Can Antiperspirant Cause Breast Cancer? I Need to Replace My Bra How Often?
Reading Time: 5 minutesSeven myths about boobs, debunked., Boob myths: Antiperspirant causes breast cancer? Yearly bra replacements? Here’s the truth.
Boobs are back. Also, they never went away. This is part of Boobs Week—read the whole thing here.
We live in a world full of breasts, and yet—and yet!—there are so many misconceptions about how to care for them. Let’s talk about some of the big ones.
Finding a lump in your breast is scary, but it doesn’t automatically mean there’s something wrong, says Jeffrey Tice, a physician at University of California, San Francisco, who studies risk-assessment tools for breast cancer. In fact, many lumps (particularly in young people) are cysts or benign tumors.
It’s still important to get new lumps evaluated right away. But try not to panic until you can get more information, Tice says. Of the women who are called back after an initial abnormal mammogram, only about 5 percent will wind up with a cancer diagnosis. Of the women who get a biopsy, that number is still just around 25 percent.
Also: A cancerous growth is usually painless. So if you find that something hurts, that’s no fun … but it probably isn’t cancer. Yes, get it checked out by a doctor, but more likely it’s a cyst, inflamed tissue from breastfeeding, or the result of a poorly-fitting bra (more on the bras later).
If your primary care physician still asks you about your breast self-exams, like mine does, you might be surprised to learn, like I was, that the American Cancer Society does not recommend self-exams (with the exception of folks with family history or increased risk)—and has not recommended them since 2009. That’s because research suggests that self-exams lead to unnecessary imaging and increased patient anxiety, without the added benefit of finding cancer more frequently. (Interestingly, there’s also a lack of evidence that clinical breast exams—like the ones your primary care provider or OB-GYN give you—improve patient outcomes, so the American Cancer Society doesn’t recommend those either, though the National Comprehensive Cancer Network does. Definitely get mammograms, though!)
You should be familiar with the feel of your breasts, and generally keep an eye out for lumps. One study found that a whopping 71 percent of breast cancer cases in patients under 50 were found by the woman—but usually during everyday activities, not self-exams.
‘What I always tell patients is that if you have a mass, you will typically find it when you’re showering, changing, the intimate things like that,’ says Anna Weiss, who leads the breast cancer team at the University of Rochester Wilmot Cancer Institute. ‘You don’t have to do this, like: I’m gonna sit in the shower and examine every inch of my breasts.’
In conclusion: If breast self-exams make you feel better, they’re not harmful. But if they make you anxious, now you have a reason to not do them.
Proponents of this pervasive myth make a few different (equally false) claims: that potentially harmful ingredients in some deodorants and antiperspirants can mimic estrogen and promote breast cancer growth; that antiperspirants block the sweat that would otherwise remove cancer-causing toxins; that studies have shown an association between people wearing aluminum deodorant and those with breast cancer.
But research doesn’t really confirm any of this—in fact, there’s no evidence to suggest that aluminum antiperspirant causes breast cancer. The studies that hinted at an association are small, and other studies have failed to find any connection. ‘What I tell people is that these studies are correlative, not causative,’ says Weiss. A lot of people wear aluminum antiperspirant and a lot of people get breast cancer—so it’s easy to find some crossover between the two. The only reason to switch to natural deodorant is if you prefer how it feels.
The concern here is that underwire puts pressure on the lymphatic system, reducing lymph flow and promoting cancer growth. But this is just a rumor that won’t go away, Tice says. If your underwire bra is causing you pain, worry instead about finding a bra that fits better. Similarly, the idea that putting your cellphone in your bra could increase your risk of breast cancer—once touted by Dr. Oz —has been ‘totally debunked,’ he adds.
When young women without a family history get breast cancer, that can leave people looking for a reason—any reason. But many cases of breast cancer are sporadic. ‘It means almost nothing that these women didn’t have a family history or other evidence of a genetic predisposition,’ surgical oncologist David Gorski has pointed out.
So, no need to switch out your favorite bra or stop using it as an extra pocket. But there are other things you can do to lower your risk, such as exercising, eating healthy, and not smoking. Note that while naturally bigger breasts don’t mean you’re more likely to develop breast cancer, obesity is linked to a higher risk of cancer. ‘There’s a tremendous amount of data now suggesting that you really can reduce your risk of breast cancer by losing weight,’ says Tice.
Speaking of bigger breasts, many people assume—incorrectly—that they must hold more milk. In reality, breast size is mostly determined by the amount of fatty tissue in the breast, while it’s the glandular tissue that produces milk. The amount of milk available is actually related to the demand for it; for example, ‘if a woman has twins, her breasts make more milk,’ Tice says.
There’s also a misconception that a bigger bust is a sign of enhanced fertility. Not true: There’s no evidence to suggest that breast size is correlated with reproductive hormone markers.
It’s the stat that never dies, floating around Victoria’s Secret fitting rooms and even scientific articles. But that 80 percent stat is at best a guesstimate, according to a New York Times article. It traces back to plastic surgeon Edward Pechter, who, in 1998, based the number on anecdotal evidence from fitting guides and journals.
That being said, tons of bra-wearers probably are wearing the wrong size. Source DuMal, a bra fitter who worked at Victoria’s Secret for years and now runs a boutique in Chicago, estimates the number to be closer to 50 percent. She sees fit as a problem especially with bigger-breasted women, who have fewer options in department stores.
‘Once you are outside of the A through DDD cup sizes, then there’s the scary unknown,’ DuMal says. ‘And if you don’t have somebody that knows how to navigate that scary unknown, folks don’t know what to do.’ She sees a lot of customers wearing too-small cups and too-large bands, squeezing into a 36B when they’re actually a 30GG.
Bra fitting is hard, but there are experts who can help. ‘There’s no such thing as an impossible body,’ DuMal says. ‘We just need to find the right shape for you.’
The truth about this oft–cited timeframe is that it depends on your bra hygiene habits (and you are certainly not alone if you go … much longer than that). ‘Some women, they have their workhorse bra, and that is the bra that they wear every single day,’ says DuMal. After six months to a year of wearing the same bra every day, you might start to notice the straps loosening, needing to hook farther in on the band, or your breasts spilling out of the cups—all signs that the bra isn’t working to give you the support you need.
When those things happen, ‘it’s time to let it go,’ DuMal says. ‘We give it the Viking funeral it deserves, because it has been literally fighting for its life to give you some semblance of support.’ The timeframe isn’t what to look out for so much as how well the bra is actually doing its job.
Putting bras in rotation increases their longevity. DuMal rotates through eight or nine bras at a time, and they last many years. Even if you don’t rotate that many bras, she suggests at least not wearing the same bra two days in a row in order to give the elastic band time to relax and reshape. Handwashing helps underwire bras last longer, too.
There’s another thing to ask yourself when you’re considering how well your bras are holding up: Has my body changed? Breasts change size all the time for all sorts of reasons. Your bra that worked last year might not fit your new body, and it might just be time for a new fitting.
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