Whether it’s a daily wrestle to keep your boobs strapped down, or you wear padding to make them appear fuller, one thing that happens to all breasts over time, regardless of their size, is that they begin to sag.
We can blame pregnancy and breastfeeding, ill-fitting bras or not doing enough chest exercises, but it’s ageing and gravity that are the real factors at play behind boob sag. Research even suggests that wearing a supportive bra throughout your life has no effect on sagging.
So, short of lying perfectly still on our backs for our entire lives, we must resign ourselves to the fact our boobs will droop.
There are a few things you can do to slow down and minimise the drooping though. Here they are:
Check your sleeping position
When you sleep on your side your boobs are left hanging, and the weight of them pulls and stretches their ligaments. Over time the stretching of the ligaments will change the shape of your breasts.
If you can’t get comfy any other way, sleep with a pillow under your boobs to support them – and then this can become one of the best sleep positions for your boobs, according to experts.
Sleeping on your back is the best position of all, though, because the weight of them is fully supported on your chest.
The worst way to sleep is on your stomach, because your boobs are squashed for hours at a time.
Keep them out of the sun
We all know that sunscreen is our best friend when it comes to slowing down the process of ageing and keeping wrinkles and fine lines at bay. The free radicals in ultraviolet rays break down the skin’s elasticity, and can wreak havoc with our skin, including the skin on our boobs. We want to keep that skin as elastic as possible! Keep your girls covered – or at least sunblocked – and you’ll thank yourself for it.
Don’t smoke
A 2008 study published in the Aesthetic Surgery Journal found that women who smoked were more likely to experience breast sag after pregnancy. Smoking also causes collagen in skin to break down.
The study was actually designed to see if breastfeeding caused boob sag and, surprisingly, it was found that it didn’t!
Eating for your skin health
This won’t help your ligaments, but it’s said that eating antioxidant-rich foods as well as foods packed with vitamins A and E can help with your skin’s production of collagen.
Myth-busting the things that we thought reduce sag
Wearing a supportive bra
Sure, you’ll feel more comfortable and your silhouette will look great. But as for saving your ligaments from getting stretched, one French study even suggested the opposite – that wearing a bra encourages sagging by weakening the supportive connective tissue in breasts. (The findings were “preliminary” and further research was needed.)
Chest exercises
They’re only strengthening the muscles behind your boobs. Remember, it’s the strength of the ligaments and connective tissues in your breasts that make the difference.
To truly make a difference, a breast lift courtesy of a cosmetic surgeon is your only option. But cosmetic surgery also comes with its own set of complications. It’s up to you to weigh up the risks.
