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Vicky
writes, "It is widely accepted that
women should wear bras to maintain the
firmness
and perkiness of their breasts. I have, however,
heard that not wearing one makes them sag less as the
muscles then work to keep them up, whereas these muscles
are not working if you are
wearing
a bra. I am 33 and
always wear a bra out
in public but do I need to wear one at home all day
too?"
How does sagging happen?
The reason a
bra works
is that it provides
support to
the breasts against gravity which works as long as
you are sitting or standing (and
larger
breasts experience more gravitational forces than
smaller ones and tend to
sag
faster). I am no physician but my understanding of
the science is that muscles do not work per se on
their own to do anything. All muscles in the body are
primarily there for the purpose of helping with movement
when we want them to.
And by the way,
breast
tissue is pretty much all fat and glands and there
is really no muscle in it. That is why you cannot
voluntarily make just your
breasts
move. The little movement that is possible and due
to the pectoral muscles.
When to wear a bra?
So you are doing the right thing. The rule of thumb is
that when you are going to be sitting or standing, a
bra is essential. However, let us say that after
dinner, you will be just lying around on the couch or
sitting in a way that the effect of gravity is
minimized, then, it is fine to
take off
your bra, as you should when you are
sleeping.
I also like to emphasize the importance of
wearing a sports bra while exercising because
regular
bras lack the support system for heavy movement
during a workout. The rules can be a little bit
different for
women
with very small breasts because there is very little
tissue
for sagging anyway. |
