Happy with natural large breasts?

[indigoteeshirt]

I'm wondering if it's possible to be large breasted and pain free. I'm seriously considering breast reduction because I can't get properly fitted for a bra by either R&B or Bravissimo. The pain caused by wearing a bra is seriously impacting on my quality of life. Are there any positive similar experiences out. I'm a 36J.

home? No, 'them'

One thing about straps - if you're short, make sure you get bras that enable you to shorten the straps enough. Otherwise you can be purchasing what is effectively a strapless bra, but not designed for such a task!
When I was younger and perkier, the bra shop ladies would laugh as my boobs sailed naturally forth a few inches above the bra as it couldn't get short enough for my hobbit body! It is a flaw of "pretty" bras where they decorate the front of the straps.
The straps shouldn't hold the boob but neither should they do nothing and slip off.

How many women are compiling these statistics?

I also own a Doreen. I tell people it's for under my vintage clothes ... but really I just love it.

I totally agree Squizita, Rigby and Peller will take up the straps for you.

No idea.
I did a quick google.

But it is one of the reasons by 'back pain' is not an indication of breast reduction under the NHS.

Twinkle : yes. You're absolutely right. The shoulder strap should be in line with the nibble to ease/prevent stress on the shoulder. One of the strategies I've tried with some success is bringing in the centre a seam by sewing so pulling the straps in more.

Boffin/Ruth :)

Oh my, I should really put the down: '…. one of the reasons why back pain is not an indication for breast reduction…'
Apologies, all.

indigoteeshirt - you mean like a little dart?

Twinkle : Yes. A dart. A much better description

I'm a 32G and weigh 8.5 stone. I hate my boobs! I'm only 5ft 2 and the rest of me is really petite (size 8 on the bottom and across my tummy) but finding tops is a nightmare.

I exercise a lot and do yoga and Pilates which has helped my back but at the end of a working day (I stand a lot at work) I have a horrible pain in my back and shoulders.

I'd love a boob reduction but I can't afford it, I'm fed up of people only talking to my boobs. It doesn't matter what the hell I wear, they are just right "there"

I am just over 5 ft and size 8ish (obviously larger on top to get the bloody boobs in!) I am not fat (I run marathons) and I have 32F boobs - and they're not even nice perky ones they are just there and I hate them. once in life (pre kids) I weighed about the same and had lovely little Cs (and hated them as I thought they were massive - if I only knew....

Going to try lipo breast reduction later in the year as fear with menopause round the corner they aren't going to get any better

Everstrong you would probably get much better support and less or no pain if you tried a bra with a smaller back size. Measure yourself under bust, if you're that small otherwise I bet that measurement won't be 32 inches.

I have relatively small shoulders but it remains true that for many many women collapsing straps is a sign that the band is too big which puts the straps too far out from the centre. That's not to ignore height issues and half adjustable straps which are just bloody stupid.

I went in to marks and Spencer a couple of years ago as a test,and asked them to fit me. Went in wearing a perfectly fitted 30hh and they shoved me in a 36F. In the time I had it on in the fitting room I had grooves in my shoulders where they were taking the weight. No bra would have been better for my back as at least then I wouldn't have been attempting to hoist them up then hanging them off my shoulders which was basically what this monstrosity did

Not me but a best mate had boobs size 32HH i think and she just had breast reduction on nhs and shes thrilled. Think she had alot of back pain and couldnt find any clothes to fit her

This thread is great. I have learnt :

I need to go smaller in the band. 34 band is not the standard small.
Can be big and pain free.
Bras can be comfortable.
I need to target the specific area of pain probably with botox.
losing weight so I am well within a healthy BMI, I could also justify having a small liposuction procure to promote even greater comfort on the side that is causing most angush.

I hadn't heard of the botox or lipo options either tbh, and they sound really interesting. And much less invasive than the full blown reduction.

A good friend had one. She was a 30H to start with, and the surgeon told her she'd go down to a C or D cup. TBH, that would have looked ridiculously small on her frame (like me she's got a small back but isn't petite elsewhere!) as on a 30 band a c cup is really pretty small but from the discussions I witnessed I'm not convinced the surgeon actually knew that a C cup is a different size on different bands . She was told post op that he'd taken her down to a "large c" - when she got fitted she was in fact an F.

Over the following couple of years, the buggers grew back! She's now around the same size as she started, but to make it worse the size changed and the breast tissue sort of bottomed out a bit so her nipples are really high - which means she has a smaller choice of bras than she did before as half of them, her nipple sticks out the top.

I know that reduction is a great option for a lot of people - I just hate when on some threads here (not this one) someone posts their bra size and inevitably someone pipes up with "OMG that's ridiculous if I was that size I'd have a reduction" like it's a) a minor op and b) some sort of magic pill.

I disagree that back pain is not a reason for a reduction under the NHS. I have chronic long term upper back pain. It makes my life a misery. I have seen a senior physio on the NHS and he recommended a reduction. I am currently on the waiting list.

The way to find out, is, if your back pain goes or reduces when you lie down then it is your boobs causing the pain. I ma supposed to lie down flat for 1/2 an hour every day to take the weight off the front. So according to my very helpful male physio, having a reduction can make a dramatic difference. He has seen a lot of evidence to support this. Also, I think there is a lot of difference between a G cup and a K or L cup. I would class a g cup as fairly normal, when you get to the really big letters then more problems appear. My understanding is, that anyone over an H cup is likely to suffer back problems

What does botox do for large/heavy breasts?
I have only ever heard of it being used for lines, spasticity or, rarely, pain.

Breast reduction surgery is a huge deal with rather a long recovery period until things are 'normal' again. Much as I get fed up with my boobs from time to time, I'd not consider it, but, as ever it's such a personal choice. It's certainly not an 'easy' way out.

I had breast reduction surgery in my early 20s. It changed my life, but it was incredibly painful and recovery took a long time.

But, as others have pointed out, they tend to grow back. I am now the same size as before I had it done. And no, it isn't weight gain, because I am no bigger overall than I was when I had surgery, in fact I might even be slimmer.

I am still happy I had it done, but the reality is that when I had it done I simply couldn't get bras to fit. Not that I couldn't get comfortable, or pretty bras, but I couldn't get any. And I was battling utter self loathing due to attitudes like that expressed upthread that only overweight women have large boobs. As a teenager I truly believed that I was the only female in existence who was slim but with big boobs, that I was a freak, disgusting, repulsive etc, because I was bombarded with ill informed teenage, and then women's, magazines writing articles about buying a bra and declaring that anyone wearing a C cup was huge.

Now, the situation has improved so much. There is a huge range of bras available in large cup sizes. And they are pretty, in a variety of colours and styles. And the very fact that there is a huge high street chain dedicated to such bras means that any teenager now in my former situation can see clearly that they are not a freak and hot even particularly unusual - high street chains don't thrive without customers.

So, now I am the same size as before and whilst I'd love to be smaller, I really don't give two hoots overall. I'm not in pain this time, because I can get bras to fit, and I have nice underwear. And best of all, at my age I am confident enough to tell anyone that makes snidey comments about it being impossible to have big boobs when you are slim that they are very much mistaken and they should educate themselves. Which they should.

Orange YY 2 friends of mine are on the waiting list for the same reason. One has 14 lb of breast tissue!

Do they weigh them?

botox : I gave nerve damage from the weight of the breast tugging the nerve beyond its capacity. However one poster said that shingles had caused her sensitivity from the pressure of the band. I wonder if something like that could also account for my pain. consequently, I do not have breast pain and the bra do not caused the pain although do aggregate it.

So G is normal - phew I don't need to feel sensitive.

back pain : a well fitting bra will immediately resolve this. However if your brEast is composed of essentially breast tissue then this holds more weight and 'will' impact on the muscular skeletal frame. much as is my nerve pain.

'weigh them' - no. The surgeon can tell by eye. when tissue is removed in surgery it is weighed. Priotr to surgery the surgeon judges how much tissue they intend to remove.

Ah, I see, thanks for answering

G is most definitely 'normal' - probably more 'normal' than many people thing, seeing that so many, many women are in the wrong bra size (band too big, cup too small).
There was a v funny thread a good while ago about the 'stigma' of being larger than a D/DD which is were most brands stop with their normal range .