Sudden loss of bra support after a month of illness

[tectonicplates]

First of all, this is a "why is this happening now?" thread, not a bra fitting thread. So, no comments like "have you gone for a fitting?" or "have you tried the Shock Absorber?" (I have, they're awful) etc as that's not what this is about.

My current size is 32HH/J, so I do need to be careful with bras.

I do yoga twice a week. For the past couple of years I've been wearing the Royce Aerocool bra for yoga, which is the first yoga bra that's ever worked for me at my size. (I'd tried some Shock Absorber ones in the past and they were awful, left me with neck and shoulder pain).

A couple of months ago I was really ill and could barely get out of bed for a week or two. It wasn't Covid, and possibly not flu either, but it was some kind of virus where I was coughing all the the time and was absolutely exhausted. So I didn't do yoga or any exercise for about 4-6 weeks.

Started yoga again a few weeks ago and for some reason the Royce bra isn't supporting me like it used to. It was absolutely fine before, but now for some reason it's tugging at my neck and I'm aching the next day. I'm actually thinking of going to the osteopath soon.

I just don't know why this is happening. Has my body just stopped getting used to bras or something? Is it something to do with a lack of muscle use, even though I started yoga again several weeks ago now? I'm quite worried as it took me ages and too much money going through useless bras just to find one that actually worked, so I just don't know why it's suddenly stopped working. I might have to stop doing yoga altogether if this problem doesn't stop.

Maybe the period of inactivity meant your muscles weakened so it's having to due more heavy lifting, rather than them being supported internally by your musculature?

Could your posture have changed in that time? Or maybe you put on some weight?

It could be a posture thing maybe, but I don’t know how to get things back to hot they were. I just wondered if anyone else had experienced this.

My neck is in pain and I don’t know what to do

It is also just possible that the coughing or something has caused some inflammation in your neck / spinal cord. At a low level you might not feel any pain, but the more that you push activity, the more it could inflame it and cause pain. I'd be tempted to see the GP and get the problem "on their radar" so that if treatments don't work you can get a referral for an MRI.

Have you had your bra for 2 years? If so, it has probably worn out. Sports bras only last for something like 30 or 40 washes. Because you haven't worn it in a while you are noticing that it no longer works that well.

First thing I wondered was whether you had lost weight through being ill and it wasn't fitting so well. But loss of condition could also be the case over a couple of months.

Ah. You're pushing your head forward and putting strain on your neck after being inactive for a long time and losing strength in your posterior chain of muscles.

A lot of yoga classes tend towards too much leaning forwards and not enough strengthening upper back and neck, especially when you add in the transitions.

Swimming could be a gentler way to recover if you can't stretch to the cost of a physio. And using a neck pillow helps.

I got one in August and a second one in October, so actually that could be a factor. Maybe I just need a new one?

@dizzydizzydizzy in fact you know what, I used to wear the bra on the first hook but I noticed last time that I could easily stretch it to put it on one tighter, so this is all starting to make sense now! I think I’ll order a new one and see what happens. Chances are that it was wearing out so gradually that I didn’t notice before.