Girls from an early age are conditioned to think that sleeping without their bras are a way of comfort, and also that one must remain prudent and remain loyal to conservative ideas of living which is to keep the bra on. But studies say otherwise. It’s time our grandmothers took a backseat and witness the actual scientific truth.
When students of Mount Carmel Collage in Bengaluru were asked if they slept with their bras on or not, most of them replied saying no. A majority of the girls gave reasons indicating that act of doing so will result in them acquiring respiratory diseases, blood circulation difficulties, sagging and so on. Nineteen-year-old Deanne, a media student of MCC, tells us with a surprised look on her face “No way, I don’t sleep with my bra on at night, it makes me really uncomfortable and I actually have trouble breathing too whenever I accidentally sleep with it on, so free the nips bois.”
Many of the girls also went on to say that if it stems from shame and social stigma around the female form then there is a deeper issue. Serah Mathew, a social media activist for women points out that she feels that she subjects her body too much. “I never wear a bra while I sleep because I find it difficult to breathe. Much of what I know is conditioning and I want to grow and trust myself enough one day to just free them. I don’t sleep with them on also because it causes severe backache. Maybe I wouldn’t hate it so much if the brands were thoughtful and mindful enough of designing bras my size.”
The problems being spoken about by the girls justifying why they don’t wear the bra at night were broken down as wrong assumptions by Dr Mariam Jacob, a gynaecologist at the Acura Hospital, Bengaluru. “Most people do sleep with their bras on unless of course they are obese. The elastic or the straps will hurt the skin. When an obese person sleeps with the bra on, the elastic is at a stretch and the straps might be pressed against her skin and allergies (especially with the rubbing of the elastic against the skin and the under side of the breast) will develop, these areas are prone to infection because of excessive sweating and heat.” Dr Jacob confirms.
Let your skin breathe | Shutterstock
Dr Jacob feels the under wiring given to the current version of existing bras in the market may not be advisable to wear especially at night because it is a tough structure and the wire can probably injure the soft tissues while one is sleeping. She goes on to explain that the shape of the breasts remains unchanged if women sleep with their bras on. “The fat itself which is present inside the breasts, because of gravity can make it sag and this can even happen while one is standing, if one isn’t wearing a bra. There is an internal support system inside and those are the ligaments, we have muscles also just behind it and these get loosened with age and can lead to sagging of breasts too.”
The need to wear a bra or not to is explained: “If the patient does not have a habit of wearing bra at night since the age of 13 to 14 years, the muscles present inside the body come into action, they are active and these muscles are strong enough to give a lift to the breast even without the bra but if the patient has started wearing the bra from a very early age these internal muscles are not strengthened and the bra fabric is what is holding the breasts and supporting it and over time if they don’t wear a bra, after 30 years, they might sag because these ligaments and muscles have not been put to use if they stop wearing the bra .”
The notion that wearing a bra suffocates the person and lack of blood circulation is seen to be false as the only thing that will hinder it is if it is an ill-fitted bra. “For inner wear, we recommend only cotton. If it’s a well-fitted bra, you won’t even know you’re wearing it while sleeping. If it’s an ill-fitted bra, there will even be chances of bruises and skin irritation.”
In terms of rashes and allergies, Dr Jacob says, “The breasts and the sensitive areas (even the genital regions) are prone to sweating. It gets warm and it leads to fungal infections. So it is better to sleep without the bra in cases like this. It is also better to sleep without it because the skin is allowed to breathe” she adds.
But given a choice, in terms of comfort, most girls and women in the world would rather choose to sleep without a bra is a fact irrespective of being thin or fat. Once in a while, one might come across a reason that goes “I don’t sleep without my bra…. because it tickles me, so its irritating” says the anonymous girl who will remain unknown for obvious reasons. But at the end of the day, it is all about choice and the main goal is comfort.
