Breast Health Starts With Your Bra

No, I'm not kidding, nor am I crazy. Wearing the wrong bra, or not wearing a bra at all, can negatively impact your health. It's a fact. Breast tissue requires proper support in order to remain healthy for your entire life. Your lymphatic system functions by your body's movement. Blocking the lymphatic system stops it from doing its job and puts you at risk, because toxins are not cleared from your body. Here's how you can put yourself at risk.

First of all, by not wearing a bra you put unnecessary pressure on delicate breast tissue. Remember that your breasts are just tissue held in place by skin. There is no muscle involved to provide support, so bouncing about will cause damage and sag.

About that sagging – going bra-less with sagging breast tissue will leave you with a skin-on-skin situation. That means perspiration issues. It's uncomfortable and encourages bacterial and yeast growth. Then you are forced into powder use, fungicides and other nasty chemicals that your body doesn't need or want.

Aching back? Sagging breast tissue pulls on your back. The pulling changes the way you position your body and ultimately puts pressure on your back and shoulder muscles.

Note, that sagging breast tissue can happen if you avoid a bra, or if you wear the wrong bra.

What about that bra? You need a bra that fits in order to have proper support. The band should fit snugly around your body without binding. A loose band will allow tissue to pull the cups down at the front and the band up at the back. Your band is designed to support part of the weight of the tissue. It can't do that if it is too large. Your shoulders will end up taking the weight, instead.

The cup should fit comfortably and should hold the tissue. If you have a wrinkled cup, it's too large and will make your clothes look frumpy. Try a smaller cup.

If you have tissue spilling over the top, under the cup or under your arms, the cup is too small. Keep trying larger cups until you find one that doesn't push tissue out in any direction. Remember to look for larger cup sizes. For example go from a B to a C. Don't go for a larger band to get a larger cup. You will compromise the support of the bra.

What if your bra doesn't fit? You can damage your health by wearing an ill-fitting bra. An overly large band will allow for sagging and it's associated issues. It will also allow breast tissue to fall below the cups. In this case, the tissue will be pinched. Since proper circulation and lymphatic drainage are keys to breast health, allowing tissue to be pinched below the bra will put your health at risk.

Pushing breast tissue into a too-small cup will harm breast tissue in the same way. Cramped and pinched tissue doesn't support good lymphatic drainage, which can lead to lumps, or worse. It isn't worth the risk. Take the time in the store to keep trying on bras until you find one with a cup that holds your breast tissue properly.

Buying a bra can be a trying experience that we all just avoid, but shouldn't. It isn't worth the health risks. While many manufacturers and stores provide only basic sizes, there are bras out there to fit every body. You just have to keep looking and trying, or engage the services of a trained bra fitter.