There's no law saying that women must wear a bra.

No preteen should be wearing a bra. Professor Rouillan says that a bra on young girls prevents proper breast tissue growth. The muscle tissues around the breasts will also grow well when they go braless. Therefore, there is no need to make young girls wear training bras.

There is no medical or scientific reason why women are required to wear bras. Parents of preteen daughters should leave the decision of wearing a bra to them.

The women on whom the study was conducted were pretty young. They had only had bras for some years. On the other hand, older ladies have had them for decades. If the research was done on older women, the results might not have been similar to those of young women. This is a preliminary study and researchers say that they are not asking women to go braless completely.

The decision should be left to them. After all, they are the only ones who know what gives them the highest levels of comfort. More so, the study wasn't done on women who constantly engaged in physical activities and the effects of that on their breasts. This shows that that the study has a huge gap.

When you start to go braless, you will feel strange initially. It can take a lot of courage to get rid of something you've always had for most of your life. To help make the transition easy, below are some tips:

• Don't make a huge sudden change. Start by walking around the house braless when you are at home. Then go ahead and walk your dog before going to school or work without a bra.
• Make your posture is correct. You will now have to learn how to sit and stand properly; your bra did all these things for you. Keep your head up, back straight, and shoulders back to avoid hurting your back or neck.
• Wear a bralette. This is a wireless and padless bra. It can help make the transition easier.

The decision to wear a bra should be left to an individual. Going braless helps reduce your back pain, makes you less uncomfortable, reduces your expenses, and gives you more freedom. To allow proper breast development, don't force young girls to wear bras. Since this research is not conclusive, you should do what you feel is right.

Not many of you knew this about the breasts. Many more people don't know this yet. Kindly send it to anyone you think could use the information above.

Our content is created to the best of our knowledge, yet it is of general nature and cannot in any way substitute an individual consultation by your doctor. Your health is important to us!