Curvy Breasts

The right workout and a good bra can prop up your bustline.


breast careSagging breasts are medically known as ptosis. Blame gravity, not your muscles. Because breasts have no muscles. This is precisely the reason they droop. Breasts are made up of ligaments, connective tissue and milk-secreting glands. Due to the gravitational pull on the breasts, the ligaments and skin stretch and this leads to sagging. The larger the breasts, the greater the pull of gravity and the droop.


How it happens
• Breast-fed your baby? You know whatbreast care weaning does to you. Your breasts go flop. What actually happens is this. Once you stop feeding, the milk glands in the breasts shrink. The breast itself does not. The result is that it appears “empty” and saggy.

• It could happen right after pregnancy if you don’t breast-feed your baby. Or, after menopause. For women who’ve not had babies, breasts droop with age (markedly so after menopause).

• Excessive weight loss also leads to sagging. When you burn fat, it disappears from the breast. But the skin over it and the ligaments inside remain lax. This gives the saggy look.


breast implant You think they are, only because the breasts you see (on models and film stars) look so stunning to you. But are they for real? Hardly ever. So it’s best not to agonise endlessly. Ask a friend who you think will give you an honest opinion. Your fears may be more imagined than real. Breasts which truly sag are flat and loose with nipples pointing southwards. In more pronounced cases of ptosis, the nipple area of unsupported breasts lies lower than the breast crease on the chest.


According to Denise Austin, Prevention- US, “Exercise won’t enlarge your cup size, but the right workout can make your chest appear fuller and firmer by building the support muscles beneath your breasts.” This stands to reason. Since breasts do not have muscles, keeping them toned is impossible. What happens is that when a woman exercises, her posture improves and with that her breast profile also improves. Austin suggests that women who want a “lift” can do strength training (working out with weights). This counteracts sagging by sculpting the pectoral muscles underneath the breasts.


breast implant A breast lift surgery is an option. The surgeon will sculpt the breast into a new position, reduce excess skin and raise the nipple/areola area. If needed, the size of the nipple can also be reduced. But a breast lift cannot change the amount of breast tissue you have. You’ll need breast augmentation for that. This can be done with the insertion of an implant. It will increase your size and boost firmness. However, the results of mastopexy (the medical term for a breast lift) are not permanent since the skin and ligaments tend to stretch again.


care for breastMedical literature does not tell you how to fight the gravitational pull. All preventives care for breastare only marginally effective. Do bras prevent sagging? There’s nothing to suggest that either. The College of Radiology, US website says: “There has not been any specific study corroborating the claim that wearing a bra prevents sagging.” Bras can, at best, conceal an unflattering sag and prop it up. But they don’t arrest sagging. Once you take them off, your breasts go au naturel.

There are some who believe that wearing a bra actually makes the breast sag. It’s logical, if you ask me. The supporting ligaments within the breasts atrophy (get thinner and weaker) when breasts are supported within the bra.


I’d say avoid those “magic potions” containing exotic botanical extracts that promise a larger bust. There is very little evidence that they do anything for you.

Most important, don’t lose heart. Adopt a good posture, carry yourself firm and upright and go get a good bra that can boost you.