After having freed themselves from the corset at the beginning of the 20th century, as a sign of emancipation at the end of the 1960s young women burned their bras for the birth of feminism.

It is an American woman who invented the bra at the beginning of the 20th century to free women from the terrible constraint of wearing a corset. At the time, this clothing attribute that gave women a wasp waist was also the cause of frequent discomfort as it compressed those who wore it.

According to Ken L. Smith, a health educator active in the American Cancer Association, the bra that replaced the corset in the early 20th century is also believed to cause health problems.

The birth of the bra

It was in 1893 that Marie Tucek developed an accessory that resembled a modern bra and was intended to support the breasts. Later, Mary Phelps Jacobs designed an improved version that she called "bra". She patented it and then sold the patent for $1500 to a company called Warner Brothers Corset Company in Bridgeport, Connecticut.

In the 1950s, teenage girls were encouraged to purchase and use this new feminine accessory to firmly support their breasts to prevent sagging.

Ken Smith claims that artificial breast support through bra use will cause Cooper's ligaments to atrophy.
These ligaments, which provide natural breast suspension, can be strengthened through pectoral muscle exercises.

The only time wearing a soft bra is recommended is during sports.

Link between breast health and bra wear

Currently, some researchers are linking the wearing of the underwire bra to the appearance of benign and painful fibrocysts, but also breast cancers, which are malignant. This connection had been discussed very quietly until the 1995 book "Dressed to Kill" by Sydney researchers Ross Singer and Soma Grismaijer.

They surveyed 5,000 women and found that women who wore hard bras for at least 12 hours a day had a higher risk of breast cancer than those who wore few or no bras.

Dr. Gregory Heigh of Florida also found that more than 90% of women who had fibrocystic breasts had their problem improved once they stopped wearing their bra.

Extensive examinations have established that the development of malignant or benign tumors seems to be related to problems with lymphatic drainage. It is known that body movements help the lymphatic system to drain toxic waste. This principle is valid for the whole body and therefore also for the chest area which is very rich in lymph nodes. The imprisonment of the breasts by bras that are too rigid or too tight prevents the lymphatic system from fulfilling its role and evacuating toxic waste from this area of the body that is extremely sensitive to toxins.

Sources for this article: Case histories of fibrocystic relief upon ditching or easing bra use - http://all-natural.com