7 big cup bra problems and how to solve them
Whether directly or indirectly, society has been telling women for decades that, the bigger our bra size, the “hotter” we are. Especially for those of us who grew up in the ‘80s, the ‘90s or even the early ‘00s, a D cup and higher was perceived as something to be envious of. A magnetic draw for the male gaze. Perhaps even a sign of promiscuousness… Well, thankfully we know better by now. As we are learning to love and accept the body we're in, we also understand that all breast sizes and shapes are perfect — just the way they are.
So although having a big cup bra size is completely unrelated to our value as human beings or even our sexuality as women, our ample cleavage can definitely be a source of confidence… as well as a source of annoyance. Wearing a big cup bra size comes with its own set of problems and we at Eva's Intimates are well acquainted with them (that's why our range of bras goes from an A to S-cup with a great selection of bras with large cups).
So in this article, we will discuss all these pesky issues that usually affect ladies wearing big cup bra sizes. From social and sartorial to hygiene related issues, we gathered below all the common big cup bra problems, along with ways to finally solve them.
But first: understanding that big cup bras are not exclusive to specific body types
First off, we should clarify a very common misunderstanding when it comes to bras: what constitutes a big bra size? The answer is not as simple as most women think.
For one, bra size charts look different based on where in the world you are. Different length units, for instance, are used for the EU/International sizes (centimeters) than for the US and UK sizes (inches). This creates some curious phenomena in the world of bra sizing, where a “US 40C” is actually a much bigger size than an “EU 80C” (which usually equates to a “US 38B”).
Thankfully, we've compiled a bra size conversion table so that you'll never be confused again!
Now you know to keep an eye out for the difference between inches and centimeters. You'd be surprised to hear however, that your idea of what constitutes a big bra size is still not 100% accurate. That's because we tend to think about the cup size of a bra independently from its band size.
The problem with that way of thinking is that a bra cup size does really reflect the volume of your cup: it only reflects its ration with the band of your bra. So a D cup with a bigger band size can actually be a smaller “bra size” than a C cup with a smaller band size. Confusing?
For now, what you need to keep in mind is that having a D cup doesn't necessarily mean that you have big breasts, nor that having a C cup means this article would not be relevant to you.
All this to say that, every woman is different. Having a big cup bra is definitely not exclusive or a “symptom” of a particular body type. You can have a big cup bra and be very petite and lean; you can have a big cup bra and be athletic and strong; you can have a big cup bra and be voluptuous and curvy. Okay?
Now that we've addressed this issue, let's move on to some common big cup bra problems that have affected all of us every now and then!
Being “breast-shamed”: it's totally a thing!
For all of society's past attempts to idolize a certain bust shape, the truth of the matter is that your big cup bra size will get you noticed — and not always in a good way.
As many of us full-breasted ladies can attest to, people tend to gawk, snicker or outright talk to you about that part of your anatomy, as if they are somehow entitled to because of its size (this kind of thinking is not unsimilar to touch pregnant women's bellies unsolicited, just because they're there). And the interesting thing is that other women are as much culpable, if not more, for doing this to other women than men are.
From asking you if “they are real” (as if that's anybody's business) to making assessments over whether the size of your breasts must hurt your back and affect your body posture (it does, but you are also used to it by now), the unwarranted attention you big cup bra size gets can make you feel self conscious. Very often, this leads to women with voluminous cups to try and “hide” their shape through slouching, wearing baggy clothing or even considering breast reduction surgery...
Well, that's the furthest thing from what you should be doing!
Being breast-shamed, like any other kind of bullying, says more about the person who is doing the bullying than it says about you. The sooner you realize that, and the sooner you learn to love and accept that part of yourself fully, the easier it will be to ignore the haters and focus on how to treat, clothe and support your breasts the way they deserve.
Trust us, it's totally possible! Read on for the real story of how this woman stopped apologizing for her large breasts and learned to love herself instead.
Feeling uncomfortable without a bra on
Here at Eva's Intimates we of course believe bras are beautiful (have you seen our latest collection?). That being said though, we also believe that wearing the same bra all day and all night long can feel suffocating at times.
Check out this hilarious cartoon about how women really feel when they take off their bras.
For various health reasons that range from letting your skin breathe to preventing your pectoral muscles (the muscles underneath your breasts) becoming lazy from the bra doing all the “heavy lifting” for them, it is actually encouraged by many scientific studies to spend some amount of time per day without your bra on.
And here's where it gets complicated: for women with smaller breasts, not only that's easier to do, it also feels natural and liberating. For us full-breasted ladies however, after the first few moments of relief from the pressure the band and the straps may have been exerting on us all day… we're starting to feel the pull of gravity. And it's definitely not liberating.
This is especially the case when it comes to sleeping. Wearing an underwire bra while you sleep is scientifically proven to cause issues such as blood circulation inhibition, intervening with lymphatic drainage (the process that allows toxins to naturally leave your body), even worsen your sleep quality itself. And yet, sleeping with no support around your breast area feels downright uncomfortable, if not impossible, for women with larger breasts.
Thankfully, the solution to this particular big cup bra problem is a simple one: invest in a soft bra with no underwire or padding that will allow you to feel both comfortable and beautiful!
Soft bras or bralettes offer the support women with larger breasts need throughout the day — and throughout the night as well. Plus, they look great, which never hurts.
Back, shoulder and chest pain
We've already discussed how, for women with larger breasts, being without a bra can feel uncomfortable. Unfortunately, wearing a bra can also create its own share of discomfort.
Depending on your band and cup size, larger breasts can weigh anything from 2 pounds to 7 pounds! Of course, this number is unique to each woman based on her body composition and adipose tissue, but still… that's a lot of weight to carry. It's not hard to see how having larger breasts can cause a strain to your back and shoulders and even result in chest pain.
Thankfully, there are ways to alleviate these symptoms. Exercise methods such as yoga, pilates and barre exercises will help you build stronger back and neck muscles, as well as strengthen your pectoral muscles, which will help support your breasts better. These types of exercise also work wonders on correcting your posture (as many of us tend to slouch from the weight of our breasts) which removes the unnecessary strain you tend to put on your neck and shoulders.
At the end of the day though, the best thing you can possibly do to keep back, shoulder and chest pains to a minimum, is to make sure that you are wearing the right bra size for you. It may sound like a simple thing, but you will be surprised at how many women feel certain they know what size bra they should be wearing, but in reality they have it wrong!
Here's how to find the perfect bra size for you — hint: you have several ones!
Limiting wardrobe choices
Most of us like experimenting with fashion. Trying on different trends, discovering all the different ways we can style our latest purchases to highlight different aspects of our body and our personality…
When you are blessed with a big cup bra size however, all these things can be trickier. While a full, voluptuous cleavage will look absolutely gorgeous with the right blouse or dress, the truth of the matter is that not every style of garment works equally well on full-breasted bodies.
When was the last time you fell in love with a strapless dress, a dress with a sexy, open back or even a beautiful bikini...that you couldn't possibly wear because none of these garments would provide your breasts with the support they need? It can be disheartening: feeling like you're being left out of many aspects of the fashion game, having to resort to wearing the same “safe” styles again and again…
Well, we are here to tell you it doesn't have to be like that.
The first thing to do is ask yourself: “Could this piece of clothing absolutely not work if I wore my bra underneath?” You will notice that in most cases, it's just your preconceived notion that bras are not “supposed” to be visible that is holding you back from experimenting, not your big cup bra size. Thankfully, the latest trends in fashion encourage visible bra lines (we may have the Kardashians to thank for that) and modern bra designs reflect that.
But there is one case where a piece of clothing absolutely cannot be worn with a bra — and that is the case of your swimwear.
Big cup bra sized ladies also want to have fun in the sun. Trying to find a bikini that properly supports you, minimizes the risk of “accidents” when you emerge from your dive and makes you feel great about your body, is one of those common big cup bra problems that seem impossible to solve. Very often you simply give up and opt for a boring, one-piece swimsuit that makes you feel like an octogenarian…
We feel you! And we're here to tell you it doesn't have to be like this: at Eva's Intimates, we've created a range of bikini tops that offer perfect support for E-N cup sizes, without sacrificing your style and sex appeal!
From cute florals and polka dots to sleek low-cuts and balconettes, we guarantee this summer will be your hottest ever.
The “bouncing” phenomenon
Breasts bounce when we move, that's simply how it is. Several studies have shown that, not only do our breasts move in an up and down motion when we walk, jog or run, they also move sideways.
The range of motion varies depending on the size of our breasts, the state of our Cooper's ligaments (the breasts' inner connective tissue) and the elasticity of our skin, but breasts have been documented to move as much as 21cm during exercise. Add to this the weight of our breasts and it's completely understandable why for so many of us the thought of running or doing any arduous exercise terrifies us…
The “bouncing” phenomenon can definitely be socially uncomfortable. A woman with large, bouncing breasts is warranted to attract a lot of stares, whether she is out for a run, dancing at a club or simply hurrying off to catch the bus. But you can learn to ignore the stares (if you need a refresher on how, revisit our previous paragraph about learning to love your curves and how to stop apologizing for them). What you cannot and should not learn to ignore, is the physical pain and discomfort this bouncing movement causes you.
We feel the need to make a disclaimer here: the myth that bouncing will make your breasts “saggy” is exactly that, a myth. Bouncing however can stretch out and affect the tendons and ligaments supporting your breasts and surrounding your chest area. And continuous strain on these supportive systems can cause anything from neck, shoulder and back pains to difficulties in breathing.
All this is not to say that if you have a big cup bra size you should avoid exercise or any kind of arduous movement that could result in bouncing. You are on this planet to live your best life and things like dancing, running or even jumping up and down for joy are definitely experiences you shouldn't have to miss out on!
But getting your breasts the proper amount of support while you do all these things, is crucial. To get an idea of how crucial it is, several female marathon athletes have stated that when they wear the wrong bra, the bouncing of their breasts interferes with their performance...
Thankfully, most of us are not marathon athletes. So to be able to get the most out of your daily life and exercise without condemning your breasts to endless bouncing, all you need to do is pick a wireless bra with soft, wide straps that will allow you maximum comfort of movement!
Now you can finally dance like nobody's watching.
Being prone to chafing and infections
Another common big cup bra problem is chafing. Chafing results from excessive rubbing of the skin either to skin or to the fabric of the bra.
If your bra pushes your breasts too tightly together, for instance, something many sports bras are guilty of doing, you may get chafing. Another culprit may be the underband of your bra: if it is too high at the breast fold, it will result to the skin of the lower part of your bra rubbing against the skin on your chest. This is also a common occurrence in sports bras, as well as in ill-fitting bras (meaning, if you are wearing a bra that is a smaller size than what you should actually be wearing).
But chafing is not limited to one specific area: it can also occur on your shoulders and back (if the bra straps are too tight) as well as under your armpits.
No matter how you slice it, chafing is not fun. Your skin will feel raw and itchy and soon a pink or red rash may appear. At this point, you should ideally remove any non-soft, underwire bras and treat the area with some aloe vera gel, baby talcum powder or one of the specialized anti-chafing creams and gels you can find on the market. Ideally you should let your skin air for a while, but if that is not possible or feels uncomfortable, opt for a soft cotton t-shirt or bralette.
Ladies who wear big cup bra sizes are well aware that chafing is not the only enemy: another is perspiration. Whether brought on by sweating it out during exercise or simply by wearing your bra for many hours in warm weather, perspiration under and around your breasts is a real challenge — and not just because it doesn't look nice. Any part of your body that remains moist for a long time can be prone to bacteria and yeast infections.
Combining perspiration with the irritation that comes from chafing, full-breasted ladies have often suffered from “intertrigo”: a kind of dermatitis that occurs from skin folds rubbing together. Although curvier women with more adipose tissue are more prone to intertrigo, it can happen to any woman with larger breasts — especially in the summer months.
If this has happened to you, then apart from the raw, reddish skin, you may also notice small patches of epidermis flaking, in a way similar to how your skin is peeling away after you get a sunburn. Intertrigo can also make your skin develop a weir, “yeasty” smell…
Yeah, it's not pleasant. But the good news is, it's not serious either. I won't leave any lasting tissue damage if you know how to treat it properly.
For starters, you should keep the afflicted areas completely dry. There have been full-breasted ladies known to use a hairdryer under their breast to make sure no water is trapped there after they've had a shower — and there is no shame in that! Then, you should apply any of the topical remedies mentioned above or a hydrocortisol cream (for better results, alternate between different treatments every day or so).
Finally, pay great attention to your hygiene. If you have to wear a bra, make sure it's clean — in fact, although it may sound excessive under normal circumstances, avoid wearing the same bra twice without washing it. Also make sure to avoid any heavily scented detergent or fabric softeners that can actually worsen your condition.
Most of all, you should take it easy and cover your skin only with soft, breathable fabric like this camisole in seamless cotton.
Your skin is a very resilient organ and, if you treat it right, it will very soon go back to looking flawless.
Not being able to find beautiful bra designs in your size
It has become clear by now that big cup bra sizes come with their share of problems. While annoying, all these problems are solvable.
What may prove harder to solve, is the problem of finding gorgeous bras that reflect your femininity and personality, in your voluminous cup size. We know, we've had that problem ourselves. That's why we created Eva's intimates.
Browse through our collection and we promise, you'll start seeing your well-endowed breasts like the blessing they are!