Australia's Premier Store for D Cup and Up

The Pain of the Matter

Correct bra fitting could prevent thousands of unnecessary and expensive breast reduction operations every year, it is claimed by Dr Alex Clarke, a clinical psychologist from the Royal Free Hospital in London.

She reported that none of the women tested at the hospital has been wearing the correct cup size and the wrong bra, especially for large-breasted women can lead to neck, back and shoulder pain, sometimes so severe that women seek surgery. All that was really needed was a better-fitting bra where the weight of the breasts is not being carried by the shoulders, which is a contributor to back pain.

Major Surgery

Professor Kefah Mokbel, a consultant breast surgeon at St George's Hospital in London, agreed: "Many breast symptoms related to discomfort in the neck and back are caused by ill-fitting bras. Patients present to specialists requesting breast reduction to relieve their symptoms. "However, many patients could be spared what is in fact major surgery by having a bra which is correctly fitted and offering them the right support."

Approximately 10,000 women a year have breast reductions carried out privately in the UK. Surprisingly, in Australia 4,355 breast reductions were performed privately between July 2006 and June 2007. With a much smaller population, Australia appears to be leading the way in these procedures.

Available Support

Brava Lingerie is a specialist lingerie store that helps women D cup and above, offering expert fitting and advice, as well as a lot of choice for the women who need a little more support.  Maxine Windram – Owner of Brava says “Yesterday, a young women came into the store in tears, she has never had a bra that fitted her correctly, suffered severe shoulder pain and was considering breast reduction surgery. She walked in wearing a G cup and walked out, shoulders back and posture improved wearing a J cup bra and is now rethinking her plans for this invasive surgery”. This happens regularly at Brava.

“It’s not surprising these women suffer back problems. A woman conscious of her bust size will often hunch or if the bra is not anchored correctly under the bust, the back will ride up and weigh the bust down forcing the shoulders to roll forward.  This is compounded by the frustration of not being able to find high quality, bigger cupped bras in Australia, most are sourced from overseas”.

“There is a real misconception about what certain bust sizes actually look like, a high percentage of women (70% is the figure the manufacturers provide) wear the wrong size bra and they recoil violently at a label bigger than a D”. Maxine added, “Its very common for women to ask for a Double D because that is all they have been offered in the past, and when fitted properly they are horrified to discover that they are in fact an F or G cup, but they are delighted at the transformation provided by a correctly fitted bra.