While still controversial and challenged by some traditional medical authorities, there is a growing body of scientific and anecdotal evidence showing that wearing a bra may contribute to breast disease, including cancer.

Dr. Sydney Singer and his wife Dr. Soma Grismaijer studied 4,500 women in 5 cities across the U.S. and their habits in purchasing and wearing bras.

Three out of four women who wore their bras 24 hours per day developed breast cancer.
One out of seven women who wore bras more than 12 hour per day but not to bed developed breast cancer.
One out of 152 women who wore their bras less than 12 hours per day got breast cancer.

One out of 168 women who wore bras rarely or never acquired breast cancer.
The experts counsel women to go braless whenever possible, certainly when at home and always while in bed.

One individual conducted an experiment to measure the force of bra straps on the lymphatic system, which is close to the surface of the skin. He found that the pressure exceeded the internal pressure of the lymphatic system, almost certainly compromising lymphatic flow.

Experts who have studied this issue closely counsel women to go braless whenever possible, certainly when at home and always while in bed.

Pretty much every year, a magazine, newspaper or TV news show will do the "you're probably wearing the wrong bra size" story. Women shop, all is solved. But! A newsflash from the UK: Wearing the wrong bra could damage your breasts, researchers say. A smattering of articles are using scare tactics about a new study: Scientists at the University of Portsmouth claim that wearing the wrong type of bra can lead to ligaments becoming irreparably stretched. Up to 95% of women are thought to be at risk — because "they are ignorant or embarrassed about their true bra size."

The head of this study, Dr. Joanna Scurr, tested 50 bra designs on hundreds of women over the last three years. She believes the speed at which breasts move could be the key to preventing breast pain (duh). The Daily Mail has pictures of the high-tech testing process: A woman in a sports bra on a treadmill is hooked up to a computer; a chart shows body movement and nipple movement. But what's not in any of these articles is why a woman should care about damaged breasts.

I'm no bra-burner. Lord knows I need all the support I can get. And certainly for sports and exercise, it feels better when the girls don't bounce around. But for eons, women lived without bras. (Without shirts, even.) Nipples hung down because that's what they're supposed to do. They're for spawn, not for pointing into the air in Playboy pictorials. But seriously: Besides discomfort from not wearing the right size bra — in which case you don't need a study, you just need a shopping trip — what is the "damage" we're supposed to get worked up about? Sagginess? Is drooping a medical condition now? (Oh, right, there is a surgical procedure for it, so it must be!)

Clearly, it's important to wear the right size. But it's confusing why Dr. Joanna Scurr doesn't elaborate on the "damage" caused and whether the effects have an impact on womens' health. We may not want our boobs to be "stretched," but is the consequence purely cosmetic?