15 Struggles Only Chesty Women Will Understand

Many women think that if you are someone that naturally has a large chest, you are pretty lucky. A large sized chest seems to be a coveted physical asset. It is perceived to be “sexier” in some cultures, a lot of this is due to the influence of media. There are long standing theories that men prefer women with larger breasts and a high hip-to-waist ratio because they were perceived as more fertile and more youthful, which were desired traits in a mate.

The average cup size in America is now 34DD, up from 34B twenty years ago. But there are several struggles that someone with a bigger chest faces daily. As someone who used to have decent sized boobs, I've gone through a couple of these items on this list, namely the one about sports bras. Sometimes it's nice to have a curvy body. Sometimes the thought of going out in public and having to don a big metal and cloth contraption to hold everything up before you leave makes you want to stay in for the entire weekend with your softest t-shirts and your Netflix queue. If you are someone who has a smaller chest size, there are a few things you may take for granted that bustier women struggle with.

15 Bras Are More Expensive

I just learned this and I was a little shocked: did you know that bigger sizes of bras at Victoria's Secret cost more, simply because they are a bigger size? This seems wrong to me that just because you have a bigger bust, you have to pay more than someone buying the same product who is smaller than you. I'm pointing out Victoria's Secret as an example because 1. I just messed around with fake-ordering different sizes on their site and the price does go up when you choose the biggest size, and 2. my friend who has a big chest has told me several stories where she's gone in to see if the stores carry her size and seeing a marked difference from the prices on smaller bras in the same style (the website seems to only go up to 38DDD which is frustrating if you are a different cup or band size). If the average chest size in America is 34DD you would think all clothing stores would offer a variety of sizes if increasing breast size becomes a trend. Although it's not like there aren't bigger bra sizes available anywhere on earth, it seems unfair that these are priced higher just because of the size of your chest.

14 Wardrobe Malfunctions

Although once in a blue moon we all have a wardrobe malfunction where we inadvertently flash someone, it's more common for this to happen to bustier women. First off, if you are wearing a bikini, probably at least once per summer you are guaranteed to pop out of it. Cute bikinis that support and cover bigger chests are hard enough to find as it is, but bathing suits by nature are somewhat flimsy and some flashing is probably going to happen if you are wearing one. The buttons on your shirts often pop open because of the stretching of the shirt in the boob area. This can be particularly embarrassing if it happens at an inopportune time, like at work. Every single time you bend over, everyone can see down your shirt into your cleavage. Underboob sweat-need I say more? And although it's not so much a wardrobe malfunction per se, if you are eating and food happens to fall down into your shirt and between your boobs, having to do an excavation into your shirt and bra is not always the most comfortable thing.

13 Pregnancy Scares You

If you are someone with a bigger sized chest and you like everything how it is currently, pregnancy could be a scary thought. It is normal for breasts to grow even bigger during pregnancy. Boobs can go up a cup size or two, and some women can even gain over one and a half pounds in each breast during this time. While this might sound like fun times for flatter women, lugging more weight around up top may scare bustier women. Although sometimes you will go back to your normal size after pregnancy, some women actually stay larger or even notice sagging. This could be a bit of a downer if you need to go out and buy more bras to fit the new size. This is among those struggles that bustier women face that may not always cross the minds of women with a smaller chest size.

12 Back Aches

I remember reading an article about Soleil Moon Frye when I was younger (“Punky Brewster” for those of who remember the show!) and how she had to get breast reduction surgery for many reasons, one of them being the back and shoulder pain she constantly had. Big boobs did not sound like something fun I wanted to have later in life when I saw that. Back pain does not always come from having bigger breasts but they can be the reason for it in certain cases, especially when someone with a smaller frame has a disproportionately sized chest or if you just got implant surgery. Uncomfortable bra straps are also a culprit when they cut into the shoulder area, and if your bra is not the correct size, this definitely does not help in this area. This is just another struggle that bustier women face as compared to others who are a big smaller chested.

11 Sleeping On Your Stomach or Side

For flatter chested women, this is probably something you've never even thought about. But for bigger busts, it's a pain. It's a lot harder to get comfortable when sleeping. Stomach sleeping is hard because you are basically smushing your boobs against a flat surface. Mattresses have give, but not usually enough to make this the most comfortable sleeping position. Side sleeping is not always a barrel of laughs either. The breasts squish together when you are on your side, or they can slip under your arms and get in the way, or even cause back pain in this position which can make you wish you could remove them like an item of clothing at night, hang them up somewhere and put them back on in the morning. I found using a pillow when sleeping on my side helped, but I have read of people sleeping in stretchier sports bras or tank tops with an inner shelf to keep everything contained can also make things more comfortable at night.

10 Strapless is Hard to Pull Off

It's harder to wear a strapless shirt when you are busty for a couple of reasons. One is that it is strapless. So if you wear a bra, you can see the straps of the bra. This obviously defeats the purpose of wearing the strapless shirt, unless you are going with that choice because you want the bra straps to show. And then without the bra, some sagging will be evident even if you do get a strapless shirt with an invisible bra shelf built in to offer some support. There's always the possibility that you can pop right out of the top of the strapless shirt or dress as well, as there isn't much holding you down. And another reason: muffin top. If you haven't heard this term, wikipedia describes it as “a slang term typically used to describe a man or woman's skin or body fat that is visible above the waistline of pants or skirts because of tight clothing. The term is a reference to the way a muffin appears when it has been baked in a muffin tin, in which the top of a muffin is wider than its paper casing.” This can also happen around the top of the strapless shirt, especially if it is very tight. It just makes this fashion choice harder for bustier women.

9 The Rollercoaster Safety Bar Won't Lock

For those of you who have been on rollercoasters and other rides that flip you around, you know that they have those restraint bars that really lock you into the seats. Those things clamp down pretty tight and really aren't that comfortable. Well, for bigger chested women, this could be a real issue. A recent story describes the ordeal of Tanya Willis who went to an amusement park in the UK with her family. She was kicked off two different rollercoasters because her breasts were too big to fit under the restraints for each ride. According to an article by news.com.au, she had to do a “walk of shame” past everyone waiting for the ride after she was kicked off because the restraints wouldn't lock into place and therefore the ride wouldn't start. It's probably something most people don't think about but I'm sure this happens more times than we actually hear.

8 It's Difficult to Go Braless

I know there are people out there who love coming home from a long day and putting on sweats and taking off that bra. It's so freaking comfortable. Bras are, for the most part, not so comfortable. I mean, there's metal in them. Not all bras, but the ones that do the best job of holding up bigger sized chests usually have wire in them. It's one thing to be at home alone and letting the girls hang out, but going braless in public is more of a struggle when you have big boobs. It's easy for models to fit into clothing without bras, they are models and are for most part, flat chested. It's harder to wear those same shirts without a bra with bigger boobs because it's more obvious you aren't wearing one, so it's harder to do this in public without people staring (unless that is what you are going for). Most people are used to where the breasts sit when wearing a bra, so if you are sagging under your shirt, it could cause a different kind of shape than normal (again, more possible staring. But bonus: probably more comfortable). And of course, there's going to be a lot more movement when you aren't wearing a bra, which will just interfere with whatever you are doing, even if you are simply just walking somewhere.

7 You Can't Wear Backless Clothing or Plunging Necklines

It's not impossible to wear backless stuff with a bra. Personally, I like using the bra as part of the outfit when it shows through a shredded shirt or something with a low cut back. If you have some funky straps or really bright colors, it looks cool to me whether intentional or not. I'm pretty sure that the shirt above was not created by the designer to have someone ruin the symmetry of the back with your run of the mill horizontal bra strap. But maybe some of the women with bigger cup sizes think that shirt is pretty too and want to buy it! What can you do? I know there are options that are not every day uses, like the special bras made for low cut red carpet dresses or the stick on cups, but it's not like these are 1. easy to wear 2. cheap or 3. convenient for every day use.

6 Aging+Gravity=Fun Times

Ah gravity, you mean bastard. It's going to get everyone in the end eventually, but bigger busted women are more susceptible to this for a couple of reasons. One: “perkier” breasts imply youthfulness. Sagging breasts suggest “older.” You can thank society in general for that negative view of aging. And it even gets better. Laurie A. Casas, a plastic surgeon and associate professor of surgery at Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine says “as you age, the glands and collagen shrink and are replaced by more and more fat.” This heavier breast tissue makes your boobs more susceptible to gravity and sagging, which is a bummer for already big busts. And it's not like wearing a bra will apparently help any of this, even though it seems this is the logical choice. The newest conclusion about this comes from a 15-year study done by Jean-Denis Rouillon, a sports science expert from the University of Besançon, France. His findings suggest that wearing a bra weakens the muscles holding up the breasts and does nothing to reduce back pain. So, bigger breasted women are really stuck between a rock and a hard place here.

5 Breasts Get In The Way

Breasts are objects with width and depth, and sometimes they just get in the freaking WAY. Sometimes they just block you from moving your arms. I saw someone move their arm in a certain way while dancing that they had to kind of shove one of their breasts with their bicep to let their arm pass by during that couple of seconds. I have heard of several other situations too which, while even though some may sound funny, many are frustrating for bustier women. The chest can get in the way of seatbelts when in the car. Cross body purses are often a problem as they don't lie correctly across the chest. Shooting guns apparently can be an issue with the obstacle of the boobs in the way (maybe this isn't an every day situation for everyone, but still an issue). Lifting and carrying bigger objects can be a problem. And hugging people can sometimes be awkward as your chest will get to them a split second before the rest of you does.

4 Multiple Sports Bras Is a Must

This is the one that really bothered me. I searched far and wide for a sports bra that works. None really do. There was always still bouncing and chafing when I went running. So frustrating! Is it too much to ask for a clothing item that specializes in keeping your moving parts in place to actually do their job? And you can't wear any of those cute spaghetti strappy ones that Kate Hudson is trying to sell because those don't hold anything. I know there are specialty sports bras out there that supposedly take care of this. My husband actually went hunting for a bra for me to make sure my stuff was locked down when I worked out. He found one that, in theory, was great. But because of my proportions, it didn't fit (I'm really really short). Point being, you may never be able to find sports bras that work for you, no matter your height or bust size. My solution (and apparently I'm not the only one who did this) was to wear more than one sports bra at a time. Or, I would cut the back of one, stitch it up so it was super tight, then put the normal looking one over it so at least it looked like I wasn't wearing some Frankenstein-ian outfit to hold everything in. That worked, but it's just a bummer that not every body can fit into an off the rack sports bra.

3 Clothing Doesn't Fit Correctly

If you've ever seen a fashion model (not talking about lingerie models here), you can see that many of them don't have a very big chest size at all. Designers seem to make stuff that looks better on women who are flatter. It's frustrating seeing cute clothes and then putting them on and having them look completely different over your bigger chest. Button down shirts are awful because boobs will make them stretch to create a gap between buttons. And of course then people will stare at that. If you find a cool tshirt with writing or graphics on it, it gets distorted and stretched across the boob area. If you try to buy something that is even minorly low cut, it can leave you showing more than you intended and looking a lot bustier than you wanted to. And if you buy bigger looser clothing to fit over the breasts, it can make you look heavier than you are. It's an endless struggle.

2 People Stare

If you are of the “if you've got it, flaunt it” mindset, I applaud you. You do you. Show off your curves and who cares what people think! But maybe the attention you get is not always desired, and can make you feel self-conscious. Maybe you just want to wear something that makes you feel sexy without everyone, men and women included, staring at your chest area for an uncomfortable amount of time. I love quoting Jerry Seinfeld's book “Sein Language” because I think sometimes he just gets people. When talking about men and women he says: “Men are obsessed with cleavage, women are obsessed with shoes. It's the exact same obsession. It doesn't matter how many times we've seen these things, every time these objects are presented to us, we have to look. We cannot not look. To men, cleavage is like the nearest thing to a UFO landing nearby, that's what it is. To women, buying a pair of shoes that they really love is like boarding the alien ship. I think it's entirely possible that aliens have landed and they haven't been able to get our attention because we're so preoccupied with cleavage and shoes.” Sometimes though, you just might want to go about your day without knowing that people are going to have to take a look.

1 Exercise

Working out is one of the bigger issues bustier women face. Smaller chested women definitely do not face the amount of bounce that bigger chested women face while jogging, doing jumping jacks, or going up and down stairs. It apparently can even make some women self conscious enough to skip workouts altogether. A 2014 study from the University of Portsmouth in the UK found that some women skipped one or more workouts due to a few reasons, one being breast movement. Feeling uncomfortable with the way their chests looked while working out was also one of the factors, and then there was breast pain as a reason. The repetitions of movement during something strenuous like running can stress the muscles and ligaments in the chest area which is never fun. Although there will be less soreness as you get stronger and pain can be lessened by (hopefully) finding a good sports bra and some post-workout ibuprofen, exercise is always a bigger struggle for bustier women.

Articles: news.com.au, medicalnewstoday.com