There's no specific age when your breasts will start to sag. It's common for some droop in your 40s and beyond, but many women experience saggy breasts earlier. If you're lucky enough to escape the droop in your 30s and 40s, you'll most likely notice changes in elasticity and fullness as menopause approaches.
Can Sagging Breasts Be Firm Again? Sagging breast tissue cannot regain its youthful firmness without plastic surgery. Unfortunately, measures such as exercising your chest muscles, eating healthy, and applying topical creams are not enough to correct pronounced sagging and drooping.
Breast sagging is one of the many natural body changes women experience as they age. The female breasts are made of fat and ligaments, but lack muscle tissue, so there is no amount or type of exercise that will strengthen the breasts.
Dr. Blake says wearing a bra doesn't prevent your breasts from sagging and not wearing one doesn't cause your breasts to sag. “Wearing a bra doesn't affect the risk of breast sagging, or what is called 'breast ptosis,'” she says. It also won't impact the shape of your breasts.
According to John Paul Tutela, MD, a board-certified plastic surgeon, wearing a bra (sports or otherwise) can keep your skin from stretching.
Possible breast changes that may occur as a result of aging include: stretch marks or wrinkles appearing on the breast skin. the breasts looking elongated, stretched, or flattened. extra space between the breasts.
While certain pectoral exercises and lifestyle choices can help build muscle underneath the breasts and prevent further drooping, they cannot reverse breast tissue laxity. Maintaining your weight and a healthy diet can provide some improvement, but compromised breast tissue can only be fixed with breast lift surgery.
Causes of Sagging Breasts
Hormone changes, pregnancy, weight gain, and weight loss can all affect the internal structures of your breasts. Menopause can affect the fullness of breasts and reduce their volume. Many people are concerned that breastfeeding a baby will lead to sagging.
We hate to deliver depressing news, but the fact is, some breast sag is inevitable. Having a baby, breastfeeding, and racking up more birthdays all contribute to a loss of elasticity of collagen, the connective tissue under the skin—leaving your set more deflated than firm. Sag can also be a matter of genetics.
A common side effect of losing a large amount of weight is that you can be left with excess loose skin and saggy breasts, especially if you have lost weight quite rapidly. Not only can this negatively affect your quality of life, but it can also be a source of embarrassment and low self esteem.
While chest exercises strengthen and tone your muscles, no workout will give you the same lift in the breasts that surgery and other cosmetic procedures can. Instead, you might consider chest exercises if your skin elasticity is intact overall and you have minimum to mild sagging.
Natural decline of estrogen
With less elasticity, the breasts lose firmness and fullness and can develop a stretched and looser appearance. It's not uncommon to change your cup size as you age. Dense breast tissue is replaced by fatty tissue as the aging process continues.
With age, a woman's breasts lose fat, tissue, and mammary glands. Many of these changes are due to the decrease in the body's production of estrogen that occurs at menopause. Without estrogen, the gland tissue shrinks, making the breasts smaller and less full.
"During perimenopause and menopause, there are hormonal fluctuations and eventually a drop in hormones that may cause weight gain," said Dr. Wider. "As a result, some of the weight gain can occur in the breasts, resulting in enlarged breasts."
Better hygiene. Wearing a bra to bed (particularly in warm weather) can lead to a hotter, sweatier night. The accumulation of sweat in your bra can lead to body odor and acne. Help keep your skin clear by avoiding wearing a bra when you sleep.
“You can wear the same bra two days in a row, as long as you take it off for several hours in between to allow the bra to relax,” Dr. Vij says. “But wearing a 'lucky' bra day in and day out will make it lose its shape more quickly.”
T-Shirt Bras
These bras come with seamless and moulded cups, that provide a smooth, invisible look, which makes this bra an ideal choice for everyday wear.
BodyTite is a non-surgical contouring solution that can achieve results that are similar to a breast lift – but without the need for surgery. It is a safe, highly-effective treatment that produces visible, dramatic aesthetic changes.
They Get Bigger
Thanks to the triple whammy of weight gain, swelling from estrogen spiking, and inflammation (which increases in the body in your 40s), you might have a sudden need to go bra shopping.
You can also prepare a mixture of one tablespoon of Aloe Vera, one teaspoon of honey and mayonnaise. Apply it on your breast and leave for 15 minutes before washing it off with cold water. Do this once a week for better results. Aloe Vera helps in skin tightening which will, therefore, ensure your breast stops sagging.
Remember that sagging breasts aren't associated with any significant health problems. Drooping or sagging breasts may just be your natural shape or a sign of natural life events that your body may have been through such as pregnancy, breastfeeding, weight changes and menstruation.