Living in Asia, wearing a bra is an essential for every woman. It’s safe to say that leaving the house without a bra is rare among women in Asia and it’s even worn at home. There is no doubt that there are many benefits to wearing a bra.
A bra is as though an armour to a woman, it covers her breast, it also protects her breast tissues and supports the weight of her breast.
As you would already know, the force of gravity attracts our body towards the centre of the earth. In other words, the force can pull your breast downwards. With a combination of gravity pull plus the weight of your breast, it is beyond doubt that this combination would cause sagging of your breast or even discomfort.
For that reason, a well-fitted bra solves the issue as it is proven that bras can slow down the rate of your breasts from sagging. Besides aesthetics, there’s more to the purpose of a bra and it involves your health. Wearing a bra can also improve your posture, reduce the chances of you getting back pain and other spine problems.
There are many benefits to wearing bras and so, here comes a question… Since a bra has its many wonders, is there a need for you to wear a bra to sleep?
Use it or lose it?
This question is often raised because there are lots of bra-related
rumours circulating the internet and social media. Some say that wearing a bra at night can prevent sagging breasts. There are also rumours that wearing a bra to sleep is bad for your breasts.
However, if you were to think logically, when you are sleeping at night, the gravitational pull does not act on your breast tissues but only the back of your body. Additionally, your mattress will be supporting your breast as well if you sleep sideways. For this reason, your breast don’t actually sag when you are sleeping if that is your concern.
Otherwise speaking, it is not necessary for you to wear bras at night for the prevention of saggy breasts.
Camouflaged hazards
Wearing bras to sleep is not merely unnecessary but you may even cause several health problems, especially if you wear underwire bras during bedtime. Some potential hazards include:
#1 Restrict blood flow
Wearing these bras can press against your skin and constrict muscles around your breasts and this may hurt your breast tissues. In return, it restricts the blood flow to breast tissues, nerves in your arms and other parts of your body. Plus, as you may already know, poor blood circulation can lead to dizziness and cramps.
#2 Inflammation of your breast
Since sleeping in tight bras restrict the blood flow, it can also affect your lymphatic system, a natural system to remove toxins from your body. When the lymphatic drainage is impaired, your body cannot excrete the amount of toxins that is supposed to excrete on a daily basis. If serious, this may cause inflammation of your breasts.
#3 Fungal infection
Since sleeping in tight bras restrict the blood flow, it can also affect your lymphatic system, a natural system to remove toxins from your body. When the lymphatic drainage is impaired, your body cannot excrete the amount of toxins that is supposed to excrete on a daily basis. If serious, this may cause inflammation of your breasts.
#4 Skin irritation
Someone who wears a bra to sleep regularly would notice that it causes skin irritation or even lesions. This happens when you move around during your sleep, the hooks and straps of your bra rubs against your skin and affects it.
#5 Pigmentation on your skin
This may be something new to you, wearing bras for a long period of time may result in pigmentation, dark spots and sometimes skin rashes. This is due to the friction caused by the rubbing of straps and hook against your skin. The area that’s affected by friction tend to stimulate the production of melanin – a natural pigment that determines your skin tone.
Sources: Kids Health, Flo Health, Humanitas University
