A novel method to find the neutral position of the breast

Breast pain affects up to 70% of the female population. It is believed that stretching of the breast tissue causes discomfort and that by placing the breast into a position in which the tissue is neither in compression or tension (termed neutral position) will eliminate breast pain. The purpose of the study was to find a simple method that could be used to determine the location of the neutral position. One participant with a breast size of 34C performed three activities. The breast and torso movement were tracked using four retroreflective markers. The results suggest that the counter-movement jump was the most appropriate method as it forced the breast to oscillate from tension in the upper-side of the breast to tension in the under-side of the breast. The neutral position was found to be -129 ± 6 mm below the suprasternal notch, which was located 14 mm above the resting height of the breast. It was concluded that the first role of a bra is to lift the breast above the static position to cause more symmetrical oscillations about the neutral position. © 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the Centre for Sports Engineering Research, Sheffield Hallam University.