Bra designed with breast health in mind
Monday, June 12 2006, 08:01 PM EDT
Contributed by: Melissa Heckscher
THE BRASSAGE
As the daughter of a lingerie mogul, Christina Erteszek has seen a lot of bras. But none quite like this one.
With
quarter-size bumps rippling through its sides like three-dimensional
polka dots, the newest design in Erteszek's health-conscious lingerie
line doesn't look like the generations of sexy, demure undergarments
that have come before it. And it doesn't act like them either.
Called the "Brassage" (Bra + Massage), it's designed to enhance the body's natural ability to eliminate toxins from the breast tissue.
"The idea of doing just another pretty bra really just didn't appeal to me," said Erteszek, 56. "I didn't think the planet needed another one of those."
WOMEN’S HEALTH
Erteszek's grandmother was a corsetiere and her mother, Olga Erteszek, was the founder of the Olga Lingerie company, still a leading intimate apparel brand in the United States. After her mother died of breast cancer in 1989, Erteszek was inspired to design bras that promoted breast health as well as sex appeal.
She founded Intimate Health by Christina, an Earth-friendly lingerie company specializing in health-enhancing garments. Besides the Brassage (which sells for $44 to $48, depending on the design), the company sells all-cotton bras and undergarments designed to prevent bacterial infections.
"There's not a woman who is not interested in her breasts, and there is not a man that's not interested in her breasts," said Erteszek. "So you've got a lot of people for whom it's a topic of interest."
The massaging bra isn't as sexy as it sounds - there are no batteries, no vibrating rollers, no "magic fingers." In fact, the massage is barely noticeable, an ever-so-slight pushing sensation created by dome-shaped pillows, or "comfort cushions," sewn into the side panels of the bra.
According to Dr. Jayson Sher, the Los Angeles-based chiropractor who invented the technology behind the Brassage, the cushions micro-massage the lymphatic vessels as a woman moves, making walking - even breathing - an opportunity to cleanse the system.
"A normal bra will hold the breasts in place and be pretty," said Sher, who worked on his patented LETflow (Lymphatic Enhancement Technology) for more than eight years before sharing it with Erteszek for use in the Brassage.
"This bra holds the breasts in place, is pretty, and also has a therapeutic process." Sher said the LETflow technology promotes healthy breast tissue by stimulating the lymph node beneath the armpit.
There are more than 500 lymph nodes throughout the body, all of which work as filters to trap and expel bacteria, viruses and other toxins.
Sher said massaging the lymph nodes can speed up the drainage process, which could potentially reduce the risk of breast disease.
"It's been medically and scientifically believed that toxins have an affinity toward affecting the DNA of cells," he said. "We do not say that this takes the place of regular examination or mammograms. It's just another weapon in the arsenal against breast disease."
But some doctors aren't so sure.
David Chan, Redondo Beach, Calif., oncologist and breast cancer specialist, said he doubts the bra will have any role in breast health.
"It's an attractive concept because of simplicity, that wearing a certain type of bra will lower breast cancer risk," said Chan, who has worked at Redondo Beach's Cancer Care Associates for 20 years and who recently authored "Breast Cancer: Real Questions/Real Answers (Marlowe and Co.; $14.95). "I'm very skeptical that it would work. It's unlikely that wearing the bra would speed lymph flow within the important deep tissues of the breast where cancers occur."
Furthermore, Chan said, breast disease generally is unrelated to toxic buildup. "The large majority of breast cancers are not caused by toxins and are not related to lymph flow issues," he said.
Erteszek said her company makes no claim that the Brassage prevents, or treats, breast cancer.
"The last thing I want to be is a snake-oil salesman," she said. "We liken our Brassage message to taking supplements. You take supplements and you don't necessarily take them because you're ill. If you know that there's something you can do that's an additive, a just-in-case, why not try?"
If anything, she said, the Brassage is comfortable. Made of organic cotton, the "comfort cushions" also act to lift the breasts up and relieve pressure women commonly experience with underwire bras.
"You get so many indirect problems from a bad-fitting bra, with shoulder and neck stress," Erteszek said. "But I try to consider the entire core of the body and that it's not just the strap or the cup but it's how the back fits, too. ... The LETflow technology works to creates support by having a stabilized side."
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