What Can Happen to Your Body If a Bra Doesn’t Fit

Any woman who has ever tried to find a perfect bra probably knows how many types and options of this wardrobe element are out there. Though, despite the abundance of choices, many women around the world wear the wrong bra size. While it may seem that an ill-fitting bra is not that big of an issue, continuously wearing one that’s too small or too big can seriously affect one’s health.

We at Bright Side found out how exactly a poor-fitting bra influences women’s health and want to share the findings with our readers. And if you want to know how to choose the perfect bra, take a look at the end of the article.

1. Back, neck, and breast pain

Studies say that the wrong sized bra may cause numerous health issues. The most widespread ones are back pain, neck pain, and pain in the breasts. Ill-fitting bras fail at providing good support and cause excessive strap pressure, which may lead to the wrong body posture and, as a result, pain in different parts of the torso.

2. Headaches

The extra pressure caused by a small bra can also lead to headaches. If the bra doesn’t fit correctly, the weight of the breasts stretches the bra straps and puts additional pressure on the shoulders, which may cause neck pain and headaches. The practice has shown that correcting the bra size fixes the headache issue effectively.

3. Shoulder deformation

The aforementioned strap pressure may also cause a “bra strap defect.” When the bra fails to provide good support, the excessive weight makes bra straps stick into the woman’s shoulders. Studies say that the long-lasting wear of a small bra puts so much pressure on the soft tissue of the shoulders that it may cause deformation.

4. Skin issues

Bras that are too big, on the contrary, may not provide enough support, causing breast skin damage. Studies have shown that gravity-induced breast deformation causes the skin to stretch in the upper region of the breasts. Moreover, smaller-breasted participants of the study were experiencing skin damage as well as large-breasted ones.

How to choose a proper fitting bra

There is a method for measuring your breast size to finally find a properly fitting bra. To choose the perfect bra, you need to know 2 parameters: band and cups.

• To find your band size, measure around your rib cage, right under your breasts. Then round the result up to the nearest even number.

• To find your cup size, loosely measure around the fullest part of your breast. Then subtract your breast measurement from your band measurement. Each inch represents a cup size, like 1 inch can be an A cup, 2 inches can be a B cup, and so on.

Note: These calculations provide an average; bra sizes may vary for each brand. It’s important for you to feel comfortable in the first place.

Do you know your correct bra size? Have you ever experienced symptoms of an ill-fitting bra?

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