A Secret Cloth

                       A Secret Cloth

Over 90% of Australian women wear a bra, most without ever asking why.  People just think it's the thing to do and don't question it. This article talks about different reasons people wear a bra, and questions those. Of course you are free to wear a bra if you want to - for whatever reason - but many women in today's society are actually led to believe it is some kind of necessity, which it is not. And for some women, going without bras can bring a tremendous relief from breast pain.

The modern bra actually developed from corset. And why did women wear corsets?  If you study history books you will find the corset was invented to mould a woman's body into a "supposedly" pleasing shape, as determined by FASHION INDUSTRY.

In today's western culture bra has been turned into a sexual garment - its main purpose is to emphasize the sexual nature of breasts.  In most cases bra is not for practicality - though for women with very large breasts a bra (or some kind of support) can be a necessity in some situations.

Do breasts really feel more comfortable with or without bras?

The thing is, most women are so used to bras that they don't notice the slight discomfort from bras. But thinking about it, can you feel any discomfort and tightness from your bra? When you take your bra off, do you feel something similar to the feeling when you have eaten your belly full at a restaurant, and you loosen your belt a little?  Can you possibly even see little red marks on your skin after taking bra off?  If you answer yes to these questions, your breasts may be trying to tell you something!

"When ask if a bra is uncomfortable, most women will respond "no", even though the evidence is there. This may be the result of conditioning towards certain social "rules" actually outweighing the physical discomfort. In other words, it is more uncomfortable to be braless in today's society."

Bras and breast cancer risk

Bra-wearing has been linked to breast cancer in a study done by Sidney Ross Singer and Soma Grimier.  They found, for example, that women who wore a bra 24 hours a day had a 113-fold increase in breast cancer incidence compared to women who wore bra less than 12 hours daily!  They suggest that bras exert enough pressure to the breast and surrounding areas to inhibit the flow of lymph, which then lets toxins and other waste material to remain in the breasts instead of being flushed out.

Now, this effect may be due to the fact that most women just wear the wrong size bra that is too tight somewhere. No one has done any studies investigating how well the bra fits and a possible link to breast cancer. Either way, for your breast health it is better to avoid wearing bras whenever possible, and on those occasions when you do need one, get a real well fitting one that is NOT tight anywhere. You may have to visit a professional bra fitter to really get this done - or get custom-made bras if your breasts are of uneven sizes.

Most people think that the pressure from bras (or from other tight clothes) is not a health hazard.  We do know clothing and the pressure it creates does matter in some other body parts - why not for breasts? A study that investigated the pressures exerted by two different types of bras (a conventional brassiere and a newly devised low skin-pressured brassiere) found that there was a difference, and concluded: "Our data indicate that the higher clothing pressures exerted by a conventional brassiere have a significant negative impact on the ANS.

Another study also found that wearing a suitable corset decreased melatonin production and increased the core body temperature.  Melatonin is a powerful antioxidant and hormone that promotes good sleep, fights aging, boosts immune system, and slows the growth of certain types of cancer, including breast cancer.