Even the best fitting bras can irritate once in a while; but what do you do when a chronic health condition means they hurt all the time?
I’m a 20 year old with a chronic pain condition called fibromyalgia. I am in intense pain every day of my life (imagine how it felt the last time you broke a bone and imagine dealing with that everyday). Because of this, bras are incredibly painful for me, I’ve followed your advice and Cheryl Warner’s, and Brastop, and every reputable source I could find to find the perfect fit, but it still hurts so badly that I don’t know what to do anymore.
Do you have any advice on what bras to look for, or how I could make them more comfortable for me? I work in a male dominated industry, and I’m a 38E, so going braless is just not an option.
Thanks for any help you have!
K
Hey K,
So sorry to hear about your condition: though I don’t have any experience personally I put this question out to my network in the hopes of finding some advice that could help find a supportive solution that causes you less pain than your standard underwired bras, and easy to track down in the States.
One great suggestion was to look for a wireless moulded bra, like the Freya Deco wireless. It’ll give you slightly more structure than a standard soft cup, but without any hard components.
But if that feels too ‘squished’ up front then of course you can try a more standard soft cup bra, like one of Royce’s soft cup bras (which though I haven’t tried, have been highly recommended to me). They don’t tend to give the most structured shape under clothes compared to underwired bras, but it will hold everything in the right place without wires.
As an alternative to standard soft bras, Braless in Brasil recommends Decent Exposures [her review here]. It’s not the most beautiful of bras but she raves about the comfort – plus being able to switch to a different back style may be a welcome respite for your shoulders.
For non-work days where structure is less important, the Ahh Bra was recommended as being a totally soft option: but given its design it may not give you the shape you need or want under clothes.
I don’t know anyone who has tried this, but it’s also probably worth exploring bras with ‘gel encased’ underwires to see if that offers any additional comfort with a more traditional support. Obviously these tend to be created by brands adding in quick fixes for poor fit *ahem Victoria’s Secret ahem*, but in the correct size it may be worth exploring to help with your day-to-day comfort. Plus given your male working environment, it may help you feel confident that you have that additional structure in the cup.
Hopefully one or more of the above will help you – I’ll certainly let you know if I come across any other solutions. But failing this all, another suggestion was to actually carry alternate bras with you in your purse so that you can switch styles if your bra starts to irritate throughout the day. It’s not an ideal solution of course – but it is a plan b if you need it.
Thanks so much for reaching out – I know there’s a lot in here but I really hope some of it can help you. Please do keep me posted and let me know if any of this works!
Love from B4J x
Huge, huge thanks to the very excellent Boosaurus, HS, LS and Braless in Brasil for helping with this post.
Image from makebra.com
