Could Wearing A Bra Actually Be Harming You?

By Janey Dike on July 10, 2014

For most women, putting a bra on in the morning is just as much a part of their daily routine as brushing their teeth or putting in their contacts. In our culture, wearing a bra is a necessity for women. Entire stores are dedicated to them, we buy different styles and straps to best fit bras under our clothing, and we spend big bucks replacing them due to the typically short shelf life.

The fact that bras come in all sorts of pretty patterns and colors (and are sprinkled with rhinestones if you’re fancy) only incentivizes us to invest even more in them. We wear them to school, to work, to the gym, to formal events, and sometimes even to sleep. Bras are supposed to provide support and create a smooth look under our outfits.

But could wearing bras actually be bad for you?

image via thermographyforhealth.wordpress.com

There is a lot of debate circulating around about the effects that wearing a bra can cause. Do bras cause sagging? Help with sagging? Cause breast cancer? There may not be sufficient research today to have a positive answer. But researchers have looked into the possible negative and positive effects of wearing a bra and going without.

For researchers who suggest that women should not wear bras, their most obvious reasoning is that women don’t actually need to wear one. The modern-day bra was not even invented or widely used until the early twentieth century. The use of the bra is fairly recent on the timeline of human existence.

Most likely, the bra gained popularity because advertising and branding caused people to think that women truly needed to wear bras for support and appearance. Today, bras are important in our society because of the looks they create. With bombshell and push-up bras advertising increased cup size and cleavage, it’s clear that bras are intended to boost a woman’s breasts as well as their attractiveness to others.

image via laloyolan.com

While bras may also be advertised as a way to provide support and prevent sagging in breasts, Dr. Elizabeth Vaughan (a proponent for women going without bras) writes that wearing a bra could actually cause sagging. According to her website, BraFree.org, the ligaments in breasts that hold them up can weaken from wearing bras over time. Going without a bra for a few months can strengthen the ligaments once again.

Vaughan also researched the idea of bras encouraging fibrocystic disease, or a buildup of estrogen and toxin in breasts that can cause lumps or soreness. And although the American Cancer Society does not support a link between wearing a bra and breast cancer, there is a theory that wearing a bra can lead to breast cancer. This is based on how the body rids itself of toxins, as well as research results between women who did and didn’t wear bras and the corresponding breast cancer rates.

According to the Huffington Post, a French study supported some ideas that bras were not necessary for women to wear and that their use could have negative consequences. Professor Jean-Denis Rouillon found that over time, women who went braless had more natural support due to strengthened muscle tissue than women who opted to wear a bra. Those that wore a bra had weakened muscle tissue that possibly contributed to sagging.

Researchers that encourage women to go without a bra claim that while it may be uncomfortable at first, women’s bodies will adjust and muscle tissue will strengthen. Though wearing a bra may seem more natural to women because it is what they are used to, within a few weeks, daily activities and even exercise without a bra will become normal.

And let’s be honest, women all over the world savor that moment when they get to sling their bra off at the end of the day. Imagine what it would be like to be free and airy all day long.

Keep in mind that there is opposition to the theory and studies that bras can cause sagging. For example, the French study didn’t measure all parts of “sag” on the women’s breasts and didn’t take breast size into account.

One plastic surgeon, Dr. Carlos Burnett, even supports the opposite idea that bras hold up breast ligaments and keep them from stretching out, or sagging. He also supports that wearing a bra to bed doesn’t harm or hurt breasts, contrary to popular belief that women should not wear bras to bed.

image via chrissyfitness.blogspot.com

Whether or not you believe in the negative effects of bras that researchers have discovered, you may want to try going braless for the comfort or the experience. Whatever the reason you have in wanting to try going without a bra, here are a few tips.

If you aren’t ready to quit cold turkey, try wearing a tank with a built-in bra or a bandeau under your clothing. You’ll still feel some of the tightness and support that a bra gives you.

Although having your nipples show underneath your shirt is nothing to be ashamed of and should be more normalized for women, it can be an understandable worry that women have, especially when going to school, work, or other public places. Try wearing a thicker shirt or sweater or putting on an accessory overtop of your shirt, such as a scarf or vest.

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