Every woman wants to have perfectly shaped breasts throughout her life. Sadly, this is not possible in most cases. Breast sagging is a natural process that happens with age where the breasts lose their suppleness and elasticity. A drooping pair of breasts can severely undermine how a woman feels about herself, and may feel it lessens her attractiveness in the eyes of the opposite sex. Learning what causes breasts to sag and tackling this issue proactively can offer a lot of help.
What Causes Saggy Breasts
For starters, breasts do not have muscle, they are made of fat, connective tissues and milk-producing glands, and they need proper care to keep them in good shape. Though saggy breasts usually start happening after a woman reaches 40, it can occur earlier. According to various studies, it is understood that when a woman reaches her late thirties, the skin can become loose and begin to show signs of aging. According to the Oregon Institute of Breast Health Education, this is especially true in the breasts, particularly if a woman has gone through a pregnancy.
Apart from age & pregnancy, other factors that cause sagging breasts such as menopause, rapid weight loss or gain, strenuous exercise, nutritional deficiencies, smoking, over-tanning and wearing a poorly fitting bra.
Many believe that breastfeeding can cause sagging, but this is FALSE according to a 2008 study published in the Aesthetic Surgery Journal which concluded that breastfeeding isn’t a risk factor for ptosis (a fancy name for drooping). The real culprit is actually pregnancy itself, as weight gain during pregnancy can cause ligaments to stretch, which can lead to drooping later. You can minimize this issue by making sure you stick to a relatively healthy weight gain while you’re pregnant,
Some diseases like breast cancer or respiratory conditions like tuberculosis can also cause breasts to sag. Excessive consumption of nicotine, alcohol and carbonated beverages can also contribute to the problem.
A wide variety of creams and lotions are available on the market to tighten and tone up sagging breasts. However, if you prefer natural methods, there are many simple and easy home remedies that you can try.
How To Firm The Breasts
There are a number of home remedies for regaining the firmness of saggy breasts, including regular pectoral exercises, massaging, masks, plant oils and essential oils in different forms.
Maintain an Optimal Weight
If you are someone who struggles with weight, and if gain and lose weight continuously and fail to stay at a steady optimal weight, it could take a toll on your breasts. Your skin, especially over the breasts, loses elasticity when stretched. Also when you lose weight, you can lose fat from the breasts very fast as compared to other parts of the body. This continuous stretching and relaxing of the skin makes it droop and sag over time.
Drink Plenty of Water
According to experts at the University of Wisconsin Hospitals, the skin is comprised of cells that are predominantly made up of water. Lack of water takes a toll on the skin, and can make the skin over your breast look shrunken and dull. When there is less water in your body the skin doesn’t receive the requisite amount and might look flaky, dry and get wrinkled. This could lead to premature aging of the skin around the breasts making it lose firmness and sag.
Nutrition & Exercise
Always combine healthy eating with exercise, as this is the only way to reduce weight while keeping your skin firm. Improper weights can also cause your breasts to sag. Drastic weight loss in a short span of time would definitely cause your breasts to lose their fullness.
Nutritional deficiencies can lead to saggy breasts, as nutrients are needed for breast growth and support. A protein deficiency can result in the breast muscles losing their strength and firmness, thereby leading to saggy breasts. It's essential to eat foods that are nutritionally rich and contain proteins, vitamins, calcium, minerals, carbohydrates and essential fats etc. Some of the foods that you need to include in your meals every day would include tomatoes, onions, carrots, cabbages, broccoli, cauliflower and garlic etc.
Pomegranate
This fruit is considered a wonderful anti-aging ingredient and can help prevent sagging breasts. Pomegranate seed oil is rich in phyto-nutrients that can lead to firm breasts.
Aloe Vera
This amazing plant has natural skin-tightening properties that can help get rid of sagging breasts. The antioxidants in aloe vera prevent damage caused by free radicals and help firm sagging breasts. Apply aloe vera gel to the breasts and massage gently in a circular motion for 10 minutes. Allow it to sit in the skin for another 10 minutes, then wash it off with cold water. Repeat this remedy 4 or 5 times a week to get effective results.
Home Remedies To Help Firm The Breasts
Breast Exercise
It is said that the right exercises can keep your breasts perky, however, since breasts are made up of fat, not muscle—technically there’s nothing to tighten or tone. But chest exercises can help improve the appearance of your pectoral area by strengthening surrounding ligaments, which in turn may make them appear more lively, stated Anne Taylor, MD, a clinical assistant professor of plastic surgery at Ohio State University.
The easiest and most popular exercise to add firmness to breasts is to do push-ups, which strengthen the pectoral muscles beneath the breasts. Overall, it will help to shape up the breast and reduce the excess fat deposits around the chest. Lifting weights can also strengthen pectoral muscles, including curls, chest presses, dumbbell flyes and many other variations you can try that make you feel your chest muscles working.
Breast Masks
Like facial masks, breast masks can help firm the skin in and around the breast region. You can use these breast masks at least once in a week for desirable results.
Vitamin E Oil & Egg Breast Mask
Make a paste consisting of:
1 Tbsp Plain Yogurt
1 Tbsp Vitamin E Oil
1 Egg
Directions:
Apply this paste over your breast and rub it in nicely.
Leave on for about half an hour.
Rinse it off with cold water .
Massage
Massage your breasts at least 2-3 times per week with coconut or olive oil to help add firmness and increase the elasticity to the skin as well as improve the skin tone and texture. Massage draws blood to the surface of the skin, increases blood flow, while stimulating muscle growth, and cell repair to help reduce the appearance and severity of sagging breasts.
Ice Massages
Ice can help tone the skin in and around the breast region. All you need to do is rub a few ice cubes over your breasts in wide circular motions. You can also wrap some crushed ice in a ziplock bag wrapped in a cloth and use the same way to massage your breasts. Massage for around 1 minute, as too much exposure to ice can cause numbness. Try this massage at regular intervals throughout the day to firm your breast muscles and skin.
Ice can help tone the skin in and around the breast region. All you need to do is rub a few ice cubes over your breasts in wide circular motions. You can also wrap some crushed ice in a ziplock bag wrapped in a cloth and use the same way to massage your breasts. Massage for around 1 minute, as too much exposure to ice can cause numbness. Try this massage at regular intervals throughout the day to firm your breast muscles and skin.
Plant Oils
Massaging your breasts with vegetable oils like coconut, olive or grape seed oil is also beneficial for toning the breast skin and tissues. Excellent examples include almond oil and grape seed oil, all of which help firm and nourish the breast skin. For better results, you can mix two drops of any essential oil along with the vegetable oils before rubbing them on your breasts.
Essential Oils
Essential Oils like fennel seed oil, spearmint oil, carrot oil, lemongrass oil and cypress oil contain skin cell rejuvenation properties that help restore the suppleness and elasticity of saggy skin. Just massage your breasts with these oils at regular intervals throughout the day in order to tone the skin in and around your breasts. Be forewarned that these oils could burn the skin and so need to be applied in small quantities. Two drops would be more than enough for the purpose.
Essential Oils like fennel seed oil, spearmint oil, carrot oil, lemongrass oil and cypress oil contain skin cell rejuvenation properties that help restore the suppleness and elasticity of saggy skin. Just massage your breasts with these oils at regular intervals throughout the day in order to tone the skin in and around your breasts. Be forewarned that these oils could burn the skin and so need to be applied in small quantities. Two drops would be more than enough for the purpose.
In addition to the above home remedies, there are certain potential triggers you need to avoid in order to prevent saggy breasts. These include:
Smoking & Over-Tanning
Lighting up is a significant risk factor for breast drooping, according to the 2008 study. The same can be said for any poor lifestyle habit that breaks down skin’s collagen like soaking up too many UV rays or eating a nutrient-poor, high-fat diet.
Wrong Sized or Poorly Fitting Bras
A wrong sized bra can make your breasts sag in no time at all. Not wearing a bra would not help as well. Your best option would be to opt for bras with special support holders or pads at the bottom of the cup. These would keep your breasts in place and prevent sagging.
Going Braless is Good For Your Breasts?
Some women who go braless may actually have the right idea, and this has been suggested by new research. According to the results of a 15-year study in France (It should be noted the study does not mention breast size), bras provide no benefits to women and may actually be harmful to breasts over time. Jean-Denis Rouillon, a professor at the University of Franche-Comté in Besançon stated, "Medically, physiologically, anatomically, the breast does not benefit from being deprived of gravity."
Rouillon measured and examined the breasts of more than 300 women, aged 18 and 35, taking note of how the additional support provided by bras affects the body over time. Overall, he found that women who did not use bras benefited in the long term, developing more muscle tissue to provide natural support. Rouillon also noticed that nipples gained a higher lift, in relation to the shoulders, on women who went braless. The study concluded that when bras are worn, the restrictive material prevents such tissue from growing, which may actually accelerate sagging, .
But don't throw away your bras just yet, ladies, because despite the findings, Rouillon said it would be dangerous to advise all women to trash their bras based on the study's sample, which may not be representative of the population. Rouillon cautioned women who have worn bras for a long time, like several decades, that following these recommendations may have less chance of seeing as much benefit.