Breast Cyst - Cysts and Bra Support

Cysts and Bra Support

Some women experience breast pain, especially when engaging in vigorous physical activity. A properly fitted sports bra, which compresses or encapsulates breast tissue, is designed to reduce pain caused by exercise.

Some women with breast cysts experience increased comfort and less pain by not wearing a bra. Robert Mansell, a professor of surgery at the University Hospital of Wales, in Cardiff, and Simon Cawthorn, consultant surgeon at Bristol's Frenchay Hospital, studied 100 women with breast cysts. Cawthorn said, "What we were looking at was whether wearing a bra would increase the number of cysts, and whether it affected their breast pain." The women kept track of their breast pain for three months while wearing a bra, and three months braless. The researchers found "they still had lots of cysts, but that wearing a bra didn't actually cause cysts, which is interesting as it had been suggested that there is such a link." They documented a seven percent reduction in breast pain for women who didn't wear a bra, a reduction to 23 percent from 30 percent.