Doctor, is it good to wear a bra? Will I get breast cancer if I wear it too long? Is it bad to wear a steel bra?
Today, I can finally tell those who are still lost in the “bra causes cancer theory” that all aspects of bras, including cup size, newness, daily wearing time, steel brace or age of first wearing, etc., have nothing to do with any kind of breast cancer.
In fact, not only breast cancer, bras are not the culprit of those common breast diseases, they just make your symptoms worse, recovery delayed or less comfortable in some cases. The body’s breast shape is most related to genetics and development, the bra is always just an auxiliary tool, don’t be superstitious.
A. The love affair between bra and breast
1.Bra and breast cancer
The usual reasoning process of “bra cancer theory” is that bras, especially those with steel brackets, will prevent lymphatic fluid from flowing to a certain area under the armpit, where bacteria and other wastes from the chest are usually removed, so breast cancer occurs.
This is actually a misconception; they see two conditions happening at the same time and assume that one is causing the other. It’s like falling at dinner today and blaming it on the meal. This is a temporal order and there is no inherent causal connection.
Because there are so many similar rumors on the Internet, there was a study on the relationship between bra wearing and breast cancer back in 1991, which concluded that women who did not wear bras had less breast cancer, but the difference was not statistically significant, meaning that the hypothesis was not valid.
Later, when researchers analyzed the results, they considered that it might be because those women were thinner, and obesity is known to be a risk factor for breast cancer.
Recently, the geezers at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle got more serious, and armed with the relevant data, they took a scientific look at the issue and published the results of this meticulous study in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention, the official journal of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), concluding that
Bras are not associated with the development of any type of breast cancer.
Therefore, the idea that wearing a bra causes breast cancer is absurd and has now been validated by modern evidence-based medicine, which proves that there is no relationship between the two.
2. Bra and lobular hyperplasia
Lobular hyperplasia is not caused by the type of bra worn or how long one wears underwear, but by the imbalance or fluctuation of hormone levels in the body causing incomplete restoration of the mammary glands, so there is no absolute cause-and-effect relationship between the two.
Why do we associate the two together?
In fact, lobular hyperplasia is there whether you are in pain or not, it is there, not increasing, not decreasing; when the breast is not swollen and painful, the patient is not aware of the presence of lobular hyperplasia. It is only when we realize the existence of this disease because of changes in hormone levels before menstruation, or a decrease in the pain threshold due to poor physical condition, or poor emotions, resulting in a significant feeling of breast swelling and pain.
At this time, too tight underwear or wearing underwear for too long will make the time and degree of breast compression increase, which will aggravate the painful feeling of lobular hyperplasia, so we blame the pain caused by lobular hyperplasia on the underwear.
Therefore, patients with lobular growths who are experiencing the pain it causes are advised to choose soft, loose-fitting underwear that is slightly larger than usual and that can promote recovery by reducing the amount of time worn.
But remember, it is not the culprit for you to suffer from lobular hyperplasia.
3.Bra and fibroadenoma
Again, the cause of fibroadenoma has nothing to do with underwear.
Here I would like to say that for patients who have undergone fibroadenoma surgery, if the incision happens to be at the edge of the lingerie, please do not wear excessive shapewear or lingerie with steel wire underwire. The pressure of these hard objects on the fresh scars will affect the blood supply needed for skin healing, and at the same time will easily cause scar growth, affecting the appearance and leaving regrets.
What is special about breastfeeding bras?
During the breastfeeding period, you should choose soft and convenient breastfeeding lingerie with front buckle. When physiological milk swelling occurs in the first three days after delivery, too tight lingerie with steel ring will increase the discomfort and obstruct the lymphatic flow, which will delay the edema of the breast, and at the same time compress the spurt reflex innervated by the fourth intercostal nerve, resulting in the lack of maternal milk.
At the same time, special attention should be paid to the cleanliness of underwear at this time, as any possible pathogenic infection may affect the health of the child through skin-to-skin contact while breastfeeding. And at this time the baby has not yet established a mature immune system, the resistance to pathogenic bacteria is far weaker than adults.
Third, the average person how to wear a bra is appropriate?
1, the role of the bra is only in changing the shape?
In fact, for the bra, women wear or not to wear is the freedom of individuals, more for appearance considerations.
For adolescent girls, choosing the right size underwear is good for the support of breast tissue, reducing the risk of sagging;
Do not choose a corset because of shyness, it will affect the normal development of the mammary glands;
Larger breast size or post-menopausal breast sagging obvious women, wearing a bra is more appropriate: gravity, sagging mammary glands are also a sweet “burden” that can cause shoulder and back pain, some patients even need surgery to reduce the breast, to reduce the pull on the cervical and thoracic spine.
2.Can I wear a bra to bed at night?
On the question of whether to wear underwear at night, there is no special research reports, only from the perspective of human comfort is recommended not to wear, especially before menstruation breast physiological swelling and pain will be due to pressure aggravated edema, and the body is more sensitive to pain at night, it will affect sleep.
3, the bra can play a role in correcting the chest shape?
Suitable underwear is also important, the pursuit of “cleavage” and excessive squeezing of the mammary glands will increase breast discomfort. But the breast shape, including flare, sagging, size, etc., and human height and weight and other factors, mainly with genetics and their own development is more relevant, the inappropriate underwear can only be said to have a slight impact, by no means sorry to determine the role.
For the fat accumulation caused by obesity flare, some people hope that through the so-called adjustable underwear to treat, but this underwear can only temporarily change the shape, and treatment has nothing to do with, it is impossible to wear after the eradication of fat accumulation, or to rely on exercise or even plastic surgery to change.
4.How to choose the correct bra?
4.Doctors recommend that
1.Choose a comfortable material
The material of the lingerie is natural and breathable cotton is good, mainly because of the adaptability of the skin. Fabrics such as chemical fibers can easily trigger allergic discomfort on the surface of the breast skin, which can lead to itching and recurring eczema.
2, choose a lighter color
We also recommend choosing light-colored underwear. Light-colored underwear makes it easier for us to observe the color and amount of nipple overflow, and sometimes it is easier to detect certain nipple overflow diseases.
3.Choose comfortable shoulder straps
Choosing wider straps can reduce the pressure on the shoulders and improve the comfort level.
4.It is impossible to “eradicate” the side breast through a bra
For patients with parastetals, the so-called parastetals adjusting underwear is often empty to transfer the great law, but only squeeze the parastetals to the right position, for the eradication of parastetals completely useless, it is not recommended to choose.
In short, we should not believe in lingerie advertising, “wear it and become a goddess,” and do not blame their own development on the lingerie.
After all, she is just a supporting role.