You've probably noticed it too: There are joggers who come along with rather shaky breasts - even those who don't have an excessive chest girth. I always think: Why don't they buy a decent sports bra? But finding the perfect-fitting sports bra is apparently not so easy, as the British Journal of Sports Medicine now reports.

A team led by Dr. Nicola Brown of St. Mary's University School of Sport in London had 1397 female starters at the London Marathon fill out a questionnaire. The researchers wanted to find out if and how many women's breasts hurt while running, what the reasons were, and how this unpleasant side effect could be circumvented.

Result:

• 32 percent of the marathon women surveyed, or nearly one in three, feel pain in their breasts while running (some occasionally, some often).
• Most often affected are women with large breasts (51 percent), but women with Cup A and less also know the problem (24 percent). According to the medical team, this shows that not only full-breasted women are affected. Marathon runners, for example, in whom hardly any breasts are visible as a result of years of intensive training, can also be affected.
• Women who have not had children are affected more often (35 percent) than mothers (28 percent).
• Age does not play a role in this pain.
• 17 percent of the affected women have already reduced their training distance or running speed because of this. 25 percent have even skipped training altogether.
• 91 percent of those affected wear an ordinary sports bra. 44 percent of them do nothing else to combat the symptoms. 21 percent wear a special sports bra. 15 percent take painkillers. 14 percent hold their breasts with their hands while running.

The bra range is too small

The pain could be caused by the monthly cycle. In most cases, however, the ill-fitting sports bra is the reason. The medical team concludes from the data collected that the range of sports bras on the market is far from meeting the needs of female runners. Measurements of breast circumference and underbust girth - the two most important specifications for a well-fitting bra - revealed 56 different bra sizes among the 1397 marathon women.

Women know it's already difficult to find the perfect-fitting everyday bra. But there's significantly more choice there than with sports bras, says Dr. Nicola Brown. "Manufacturers should do more to help women maintain an active and healthy lifestyle, no matter what size they need." Some women don't exercise at all, she says, because the right bra doesn't exist.

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