Your bra may hurt. Perhaps this embarrasses you and you've subsequently pretended it did not hurt; or you simply adjusted it and forgot about it. However, many of us, myself included, are so irritated by having to put on a bra every day that we simply can't be bothered. While we may have some bras that are quite comfortable, there are others in our drawers that feel absolutely terrible but we wear them anyway.
Why? Don't some commercials make it seem like you should be able to have a bra that wraps you in comfort and supports your breasts and makes your clothes look INCREDIBLE all at the same time? You can, I mean, you should. Why doesn't it work out when we traipse off to Kohl's or the fancy pants bra store and plop down anywhere from $15-$100 on ONE bra and then find we are terribly uncomfortable in it for all the weeks that follow?
One reason is plain as the breast on your chest and possibly equally confounding; you may simply be wearing the wrong size. For many of us, growing up we couldn't wait to figure out where our chests would ultimately end and, whether we were disappointed in the lack of size or disappointed in the amount of size or shape or texture or whatever, somewhere around the age of sixteen we landed on a bra size and figured that was it, forever.
Well as the years go by, weight is gained and lost, muscle is gained and lost, babies are had and not had, time passes and our bodies honestly do change. Your beloved 32 B may have morphed, leaving you in your twenties, and at age 35 you may really be in need of a 36 C! Even if you haven't noticeably changed, you still look into the "mirror mirror on the wall" and you still glow and bask in that glow. Or, like many women, you don't see a change in the scale, ever. You may still have CHANGED, and this by the way is natural.
It's not a bad thing to change, but it's a bad thing to wear a bra that hurts. Which is why, even if you're all grown up, it's still a good idea to get yourself measured and fitted for a bra by a professional bra fitting lady now and again. Major department stores like Nordstrom's and Macy's often have this service available. Even in smaller boutiques, a few good words of conversation can often get the ball rolling toward an actual fitting, which you need now that those red lines and underwire bruises are starting to be noticeable even to your cat.
Aimee Boyle is a regular contributor to EmpowHER. She is a special education teacher and writer in CT. She is sick to death of bras.