Breasts
Busting Myths About Boobs
Spoiler alert: they’re probably going to sag whatever you do
If there’s one thing I’ve learnt while researching myths about breasts, it’s that we’re obsessed with them sagging. What we should do or should not do to stop this from happening.
Well, boob-havers, let me put your collective minds at rest. They are going to sag. Whether they’re big and you end up with that Kate Winslet affectionately referred to as spaniel’s ears or you’re small and attain that fashionable golf-ball-in-a-windsock look, gravity is stronger than your wonderbra.
Here’s what else I learnt:
The end of puberty is not the end of breast growth
Smaller sisters rejoice! There might be life in the old girls yet. The breast size you reach in your teenage years isn’t set in stone: pregnancy and weight gain can increase or decrease their size, but so can random hormone fluctuations, and the menopause. I guess they like to keep you on your toes.
Wearing a bra isn’t going to give you breast cancer
Bras are responsible for many of the world’s evils, in my opinion, but we can’t hold them to account for cancer.
Yes, a 1991 study found that women who don’t wear bras are less likely to develop breast cancer, but it didn’t take into account any variables — like the fact that women who don't wear bras are likely to be thinner, and a lower body weight means a decreased risk of cancers in general.
A rumour once circulated that underwire compresses your lymph nodes and causes cancer….somehow. Thankfully, a number of cancer charities swiftly debunked this.
Wearing a bra doesn’t make your breasts sag
There is a lot of pseudo science on the web suggesting that wearing a bra means the muscle that holds up your breasts will waste away through lack of use, and cause your breasts to sag.
It doesn’t. Breast ptosis, the fancy, sciency name for saggy boobs, is related to the Cooper’s ligament, which is made of collagen and elastin, not muscle. How much it sags is dictated by genetics and age.
Wearing a bra doesn’t stop your breasts from sagging
They won’t look saggy when you’re wearing it, but it won’t stop the onward march of time (and your genes).
Not wearing a bra doesn’t make your breasts sag
See above. Wear a bra, don’t wear a bra. IT MAKES NO DIFFERENCE.
Breastfeeding doesn’t your boobs sag
Finally, some good news! Jennifer Lincoln, MD, calls the idea that breastfeeding causes breast sagging “a persistent myth”. Scientifically, there is no correlation between breastfeeding and breast ptosis.
There is a correlation between a pregnancy and breast sag though, so this might be a chicken-and-egg situation happening.
Having lots of sex won’t make your breasts bigger
I don’t know who started this rumour. Oh wait, yes, I do — it was men. I don’t even need to look it up to know this. Similarly, a little self-love won’t make them flat either, no matter what the Victorians said.
Any other myths we should bust (get it? I’ll see myself out)? Leave them in the comments!
