Introduction: Breast Sagging, is it a Big Deal?
Every woman wants to remain sexy for her man for life, or
least for the most part of life, and the first cause of concern is her breasts.
Right from the age of puberty, she begins to pay close attention to them; are
they the right size, are they perky enough, are they attractive? Then, as she
ages, changes begin to occur to them and her worries increase. It is not
surprising that plastic surgeons are the richest doctors in the world today,
and the majority of their income comes from eliminating these concerns for women.
The question is, do men really care? The ideal answer is yes. The bust is
usually the first part to arouse a man, not even the face, and media propaganda
has embedded in the psyche of most men what an ideal woman should look like
with photoshopped pictures of celebrities and models. In reality, however, the
fever usually dies after the man has tested the waters. There is more to
keeping your man happy than just the perkiness of your breasts. The man that
will cheat on you will do so even if your breasts were pointing to heaven, but
what will make him come back on his knees is how you make him feel both during
the match and off the ball. That said, it is very important to look as sexy as
possible for your man.
Composition and Natural Cycle
Your breasts usually start developing at around the age of
12, though it may be a little earlier or later in others. They have no muscles
and are composed mainly of glandular tissues, fat, (Cooper’s) ligaments and
milk ducts. A lot of factors affect your breasts ranging from age, to
pregnancy, to your menstrual cycle and your lifestyle as we will be seeing as
our discussion progresses.
Are Your Breasts Really Sagging?
As I have alluded to in my intro, the conclusion that your
breasts are sagging is usually defective because it is based on assumptions of
what you see in the media. You cannot compare the natural breasts of a 40 year
old to that of a 16 year old. Plastic surgeons have tried to make the
assessment as objective as possible by comparing the position of your nipples
to the infra-mammary fold. So, let your doctor decide whether your breasts are
sagging or not. The majority of women who think their breasts are sagging actually have normal breasts.
What Causes Sagging?
Sagging of the breasts, that we call ptosis in medical
parlance, is a natural and mostly, an inevitable phenomenon. What doctors try to do
is to preserve the status quo for as long as possible. Factors responsible are:
Age
Naturally. The more you age, the more the cells in your
body age with you and lose their regenerative ability. More so, the body
naturally begins to shut down faculties that are not no longer essential for self-preservation
again.
Smoking
Many studies have rated smoking very high among the
causes of ptosis. The reason for this is that smoking destroys elastin, which
is essential for the Cooper’s ligaments to maintain their natural recoil and
keep your breasts firm.
Pregnancy
Because of the hormonal changes that occur during
pregnancy, and the effect of these hormones on the breasts, they progressively
fall with each successive pregnancy. One thing I have to commend celebrities
for is the fact that they have proven to our women that you can have the number
of children you want to have and still maintain your assets in as close to
natural beauty as possible.
Menopause
Closely related to aging discussed above. Some
organs naturally start to atrophy when menopause commences.
Breastfeeding
Many of you would have expected to see this
on the top of the list, but, ironically, it has actually been found not to
contribute to sagging if done properly. When you breastfeed your baby for at
least 2 years, with gradual weaning, your body gradually replaces the atrophying
glandular tissues with adipose tissue, so at the end of the weaning period, you
are an omoge again.
Rapid weight loss
When you rapidly lose about 23kg over a short period of time, not your breasts alone, but your whole body will
look wrinkled and worn. You will have to tone up with protein-rich diet and
exercise.
Poor diet
They say rich men’s children always look
attractive. It’s not just cream. It’s mainly the diet, and you do not have to
be rich to achieve a glowing firm skin packaging your asset. Just make sure that
you eat a balanced diet. A eats apples, B eats oranges, both eat fruits (abi?).
Use of bras
Yes, you read that right. Except you are a
sports person whose breasts move excessively during sports, or you have
exceptionally large breast, you should try as much as possible to free your
breasts. If not when you are going out, at least when you are at home.
Tips That Help/Prevention
I do not want to call this part the cure, because this is
not a disease per se. The worry is mainly for aesthetic reasons.
You can take the very rapid solution, the rapid solution, or
the slow solution.
The very rapid solution is to see a plastic surgeon for a Mastopexy
or an augmentation surgery. Just remember that these solutions have to be repeated
at regular intervals because the breasts will fall again over time.
The rapid solution is to use specially formulated
creams, lotions and supplements to
strengthen the ligaments and improve the elasticity of the overlying skin and
probably reverse oxidative changes that may have taken place. There are a number of these products in the markets with varying user satisfaction based on what you can afford.
The slow solution is not really slow, but makes my
categorization easy. I also like to call them the natural methods. They include:
1 Exercise and good posture: Remember we said that
the breast tissue has no muscles, so strenuous exercise may not assist in
restoring their texture or preventing their fall. Exercise and good posture
will assist the supporting muscles to stretch out the skin overlying your
breasts and give them a firmer appearance. Also, the ligaments respond, albeit
slowly, to regular mild exercise. So stretch out those shoulder and chest
muscles and comport yourself both in the office or while walking around in a
good posture.
2.
Complete breastfeeding: As pointed out above, it
is advised to breastfeed your baby for at least 2 years, maybe a little more,
maybe a little less. Some have advocated for 3-4 years (not in Naija right?).
This allows your breast tissue to naturally revert to its pre-pregnancy state.
Rapid stopping of breastfeeding will invariably contribute immensely to ptosis.
3.
Go braless for most, if not all day. The gentle
up and down movement of your breasts have been found to be an adequate exercise
for them. When you make them fixed and motionless, they lose their elasticity
due to disuse. If you have big breast, you may wear bras as they may not
entirely prevent movement of the breasts, but the experts are still arguing
even this out. As a sportswoman, you definitely need to wear sports bras.
4.
Nutrition: Drink a lot of water and eat more of
whole foods. Fresh fruits and vegetables are advisable. Your cells are composed
mostly of water and the regenerative capacity of the cells depends mainly on
the availability of nutrients they need for synthesis.
5.
Aloe vera: You can harvest aloe vera gel or buy
from trusted companies. Massage this gently onto your breasts for about 10
minutes, leave it on for another ten minutes and wash off with cold water. For best
results, do this 4-5 times a week.
You can also make a paste consisting of a spoonful each of aloe vera gel, mayonnaise and honey and apply to your breasts. Wash off
after 15 minutes. This should be effective when done once a week.
6.
Olive oil: Pour this on your palms and rub them
together until you feel some warmth, then gently massage your breasts upwards
with them 3- 4 times a week. You can also use jojoba oil or coconut oil.
7.
Cucumber: Blend a mixture of a small cucumber, 1
egg, and 1 teaspoonful of Sheabutter (ori, man kadai). Apply this to your
breasts for 30 minutes and wash off with cold water. Do this twice a week for
best results.
Conclusion
There’s always much ado about a woman’s breasts. This is
because they are easily the most noticeable part of her. If a man wants to describe a woman, her face, bust and derriere are usually the parameters he uses. So it really is a big deal for guys. But it gets to
a stage when he accepts that the southward migration is part of the package. He
just has to realize that if he wants one that will never fall, then he should
prepare to keep searching for life. He can, however, assist in maintaining the
one he has. And please, ladies, there is no study that shows that too much
fondling contributes to sagging of breasts, in fact, that may actually reduce your
risks for breast cancer as some have suggested. The care you give to any part of your body
determines how it flourishes. So pay more attention to your breasts and
whenever you notice anything suspicious, never postpone seeing your doctor.
