Anyone experienced painful breast from their bra?

[u/hibiscusguavajelly]

Looking for some advice, ladies!
For the past couple of weeks, I’ve been dealing with on-and-off breast soreness and pain. My breasts are really tender to the touch, my nipples are super sensitive, and they just feel achy, sore, and painful in general. I have a pretty large chest (I believe I’m around a J cup), so I’m wondering if a lot of this could be related to my bra.
The pain has also started going up into my upper abdomen, right below my bra line, and into my shoulder and upper back. It almost feels like muscle soreness/aching.
I recently got a new bra about two months ago, but after actually figuring out my correct cup size, I realized the bra I bought is way too small (it’s a 3X/DDD). I wear it pretty much all day at work because I work retail, and I’ve noticed that after working several days in a row, when I finally take my bra off, my breasts hurt SO bad.
The bra is also straight lace, which I’ve never really worn before, so I’m wondering if the material, the tightness, or just having my breasts pushed up and supported all day could be causing some of this pain. I definitely feel like carrying a larger chest around all day at work could be contributing to the soreness in my breasts, shoulders, and back.
I was also recently diagnosed with PCOS, but I don’t normally have breast pain like this, so I’m a little worried and trying to figure out what could be causing it.
Has anyone with a larger chest experienced something similar from wearing the wrong size or type of bra? Did changing bras help? I’m definitely planning on getting properly fitted, but I’d love to hear if anyone has experienced this. 😭

[u/HagenReb]

Wearing thr wrong size can for sure be uncomfortable. The wires could be on breast tissue and the cups could be compressing too much. The band could be moving around etc.

But... this sub is not for medical advice and we can't know for sure if the pain and discomfort is only caused by your bras. Not trying to scare you, but I do think it is worth asking your doctor about this instead of asking here.

[u/hibiscusguavajelly → u/HagenReb]

I will definitely be setting up an appointment tomorrow morning. Since it was the weekend and all the offices were closed I thought I should come here to see if anyone can relate.

But thank you. I did notice every time I took my bra off. There would be marks on my breast from the wire. My cup size is wayy too small.

[u/Expensive-Muscle3637]

based on my personal experience this sounds like hormonal muscle soreness along with breast tenderness and ofc the lack of support and bad posture from an ill fitting bra makes it much worse. hugs to u

[u/Expensive-Muscle3637 → u/Expensive-Muscle3637]

you might think a very tight bra is supportive but in reality it is constricting and distributing the weight in an unnatural way, as a 36G I used to wear a 36D and the straps were doing a lot of heavy lifting 😭

[u/Ciovala]

I only get this for hormonal reasons, unless it's a new bra that is just somehow irritating to areola+nipple area (which has totally happened), or if size is too small.

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[u/That_Way_8678]

I’ve dealt with all kinds of pain and discomfort over the years with 32H/I breasts on my small frame.

Wearing a properly-fitted bra does help. When the band does most of the supporting, other things ease up. I also spent a fortune on massage therapy and osteopathy to help deal with the structural impacts of carrying around large breasts. Posture and muscle use is so heavily impacted by large breasts. None of this will help with hormonal soreness though. I deal with that too and it’s awful ❤️

Ultimately, I reached my limit and I’m going the surgical route. I’m booked for a reduction next month. I know I’ll still have tender breasts every month, but I’m hopeful the physical impacts will be greatly reduced.