Do bras promote or prevent sagging? 

Sports medicine specialist Prof. Jean-Denis Rouillon carried out a 15-year study to assess whether bras cause sagging. The study involved 330 females aged 15–35 years.

Rouillon’s findings suggested that wearing a bra can weaken the chest muscles, thereby promoting sagging. Rouillon concluded that going braless encourages the chest muscles to work harder to elevate the breasts.

There is no official published study of Rouillon’s findings and no peer review. As such, it is not possible to evaluate the validity of the research.

Marco Klinger, Head of the Operating Unit of Plastic Surgery at Humanitas Research Hospital in Italy, states that the study is too small to be an accurate representation of breast sagging in the general population.

According to Klinger, a wide range of variables are likely to affect breast sagging. These include:

Overall, there is not enough scientific evidence to suggest that either wearing a bra or going braless has any effect on sagging.

However, for people with larger breasts, supporting the connective tissues of the breasts by wearing a bra may help reduce the rate of sagging.

Learn more about sagging breasts here.