Derval O'Rourke: Most women are wearing bras that do not fit them correctly

Name: Rocket, Fennel & Orange Salad
Prep time: 2 min
Cook time: 1 min
Total time: 3 min
Cuisine: Irish
Ingredients: 2 handfuls of rocket, washed and dried thoroughly; ½ fennel, trimmed and cut into bite-sized pieces; 1½ oranges, peeled and broken into segments; juice of ½ orange; 50g Wensleydale cheese with cranberries, crumbled

From back and neck problems to headaches, wearing the correct bra can make a world of difference

Derval O'Rourke: Most women are wearing bras that do not fit them correctly — New female bra hanging on the rope on the light background

Sun, 28 Aug, 2022 - 11:02

Derval O'Rourke

Make healthy food a part of your weekly menu

This week I’m chatting about a topic that many women will relate to: Finding a bra that fits well and does the work it is meant to do.

The knock-on effects of this are perhaps something not everyone is aware of. From back and neck problems to headaches, wearing the correct bra can make a world of difference.

I asked Siobhán O’Donovan, a specialist physiotherapist from www.posturefittingphysio.com to give us some tips on getting that weight off our shoulders. Recipe-wise there’s a delicious salad for you to whip up for lunch this week. Now, let's play a game of True or False...

1. Most women are wearing a bra that doesn’t fit them correctly: True!

In our experience as Posture Fitting Physios, it is far more than the 70-80% often quoted. Incredibly frustratingly, many women I have seen wearing an incorrectly fitting bra have actually been measured but not optimally fitted, as they experienced a measuring technique developed in the 1940s, which has not progressed with new manufacturing materials. Yep, you read that right, the 1940s!

2. I already know my bra size, so I don’t need to try before I buy: False!

There is no standard sizing within the bra industry, so bras labelled the same size often differ significantly when worn. If you don’t try before you buy, you will likely be adding to the drawer full of “just-not-quite-right” bras you may already have, you know those ones that you never wear, even though you can’t put your finger on what it is that makes them unwearable. Size really doesn’t matter — fit matters!

3. You only need to be fitted for a bra if you have big breasts: False!

Any unsupported breast weight, no matter how small, can result in us, usually unknowingly, giving in to the downward pull of gravity due to the forward load it places on our spine. The resultant strain can result in neck or back pain, or mobility problems, as muscles that attempt to counter that weight become overloaded. Correctly supporting breasts of any size helps in the daily female battle against gravity.

4. Breast size and therefore bra size changes at different times of your life: True!

And you’ll know this if you are or have been pregnant, breast-fed, experienced weight gain or loss, or if you are peri- or post-menopausal. Breast volume even changes within our menstrual cycles, yet many women wear the same bra size for years, due to blissful ignorance of these naturally occurring changes, and how to respond to them.

5. Wired bras are painful and can cause breast cancer: False!

There is no evidence linking breast cancer with wearing a wired bra. Underwire is often blamed for discomfort, and with good reason; if the fit is incorrect — wire sticking into sensitive breast tissue hurts! But ditching the wire is not the answer.

The solution is wearing an optimally fitted bra where the wire is supportive and comfortable because it lies around your breast, not on it.

You should never be reminded of the fact that you are wearing a bra by poking into you or sliding.

6. Wearing two bras for exercising stops breasts moving excessively: False!

Squishing your breasts together with more than one bra is neither kind to your breasts nor does it provide the optimal support needed to minimise breast movement during activity, as they move in different planes.

Researchers have identified that breasts are a barrier to activity for many women and girls, an obstacle that can be removed for a lot of females with an optimally fitted sports bra.

Your breasts bounce 10,000 times in an hour of running at a 10min/mile pace — even Tigger would struggle with bouncing that much!

7. Breasts that don’t grow much during pregnancy mean that you’re having a boy: False!

Many mothers of boys will attest to that one belonging to the old wives’ tales pile!

8. Wearing an optimally fitted bra can improve your posture, and how you feel, move, look: True, True, True, True!

Research tells us that your posture can affect your mood. How you feel about yourself in turn affects how you feel in yourself, and the choices you make as a result.

An optimally fitted bra can act like both an external and an internal postural support with the right information to go with it. And that can also assist in preventing or decreasing pain and discomfort, while also supporting women to be active. It’s a no-brainer really, isn’t it?!

The best way to know for sure that you are being optimally fitted for a bra is to do it yourself! Knowing how to fit yourself allows you to work with your wonderfully changing body.

Even better, knowing how your optimal bra fit can uplift your optimal alignment, and assist you in gaining & maintaining your optimal posture, and vice versa, makes for more sustainable improvements than bra-fit alone.

This is ultimately the difference between a Posture Fitting and a shop-based bra-fitting. It’s well worth spending time looking at your bra drawer and rethinking how you approach your bra of choice.