The bra is an essential garment - and mandatory, according to experts - of the female costumes that have been adapted to the needs and fashion throughout history.The first bras were used by the Greeks and then the Roman, according to Dr. Antonio Tejerina, specialist in Mastology, Oncological, Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeon of the Tejerina Foundation, from the book The Female Breast (Díaz de Santos.1997) who published their grandfather and his father, doctors Florencio and Armando Tejerina.«They used a circular device that placed below the robes immediately below the chest on the skin, so that it avoided the fall of the breast and did not compress it.They called it mamillars.At the end of the 19th century, going to the last required the use of large corsets that crushed and disfigured the woman's bust.And it is not until the first decade of the twentieth century, when the French manufacturer M.Dubois cut the upper part of the corsets and launched the first bra with a certain resemblance to the current ones: the bra.

Today, the bra conforms to the rhythm of life: it complies (or should comply) the support mission and at the same time adapts to trends.But not only must bet on the merely decorative or erotic garment, because beyond these functions, the bra must honor his name.

Seven out of 10 Spanish carry an incorrect size, according to a study by the Medical-East Institute, among a selection of more than 500 patients treated during 2014 in Madrid, Seville and Barcelona.And not only does it influence an aesthetic issue -cheru, chest marks, little graceful necklines...- But it is a matter of health.

How to calculate size

In lingerie fashion, Spain follows French carving and not the European.The size of the fasteners consists of a figure - a multiple of five between 80 and 105 - and a capital letter (A, B, C, D and E, usually).The figure measures the thorax just below the submample groove.The letter indicates the cup, the measure of the chest in its most voluminous area, the projection of the breasts, being the first letter of the alphabet the one with smaller size.

Following the instructions of Lupe Moreno, third generation corset and owner of the Lupe lingerie (C/ Count of Peñalver, 13) in Madrid, to find the proper back of back contour, you only have to measure the thorax below the breastsand add 15.For example, if the submammary contour measures 75 cm, 75+15 = 90, then the size will be the 90.Tailored to the breast volume (the perimeter with the breasts included) will be subtracted from the contour dimension to calculate the drink size.If the figure is 15, the cup will be the B, an average size, the most common and therefore commercial.With a variation of about three centimeters, measures A (12 cm), C (18 cm), D (21 cm) and E (24 cm) will be (24 cm).

The bra must be comfortable, fastened in the first bracket, because "if the lycras are of quality, the materials will not yield, and the broader positions are reserved for when more size is needed," adds the corset.

The straps have to be smooth to support part of the weight of the chest and distribute it on the shoulders.Women with the most breast volume must carry fasteners with wide and reinforced straps, "to help minimize the effect of weight and avoid discomfort on their shoulders and neck," explains Dr. Tejerina.

The instructions and measurements seem simple, but there are still more impediments when it comes to finding the perfect bra.

Lack of professionals

Specialized lingeries are in any shopping center, but there are very few corsetry experts.«The problem with the sizes of the bra is that there are no people understood in the stores that advise.There are few businesses that really understand, ”complains the Radióloga María Herrán, responsible for the breast diagnosis unit of the San Francisco de Asís Hospital, in Madrid."Now the fashion is that the dependents or advise you".

You also have to keep in mind that lingerie brands, such as fashionable, do not follow identical patterns.So the purchase, even knowing the necessary size, requires patience in the tester.

It is necessary to take the choice of a bra because the vast majority of women who carry inadequate size suffer breast discomfort.One of the most frequent failures has to do with the size of the cup: if it is small it can produce microtrauma.«20% of the 700 women I receive per month in my consultation with pain in the breast solve them simply using a bra of their size.After a year I see them again and they are perfect.Pain no longer exists.That was his only problem.It was a matter of looking for the right bra, ”says Dr. Herrán.

That the brave fastener on his back with relative comfort and without pressing is a simple matter for almost all women.Therefore, the question is of glasses.«The size of the ring is given by chest circumference.You have to pick up the whole breast: from the middle of the armpit to the breast groove [Candle], ”explains Dr. Herrán.

Following these indications, the problem does not have to go to more.According to Dr. Tejerina, "it is absolutely false that fasteners can internally alter the mammary gland and produce cancer.No scientific study has demonstrated it ».

How to keep this garment

To extend the life of the bra, Inés Basek, Lingerie Advisor and Braf Fitting expert at Lady of Cups, a signature of which she is a founding partner, gives a series of simple tips.

According to their experience, "fasteners should not be put in the washing machine (or inside the Maya for stockings), because they deteriorate".You will always have to wash them by hand with a neutral soap for delicate garments, such as the baby's clothes."Every two or three days you have to change support, to avoid the deterioration of the garment, so that the materials are not stretched and returned and to their original size".And you have to review the size of the bra every half year, it is not going to be that any of the measures that change and therefore another size is needed.

Anti -wrinkle fasteners

Unless little chest is, doctors insist that all women should carry support.In fact, if an appropriate one takes, "its use helps delay the descent of the breasts caused by the loss of skin elasticity that occurs over the years," explains Dr. Antonio Tejerina.

To avoid other aesthetic concerns, such as wrinkles in the neckline, Marta Fernández Cuevas has designed a sleeping bra that places the chest at night and thus prevents the so little aesthetic marks on the gutter from: the pillow bra,A Spanish design made with hypoallergenic materials.

"Thanks to the pad that incorporates the bra, designed to fill in the interpectoral channel, an optimal integral support is achieved that avoids the fall of the breasts and the appearance of wrinkles in the intermample zone," argues its creator.

This invention, in addition to supporting the bust during the night, prevents the stretching of the skin and therefore the fall of the chest.It also reduces the weight that falls on the back, so it suffers less during sleep hours.

The Spanish has little size

According to Map Mapamundi of Target Map, Spanish women use (with success or not) a Cup B.Taking only European data into account, it seems that size is practically an Iberian issue, because they only share lyrics with the Portuguese and Irish.The rest exceeds the Spanish in size, with the exception of the Latvian, little busty like the Belarusas.The most pechugonas are the Nordics;The Norwegians, Swedish and Finnish have a Cup D on average.

Doctors insist that, unless the size of the cup is A, that is, very small, all women have to use a bra to a daily.«Throughout history, support has had a political-social sense and feminist movements as free sinus, in 1960, they claimed women's freedom with a breast-free of fasteners.There are currently other activists who show the breasts as a claim.But it is a mistake to confuse the concept of freedom and independence of women with carrying a bra.This only manages to mislead his breasts, ”says Dr. Antonio Tejerina.