Good bras are vital, and here's why cutting VAT on the will help the NHS READ MORE: British mother-of-two, 38, dies during £5,400 'mum MOT' in Turkey By Gill Hodges Published: 06:34 EDT, 20 August 2024 | Updated: 06:35 EDT, 20 August 2024 e-mail 1 View comments Gill Hodges, past president of the Society of Radiographers As a therapeutic radiographer, planning and delivering radiotherapy treatment, I see women’s breasts all the time — and one thing I know from the moment I look at a patient is if they’re wearing a poorly fitting bra. A bra should keep you in place without moving around. If a woman’s breasts are moving up and down a lot, then it’s clear that their bra is not supportive.
And if bras leave indentations on the shoulders, the bra probably isn’t the correct bandwidth (that’s the measurement around the chest underneath the breasts, e.g. size 34 or 36), as too much strain is being put on the shoulders.
Back fat that overhangs between the straps also indicates that the bandwidth is too small. This is something I see all the time — which is not surprising, given it’s estimated that around 80 per cent of women don’t wear the right bra. But this isn’t just a matter of comfort or helping your clothes to hang correctly.
Women don’t realise that a poorly fitting bra can also have implications for their health — and even for NHS waiting lists. That is why the Society of Radiographers has launched a campaign calling for women’s bras to be made exem.