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Braless at 45
By Jan

I have always been a C or D cup and from my mid-twenties on, I had suffered from painful breasts before my period. This progressively became worse with lumps coming and going with my menstrual cycle. It got to the stage where I started to suffer about two weeks before my period and I was always able to tell where I was in my cycle by the intensity of the pain. I used to wear a tighter bra to offer more support and allow less movement (supposedly less pain).

I couldn't bear the pain and my doctor wasn't really any help, but eventually he prescribed danazol which had nasty side effects and helped in a small way, but the lumps were still there. I stopped taking it because of the side effects.

In 1982 I became concerned that one lump was persisting and saw my doctor again. He took the view that although it was probably benign; the best course of action was to remove it surgically. This was carried out almost right away and indeed proved to be benign.

The pain and lumps persisted with various degrees of intensity over the years, and as I believed there was no remedy, I simply lived with it. However, my quality of life was not good and my long suffering husband had a lot to put up with, as I was obviously irritable with the pain. We put this down to pre-menstrual syndrome and hormone changes.

When I was 43 years old I was referred to a specialist who said I simply had fibrocystic breasts, a condition which would not go away until menopause. I then had the usual mammogram, fine needle aspiration (very painful procedure), etc. and it appeared that indeed the lump was benign. At that point I was so upset and depressed to think that conventional medicine seemed unable to offer me no relief from this condition/disease that I couldn't think straight.

My husband, who never gives up on anything, said if conventional medicine has no cure then let's look at natural or herbal remedies. He carried out Internet searches and I tried various things like iodine supplements, diet control, progesterone cream and some others. There appeared to be no significant change and so we gave up again.

It wasn't until he found a web testimonial from a woman who had suffered as I had and found relief simply by leaving off her bra. At this point I would have tried practically anything. I said to myself I have nothing to lose so I'll give it a go. I went to town and bought some new undergarments and went braless. As this was just before my period I didn't notice much change but I had said I would give it a go for three months.

Well the next month I only suffered minor pain and discomfort about a week before my period and in the next month I got caught out as I had no warning at all that my period was due (I never needed to watch the date before, there was plenty of warning). The lumps had all disappeared with the exception of the one that had been well established.

Five months later and no one could know how much my quality of life has improved. Because no other lumps have appeared and I don't believe they ever will, I had the lump removed that was still there from before and it was just dense fibrous tissue as I suspected.

If you think that everyone will know you are not wearing a bra, take it from me, if you choose the right undergarments, no one need know unless you tell them. My work colleagues have no idea but I must admit I am so pleased that I feel so much better that I have told all my friends. Incidentally, I go dancing — and if anything — I think not wearing a bra has improved my posture, and I am not self conscious at all.

I have certainly not noticed any negative effects of not wearing a bra. Having gone braless for 11 months now, I don't even think about it any more. On the rare occasion that I put on a bra I feel very restricted and can't wait to get it off.




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