Contrary to popular belief, a quarter of UK women would like their breasts to be smaller accord to a survey of 1,300 women by figleaves.com. The main reason cited was the strain on posture and back muscles.

 

70% of women surveyed admitted to having had suffered from back pain at some point in their lives and nearly half claimed their breast size affects their posture. And they have good reason to blame their breasts for back pain: according to the research, the average British bra size currently measures in at a substantial 34DD. Even with such painful consequences of wearing a less than supportive bra, women continue to place fashion over well being with 83% admitting that the appearance of a bra is a key factor when purchasing one whilst a mere 1% consider how supportive a bra is to be an important variable.

Getting professionally measured by one of the in-store services would seem to be the answer but nearly half of the women surveyed admitted to being too embarrassed to take advantage of these normally free services. I’ll probably be in big trouble for mentioning it here but my wife was in that category until she was professionally measured a few years ago. She was shocked to find she was wearing a cup- size one size too small and a rib-band one size too big. She even admitted that it wasn’t nearly as embarrassing as she had imagined and that the assistant was ‘lovely’. The improvement to her posture was immediate and she commented on how the new correctly fitting bras gave better shape and were more comfortable.

The survey also revealed that nearly a fifth of British women have never been professionally measured for a bra and for those that have, 77% found they had been wearing completely the wrong size. Are you in that category?

So how do you tell if your aches and pains are due to ill-fitting bras? A quote at the time of the survey by one of the spokespersons was that “Bras are like suspension bridges, you need a well engineered bra so your shoulders don’t take all of the strain and end up doing all of the work, spreading the load is important. Bras that don’t fit will affect the shoulders and chest and will almost certainly cause back pain as you get older.”

I have to admit, I cant agree enough here.  The number of women I see in a clinical setting that have upper back and neck tension that could so easily be eased by having the right bra.  It has to be remembered that back pain is on the up in Britain and everyday lifestyle changes can easily be made to prevent problems later in life. Quite simply wearing the wrong size bra can lead to a myriad of issues including back pain, tingling and pins and needles in the arms, breathing issues, abrasions, breast pain and poor posture.

Kate Horrell, figleaves.com’s fitting expert recommends looking closely in the mirror at your bra and discloses the tell tale signs that indicate you are wearing the wrong size:

1. The under band is riding up: Lift up your arms to see if the under band is tight enough. Check that the underwire is still fitting on the body.
2. If you are still unsure, here’s how to judge: the under band should fit firmly against the body so that it does not slide around or move away from the chest as you go about your daily activities.
3. The shoulder straps are digging in: The under band of a bra provides the majority (80 per cent) of support for the breasts, with the straps providing just 20 per cent. If the bra straps are digging in, it could be because the under band is too loose and you are over adjusting the straps to feel supported. When you do this the straps pull the bra up at the back, which is another tell tale sign that the band is too loose – so in this case we recommend that you try a smaller band size. Alternatively, you may just need to loosen the straps.
4. The centre fold is lifting away from the body: The centre front should lie flat against the body. If it doesn’t, this could be a sign that the cups are too small, causing the breasts to push the centre front away.
5.  The back band is over stretched: Look at your back straps: they should either be parallel to each other, or converge in a slight V-shape at the back. If they are too far apart at the back (an upside down V), it could mean that your bra band is too small and over stretching. (It is possible, however, that this is simply the design of the bra, so look for other clues such as the back band digging in uncomfortably.)

My advice? Get professionally measured or at least follow the advice on figleaves.com online fitting room on measuring yourself and then give your partner your wish list for some new supportive bras.