“Nipples scare insecure people—but they don’t scare babies.”
I thought that would get your attention. HAHA! I was surfing around WordPress and found a blog about going bra free. I can’t even remember the blog now, but that blog let me to this link. The quote from the title is from the above website…talking about if a woman went bra-less what should she do if someone comments about her nipples, especially if someone complains at work. Yep, the website is about the health benefits of going bra-less. Now, I realize that many people aren’t going to believe anything on that website. That is fine with me…but I hope it makes you think, especially if you are a woman. According to Dr Vaughan, bras may contribute to breast disease like cancer and cysts. Bras tend to restrict the lymphatic system that helps to drain toxins and waste from breast tissue, which contributes to disease.
She admits that there haven’t been enough studies to really back it up…but she also points out that it toke 20+ years to find out smoking was bad for you (that is a WHOLE other topic which I will not discuss here). With that said, I feel it is worth looking into! I mean, women have only been wearing bras for a short amount of human history. I really don’t see how it can be totally beneficial to wear them all the time (some people wear them at night??). Ok, so they “support” you boobs…so what. Men don’t wear bras on their packages for support! Why should women wear bras? Unless…of course…because men LIKE seeing our boobs sticking out.
If you want to wear bras…that is fine. But wear them because you want to and not because someone said you had to. I haven’t worn a bras since I got pregnant this time. Bras have always been uncomfy even in the best of conditions and since this pregnancy my boobs have gotten quite a bit larger. Bras HURT me now. Not my boobs, but my back. I keep getting cramps in my shoulder, neck, upper back areas that cause me to have migraines. However, being pregnant I can’t take anything for the pain that works…so I stopped wearing them and not only wear camisoles or something else just to keep them from swinging all over the place…and even then only when we go out. I am sooo much happier!
I know what some of you are saying…I need a tighter bra because the support should be in the band and not the straps. Well, let’s visit that. If I get a tighter band (which will not happen since bra makers think if you have ultra large boobs you MUST be an ultra large woman)…wearing a tighter band would make it tight under my arm…right where my lymphatic system is to get rid of toxins in my breasts.
If you go by what Dr Vaughan says, that can contribute to breast cancer & breast disease (funny how no one will tell you to stop wearing a bra if you have cysts or cancer…or a risk of cancer)….we already know that any blockage in the lymphatic system can cause injury (I can’t remember what it is called but you know the people that usually have one really large leg from a blockage? I have seen it on Discovery Health before. If you know the name, please post in comments). Just thinking of it that way makes me not want to wear bras anymore! You do have lymph nodes under you arms…right where you bra would sit as well.
Dr. Vaughan also asserts that if you stop wearing bras and you have cysts, that the cysts may go away on their own. I can say I have only had one cyst in my life…but I only wore bras when I had to (at school, work, etc.) and they always came off as soon as I got home. I have to wonder if that is why I never go them since so many other women (esp. ones in my family) have had cysts…and have always worn bras.
Its enough to think on and wonder anyway.
Read it and decide for yourself.
For me, I am going bra free!
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Other resources:
Research Relating to bras and breast health (from the bra free page, lots of links here).
… Or wear them to keep from tripping? *snort*
Off to check out the site now, hon!
I think there’s something to be said for going bra-less. I don’t wear them at all, unless what I am wearing calls for one (which is unusual since I work from home). I am far more comfortable without them, and though I’ve never felt I needed an excuse to go without a bra, the lymphatic question should indeed be explored given the increasing breast cancer rate.
Well I was going to recommend a read, but see you already have Dressed to Kill listed as a resource.
I am in the midst of reading it and it’s pretty compelling and full of real facts based on sound studies and research… I highly recommend it to anyone who wants more information related to breast cancer/going bra free.
And thanks for the link to the bra free site, I’ve already forwarded it on to a few friends…