Bras

[teddy24]

Salut, I have been searching for a while now for cotton bras at affordable prices. Local shops are awash with little wispy things with wires but I am not allowed wires or nylon as I am having radiotherapy. At Monday's session the nurse was a little caustic about the bra I was wearing which I find quite comfortable but it is made of polyester. I finally went to the local medical supply shop and was presented with a choice of 2 bras , one at 52E and one at 76E. Lovely things they were too! I have been on line in France and the UK and the UK is definitely better but the postage well..... I would love to hear from anyone who has had better luck than I have. Bye the way does anyone know why only cotton and why no wires? My present bras mostly all have wires but if they did irritate me in any way they would have gone in the bin. Thanks, best wishes to everyone Trisha

[goldenoldie]

Hi there, I am going to hazard a guess about the bras...I am in the middle of my chemo treatment and in my Livret, under the section about clothing, they tell you not to wear anything "tight" ie belts, bras or tight knickers etc. At the moment I am not wearing a bra at all at home, because in the South its too hot, so only wear one when I can manage to get out, but I do find even though I have put an extension on the fastenings that when I take my bra off I have a really good scratch as the skin is itchey. Actually if you are a bit more well endowed than me (fried eggs come to mind!), why not try a sports bra? They are very supportive and do not contain wires AND are usually made of cotton.

The wire thing, I think is because some bras -usually made in the outer confines of our planet, contain nickel which has been banned in jewellery because it can seep through to the skin. The cotton thing is -in my opinion - because its a pure material and does not make you sweat like polyester etc and so is not so irritating. This may not be the truth in practice, but is the theory!

If its any help I always have a buy-up whilst in the UK of bras...cotton and no wires and always end up at M & S!!! You can buy their stuff on-line and they will send to France, as I have already found out.

Hope this helps a bit

[pennycsf]

Hello Teddy
I had radiotherapy in 2007 and was also advised to wear a cotton bra without wires during treatment. I understood at the time that this was because the radiotherapy (after about 10 sessions) does leave you with a sunburn effect and it is best to avoid anything which might irritate the skin - synthetic material and wires being potential irritants. I don't know whether you have had surgery or the extent of it, I had a mastectomy before the radiotherapy so was only able to wear the cotton prosthesis during that time. I bought a cheap sports bra from Decathlon and stuffed a cotton pad inside. Once the radiotherapy was over and my skin had lost its pink look, I wore and still wear mastectomy bras made of all materials and even ones with wires. I think goldenoldie may be right about the wires, wired mastectomy bras did not used to be available but they are now made with a special type of wire - presumably non-irritant.

However, because of the surgery and the risk of lymphoedema, I am careful in my selection of bras to ensure that they are not too tight, have big shoulder straps and any wires are postioned away from the scarring. Having said that, I have found that there is a vast selection of mastectomy bras available and women I know who have had a lumpectomy and some lymph gland removal also use them for the added design comfort and to avoid the potential lymphoedema problem. I don't find them any more expensive than a good bra in M & S and when I tried a cheap range it was not so well designed.

I tend to buy bras made by Amoena which are easy to find in France, but having done a quick search, they do not seem to have a cotton bra in their on-line range. In fact, the only one I can find is made by Anita (another well known range) which is 97% cotton and Triumph do a sports bra which is partly cotton! I do not know how much radiotherapy you will be having, but if you think you will go back to wearing a "normal" bra after that, I would go for for a cheap cotton sports bra.

Hope this helps.

Penny

[teddy24]

many thanks to both of you. After i had sent the message my husband said "why don't you try M&S on line" Why didn't I think of that? Put it down to all the cancer treatment mixing up the brain cells. I have bought 4 and hopefully the infirmiaire will be more approving. I dont think I could go without a bra even in summer as I am more like 1 tennis ball and one ping pong ball now. My husband says it doesn't notice under clothes but I think he is just being a comfort. The main thing is i am still here and treatment is nearly over! Thanks again Trish