You see breast migration so often we've come to think of it as normal. All these pictures show women who have tissue migration or are wearing a bra that will cause breast tissue migration.
The most common cause of breast tissue migration is wearing a cup that is too small for you. Women with large breasts have breast tissue all the way to their armpit and all this tissue needs to be inside your cup. If you wear a bra with a cup that is too small for you the wire of the cup rests on your breast tissue. The pressure of the wire divides your breast tissue pushing some inside your cup and the rest is forced back into the armpit area.
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| Your bra cup should enclose all the breast tissue right under your armpit (Melody Bra) |
If you have excess flesh around your armpit then it's worth reviewing your bra size because it could be that the excess flesh is actually breast tissue that needs to be inside your bra. It's easy to mistake wrinkling at the armpit for tissue migration. Most women get some wrinkling or folds at the armpit where your breast tissue rises to meet you armpit - this happen when you're in the right bra!
What Can Be Done?
By getting your breast tissue into the right cup size you can gradually reverse the tissue migration by training the tissue back into the cup. There is no proven health problem linked to breast tissue migration, however, it can be painful and unsightly so it's worth ensuring that all of your boobs are inside your bra. If you need help working out your bra size you can use our Free Size Consultation or book a Skype fitting with one of our fitters. Have you experienced breast tissue migration and managed to rectify it over time with the right bra? xx
Thanks for explaining this so well =)
ReplyDeleteGood to know it makes sense, thanks for commenting :) xx
DeleteThank you so much for writing this. I really think there needs to be a huge drive to educate women on this issue and some scientific research. I had never heard of tissue migration until I read Braless in Brasil's post on it a couple of months ago. I had some fairly mild tissue migration and it only took about a month before I noticed that the tissue had (at least partially) re-migrated and I needed to go up another cup size.
ReplyDeleteMost women have no idea about this. Lucky we have Mrs Butterfly to spread the word!
I'm so glad that you were able to identify and rectify your tissue migration. Braless in Brasil is a great blog full of really useful advice.
DeleteThank you for the encouragement about spreading the word on good bra and breast health - it's my biggest mission! xx
Here's my question. How do you know if that excess is tissue or just skin? I'm often told at professional fitting bra boutiques that the excess I see under my armpit is just loose skin due to weight loss. I try my best to put it into the bra but it slowly oozes out. The only time I could get it in there is when I wear a bra that actually goes all the way up to my armpits, which is sadly a cup larger and rubs after a while, so I abandoned that approach. I do agree it is very unsightly though.
ReplyDeleteHi Noha - this is such a good question and there's no precise answer I'm afraid. What I can tell you is that migrate breast tissue will gradually 'ooze' out of your bra during the day. It can take between a couple of weeks and six months to train breast tissue back into the bra. The important thing is that you wear the right size and style to train breast tissue over that time. If you've had a significant weight loss you may have some stretched tissue at your armpit that simply can't be changed without surgery (unless you're quite young). You don't need to wear a larger cup, but look for bras with a supportive side panel (Lucy has a great side panel for correcting breast tissue migration). xx
DeleteI just wanted to provide an update because someone recently asked me about this very issue. Your suggestion was very helpful. I've been wearing nothing but different colours and variations of the Lucy and Jasmine for the past 6 months and I can say with certainty that I no longer have this "armpit oozing". All of my breast tissue is actually inside the cup and the bras are comfortable and supportive. I did have to go up one cup size and down in band. The fit is perfect, Thank you!
DeleteThank you for the update Noha - that's so kind of you to let us know that you've had success with a better fit xx
DeleteThank you so much! I am small breasted, yet always have had this weird fat under my arms. I suspected it was breast tissue, but I have never heard of migration before. I guess my boobs are bigger than I thought!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad this helped you Alexis. With the right style (high at the sides) you can start to pull that breast tissue forward. xx
DeleteHow long after getting into the right size bra should it take before starting to see improvment?
ReplyDeleteSome women see a difference within a couple of weeks but generally the most noticeable difference happens after about 6 months. Hope that helps xx
Deletehi,
ReplyDeletethanks so much for the information. i have a short torso and find that in order to enclose all that tissue i have to wear a bra that rubs against the front of my underarm. on the other hand something like goddess or elomi, which keeps everything in place without rubbing, is a minimizer, which has no projection. in addition, most wires are too long. would it help if i shorten the wires on the bras i like?
Hello Barbara, You are describing such a common problem. Heavy bust, not a lot of torso real estate to put those wires and a desire to have a variety of cup shapes. Not an unreasonable request but boy, hard to find! If you have the skill to be able to shorten the wires on the shapes you like then that will definitely solve your problem. It is mostly down to wire length and strap position. There is a new Elomi style coming out this autumn that has more forward projection with all the comfort features of short wires and good strap position. Look out for Carmen by Elomi xx
DeleteThis is so important!!! For the LONGEST time I've worn the wrong cup AND band size... Suffice it to say... my breast migration was past my armpits. It's completely awful still-- as I only just recently got the correct sized bras- but I already feel a difference when I take said bra off! It's a weird pain -- it's like my chest was fine until I took off the bra and then gravity took control... I've not taken off my bras for long periods of time due to the fact that well... I'm sagging. This is a fantastic article. Thank you. How I didn't see it sooner is my bad.
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