WOMEN could be damaging their breasts by wearing the wrong type of bra, researchers say.
A breast biomechanics research team at the University of Portsmouth have been studying the effects of wearing wrong bras.
And their latest findings point out that ignorance or embarrassment could be leading women to choose the wrong type of suppor
t.
The researchers, at the Department of Sports Science, say that wearing the wrong type of bra can lead to fragile ligaments becoming irreparably stretched.
The research team under the leadership of Dr Joanna Scurr has tested about 50 bra designs on hundreds of women during the past three years .
The research has shown that breasts move up to 8.26 inches during exercise and that they move up and down, in and out and from side to side. Most bras are designed to limit just vertical movement.
Wendy Hedger, a researcher on Dr Scurr's team, said: 'Many women have strong preferences for certain styles of bra and won't buy anything else. They won't even look at anything that doesn't look like the sort of bra they are used to wearing.
'In sports bras, for example, many women won't buy a bra that resembles their everyday bra and does up at the back - they think if it can't be pulled over their heads like a crop top, then it's not a real sports bra.
'But this is not true and many sports bras do up at the back in the same way as a traditional bra and do a very good job of supporting women.
The full article contains 264 words and appears in NS-Fareham & Gosport newspaper.
