Health

Wrong brassiere may be hazardous

by Sanjay Jha | July 28, 2008 at 03:23 am

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Wearing the wrong bra could prove hazardous for women. Women who buy a bra that doesn't resemble their everyday bra could suffer from breast pain or discomfort by not buying the right-sized bra, according to the research team at the breast biomechanics research team at the University of Portsmouth.

The team said that there’s a social stigma about certain sizes. Many women don’t want to be seen as too small or too big and buy a bra that doesn’t fit well in order to be what they consider to be a normal size. Many other women are unaware that they are wearing a badly-fitting bra or unknowingly wear the wrong bra size because they are routinely being sold ill-fitting bras.

Women who don’t wear the right type of bra may damage their breasts without even realizing it, health experts have warned.

The breast biomechanics research team at the University of Portsmouth said that ignorance or embarrassment might be the reason why women choose the wrong type of support. The researchers from the Hampshire University’s Department of Sports Science said that wearing the wrong type of bra could lead to fragile ligaments becoming stretched.

The research team has tested about 50 bra designs on hundreds of women during the past three years. Dr Joanna Scurr’s research has shown that breasts move up to 21cm (8.26 inches) during exercise and they move up and down, in and out and from side to side. Most bras are designed to limit just vertical movement.

“Many women have strong preferences for certain styles of bra and won’t buy anything else,” The Sun quoted Wendy Hedger, a researcher with Dr Joanna’s team, as saying. "They won’t even look at anything that doesn’t look like the sort of bra they are used to wearing."