Friday, April 03, 2015

Anatomical Determinants of Breast Shape

Being confused by the gravity defying shape certain female breasts have by nature, I resolved to discover what factors produce the said gravity-defying shape. I knew that if breasts were composed of fat alone, they would not be able to defy gravity, by for example, protruding parallel to the ground for long distances.

My research discoveries: 

Breasts are shaped by a combination of: fat, fat-placement (seems the sources claiming this don't understand what they mean by fat-placement), glandular tissue, skin, & ligaments.

The fat level in breast is effected by the fat level of the body. The size of the glandular tissue is effected by hormones, pregnancy, age and menopause. The glandular tissue is heavier than fat, and retains shape contrary to gravity  unlike fat. The skin varies in terms of its elasticity. The ligaments in a breast are not equal to each other in tensile strength. The strength of the ligaments varies depending upon the individual or the phase of life in given individual.

Some breasts are "dense", a high percentage of their volume is composed of glandular lobes & ligaments. Other breasts are "low density" breasts, a high percentage of their content is fat. X-rays show that breasts vary from around 10-90% fat. The extent to which a breast is composed of fat/glandular-tissue/ligaments varies and so therefore, the extent to which any of these elements is responsible for the shape of the breast varies also.

I was surprised at how difficult it was to find information re the volume, mass, shape, percent of total breast volume taken up by the glandular lobes in the breast.

Astley Cooper in 1840 discovered ligament-like structures called "Cooper's Ligaments",  which run from the chest-wall into the breast. There is continuing controversy re whether the condition of these "Cooper's Ligaments" effects the shape of the breast. A noted surgeon, "Dr Christine Haycock", since at least 1993, has been astonishing the breast-world (since 1840 Cooper's Ligaments have been also called 'suspensory ligaments') by proclaiming that women do not change their breast-shape by wearing bras because breast-sag has nothing to do with the condition of the "Cooper's Ligament" suspension-system.

However Haycock's opinion has been contradicted by MDs and others. Women have testified that what they perceive to be breast-ligament-like- structures have been stretched, are in pain, & are responsible for the sagging of their breasts.

In 1998 Austrian surgeon Dr Elizabeth Wurzinger found breast ligaments which formed the shape of the breasts, like a "hammock". These ligaments are not the same as those discovered by Cooper and named after Cooper since 1840. Wuringer and others such as Surgeon Petrus van Devanter of South Africa declare that these new, what I call "Wuringer Ligaments" have much more impact on the shape of the breasts compared to the "Cooper's ligaments".  The Wuringer ligaments hold the breast the way a bra made of wire alone, with circular hole for the nipple, would hold the breast.

Devanter now (year 2015) proclaims that using internal mesh that mimics the newly discovered ligaments, produces superior breast-lift results compared to the general current practice which he describes as still, simply removing skin to tighten the skin envelope, which, according to Devanter, fails because the new smaller skin envelope soon stretches.

Internet research I did was impaired due to writers (surgeons, MDs & others):  contradicting themselves on the same page; saying one thing on one website, the opposite on another website; the use of unqualified generalizations in statements, implying that certain facts are always true with all women, when in reality they are sometimes true with some women; terminological carelessness (i.e., ignoring that although "Ligamenta Suspensoria Mammaria" = Cooper's ligaments, there are breast ligaments that are not specifically "Cooper's ligaments"); brainless copying of text containing such errors.

Conclusion

I recommend that if women wish to maintain the attractiveness of their breasts, and give their breasts the appearance that they naturally have in their prime, they should resort to the wearing of bras that mimic the structure of the Wuringer & to a lesser extent the Cooper ligaments (it would be interesting to see how a Wurzinger bra would differ from a Cooper bra).  The longitudinal flexibility, axial flexibility, size, and shape of the wire or wire-like material used should resemble that of the actual ligaments in their prime.

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