New Bra Study: Bras Are Unnecessary

A new study of brassieres from France seems to counter everything you thought you knew about brassieres. A 15-year study led by Jean-Denis Rouillon, from the University of Besançon in eastern France, says wearing a bra does nothing to decrease back pain, and the support offered by a brassiere actually encourages the breasts to sag. He says, “Medically, physiologically, anatomically — breasts gain no benefit from being denied gravity. On the contrary, they get saggier with a bra.” Rouillon spent a decade and a half measuring the changes in breasts of hundreds of women at the University of Besançon Hospital. The participants were all between the ages of 18 and 35. Of the braless women, the researchers concluded that “on average their nipples lifted on average seven millimeters in one year in relation to the shoulders.” On the other hand, Rouillon advised certain women not to immediately throw away all their bras in the bin. “It would be of no benefit to a 45-year-old mother to stop wearing a bra,” he warned. Ultimately, however, he feels his work is not complete, since the findings are not definitive. “We will simply have to recruit a larger sample of the female population, and conduct further research,” Rouillon added.