This is why your boobs WILL sag – and the simple things you can do to keep them perky
YOU may think it only happens to the big breasted among us.
But the sad fact of the matter is saggy boobs affect ALL women.
Pregnancy, losing a bit of weight, and just plain old age will do it.
But they aren't the only things in danger of sending your perky pair south.
It turns out there's a whole host of factors that are just waiting to drag your boobs down.
The reality is the humble breast is made up of both fatty tissue and glands, all sitting pride of place over the pectoral muscles.
While the quantity of fatty tissue determines the size of a gal's chest, it's the connective tissue and ligaments - known as the Cooper's ligaments - that gives boobs their shape.
And it's the glandular tissue that produces milk when women are breastfeeding.
As much as we might want to defy the laws of gravity, eventually all boobs will start to sag.
How saggy your breasts are is all measured from your nipples... when they start pointing towards the floor alarm bells should be ringing.
But, fear not! There are things you can do to slow the sag and keep your chest looking youthful.
Douglas McGeorge, a plastic surgeon and spokesman for the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons, said lifestyle changes like pregnancy, smoking, weight loss or weight gain and the size of the breasts can speed up the process.
He told The Sun Online: "The bottom line is gravity – everything stretches under the influence of gravity.
"And the more you expose something to gravity the more it will stretch.
"Large breasts fall further south than small breasts and people with thin skin and thin tissue are pulled further south than people with more resilience in the tissue."
Here are the main reasons your boobs will sag and how you can keep them perky...
1. Ageing
The problem
OK, so you can't turn back time however much you long for your early 20s again.
Breasts contain no muscles, so as you get older the connective tissue ligaments tend to stretch under the weight of the fatty tissue they have been carrying for years.
As the ligaments lose elasticity your boobs may lose their fullness and perkiness.
"The longer you expose anything to a force, like gravity, the more impact that force will have," said Douglas.
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"As we get older our skin becomes less elastic and thins, so gravity has an easier time pulling us down.
"That stretching process tends to accelerate as we get older."
...and the solution
Luckily, wearing a good fitting bra will help support your breasts and prevent your ligaments from stretching as much over time.
But that's not going to reverse any signs of sagging you may already have - you need to wear a good fitting bra your whole life to help support the twins.
A good fitting bra should support you weightlessly, fit comfortable under your boobs without pinching or pulling, the underwire should go right around the contour of your breasts while sitting flat against your chest and the whole boob should fit perfectly into the cup.
Another way you can ensure your girls stay standing to attention for longer is to lift weights.
Although they contain no muscles they are located directly on top of the pectoral muscles and keeping them strong and in shape can help support the fatty tissue of the breast.
It's not be a permanent solution but it can delay the full force of gravity.
2. Weight loss or weight gain
The problem
Both weight loss and weight gain affects the fatty tissue of the breasts.
When you gain weight the fatty tissue in your breast expands with your waistline.
That makes your boobs heavier and your connective tissue and ligaments struggle under the pressure, so your boobs become saggier.
Then when you lose that weight the amount of fatty tissue in your breasts also shrinks, but it doesn't undo the damage the excess weight caused to your supportive ligaments.
Either way, your boobs will start to droop.
Douglas said: "If you gain weight many people’s breasts will get bigger, it's like overstretching the envelope.
"Then when you lose weight and your breasts empty again the envelope deflates and it sags.
"It’s like when you blow up a balloon and then you let the air out of the balloon and it looks a bit wrinkled afterwards and deflates."
... and the solution
But you can lessen the impact of weight loss on your boobs.
Dropping those dress sizes gradually rather than rapidly will ease the pressure on the connective ligaments and give them time to adjust to holding up your changing shapes.
And, as discussed above, coupling weight loss with weight lifting to strengthen the pectoral muscles can also help keep your perk.
3. Hormone changes
The problem
This is more common in pregnant women or those going through the menopause.
And the main culprit is the female sex hormone oestrogen.
In pregnancy, oestrogen is responsible for preparing the breasts for breastfeeding.
So your boobs will swell ready to produce milk, which is stimulated by another hormone called prolactin.
"The glandular tissue is affected by hormone changes," said Douglas.
"Pregnancy makes breast get bigger, but then afterwards the skin envelop doesn’t always shrink back around it and it elongates and you end up with a saggy breast."
But after pregnancy your body will no longer be preparing for breastfeeding and your breasts will begin to shrink.
A similar thing happens when you go through the menopause, except this time your oestrogen levels begin to drop until disappearing completely.
Oestrogen is one of the hormones responsible for a woman's menstrual cycle.
When oestrogen levels in the body drop, the skin and connective tissue of the breast become less hydrated - meaning they lose their elasticity.
Once that happens boobs lose their firmness and fullness and become saggy.
The glandular tissue and connective tissue is also replaced with more fatty tissue, which also changes the shape of the breasts.
Douglas added: "You are taking away the hormonal stimulus for your breasts so they can empty afterwards, but not always.
"But anything that causes breast to get smaller can leave them droopier."
... and the solution
Bad news, there's very little you can do to combat changes in pregnancy hormones.
For those going through the menopause, hormone replacement therapy (HRT) is an option, but has been linked to other health problems including blood clots and breast cancer.
4. Smoking
The problem
It's not entirely known why smoking makes your boobs droop, but it does.
Fags are thought to alter the collagen levels in your body.
Collagen is a naturally occurring protein in the body that gives your skin strength and elasticity.
So, needless to say, if your skin loses its strength and elasticity its not going to be able to keep your boobs tight and perky.
Douglas said: "There is no doubt that smoking damages skin and you lose elastic tissue.
"Smoking damages the dermis of the skin, so you lose elasticity in the dermis.
"If you lose the elastic tissue you have skin that has less tone in it and is therefore more influenced by gravity."
It also ages the skin by decreasing the blood supply to the skin surface.
Your boobs will not only be saggy, they will look old.
...and the solution
QUIT SMOKING - asap! Not only will it ensure you have perkier boobs, but it will lower your risk of two major killers, heart disease and cancer.
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