We can’t stress enough how important it is to wear a bra that is both supportive and comfortable so you don’t dread having to wear one especially for a whole day. Especially for women with larger breasts, bra-fitting is especially important to make sure you don’t get that unpleasant feeling of the bra digging into your skin.
Why Do My Bras Dig Into My Armpits?
Before digging into detail of the “why’s”, let us first acknowledge the reality of what happens to womens’ bodies that cause this problem. Breast size growth occurs for women in 4 key stages of their life: puberty, adulthood, pregnancy, and post-pregnancy. When your breasts outgrow your current bra, you can experience this digging because the bra no longer fits properly.
What Doesn’t Fit Right?
Underwires provide great support and give your breast good shape. If you do choose a bra with underwires, it would be best to make sure the way the underwire is fitted in is not extending too far under your armpits. This is one of the factors that can cause digging into your armpits.
As mentioned above, growth in breast size is another big factor for the digging problem. It’s often very conspicuous that the bra cup size is no longer right for your breasts. However, take into consideration that just because you’re experiencing significant growth, it doesn’t mean you should already get rid of your usual pairs of bras. Maybe if you’re still growing through puberty and adulthood then yes, do go on with getting a pair that fits right. However, for pregnant women and breastfeeding women, these changes are not permanent. That is why for these specific stages you can opt to get nursing bras to temporarily take the place of your usual bras. One way to know visually if your bra cup size is no longer right, just from looking at the mirror you can see some parts of your breast spilling over the bra or even just sticking out uncomfortably.
Even with the other factors mentioned above, there is one last thing to consider before you start getting new bras. Check your adjustable straps. Maybe they are just set too low which makes the bra dig at the sides. On the other hand, setting it too tight can also make the bra sit too high which can cause chaffing.
Styling To Your Body Shape
Bras come in different styles that are more than just the way they look. They can serve a purpose when it comes to fitting for the right body type. Some bras might fit even better than others. For example, if you have a balcony or demi-cup bra, these tend to have lesser coverage around the armpit area compared to full-cup bras. Your body could have smaller arms, or wider-set arms and different bra styles can match properly to your body shape so it fits you comfortably.
Getting A New Bra
Let’s say you’ve tried adjusting your straps, double-checked if you’re wearing it right and considered all factors. Even after all that, you still feel it digging into your armpit, then perhaps it is time to get a proper fitting done.
Professional bra-fitters can guide you through the selection. If you have a particularly unique body shape, you know it’s not as simple as choosing cup sizes to fit your breasts. The fitters will also consider other factors like bra style and band size. Not all bras will simply have wider bands for larger cups. It is possible to also have large-band small cup bras. Ultimately it is about choosing what goes well with your specific body shape.
Comfort and Support
Always remember that comfort and support are the most important results you want from getting a properly-fitted bra. If you get the support but it doesn’t feel right then you will be back to experiencing problems like the bra digging in your armpit or even into your skin. If you do get a comfortable pair but they’re not supportive, the problems like the breast slipping out, will show up when you have a greater range of motion or as you wear it for longer periods of times. These two go hand in hand so you can have a healthy and pleasant experience of bra-wearing.