Gee, my bra is killing me!

Woman who say that generally mean that their breasts or shoulders are
sore and it's time to ditch the bra for the night. But is it possible
that your bra really could kill you?  Let's check in on some facts and
see what we can learn.

Bras alter the natural shape of the breast so that our figure conforms
to fashion standards without any regard for what nature intended.

Because of the elastic fabric and/or the underwire frame, the bra puts
constant pressure on your breast tissue. This pressure impedes the
circulation of both blood and the fluids that are found in your
lymphatic system.

As you may or may not know, the lymphatic system consists of tiny
microscopic vessels whose purpose are to drain excess fluid from the
breast tissue.  This fluid flows through these vessels into your lymph
nodes. The purpose of the lymph nodes is to filter out impurities and to
create white blood cells.

When these vessels become compressed or constricted by your bra
the natural drainage system is impeded and excess fluids build up in
your breasts. This results in tender breasts, pain, and, eventually,
cysts and tissue congestion which is called edema. If edema is left
untreated it can eventually cause breast cancer.  Since breast cancer
can be fatal, then the answer is:

Yes, your bra can kill you!

An interesting observation is that women who avoid wearing bras have
roughly the same incidence of breast cancer as men do. A recent study
showed that women who wore bras more than 12 hours per day had a 1 out of 7 risk of breast cancer, while women who wore bras infrequently, or who did not wear them at all, had only a 1 out of 168 chance of getting breast cancer.

So, the next time that you say "My bra is killing me, you're probably right.