How to Strengthen Cooper’s Ligaments and Reduce or Prevent Breast Sagging:
This article is in progress. Might be ready tomorrow.
There appears to be a strong demand and concern about breast health, and the editor has taken the decision to develop a few articles about this subject.
- Cooper’s ligaments are bands of tough, fibrous, flexible connective tissue that shape and support your breasts. They’re named for Astley Cooper, the British surgeon who described them in 1840. They’re also known as the suspensory ligaments of Cooper and the fibrocollagenous septa. 17 Sep 2018
What are Cooper’s ligaments?
Cooper’s ligaments are bands of tough, fibrous, flexible connective tissue that shape and support your breasts. They’re named for Astley Cooper, the British surgeon who described them in 1840. They’re also known as the suspensory ligaments of Cooper and the fibrocollagenous septa. These ligaments help to maintain the shape and structural integrity of your breasts.
Normally you can’t feel Cooper’s ligaments since they’re delicate. However, it’s possible for them to become distorted if cancerous tumors grow on the ligaments. This can result in noticeable changes in breast contours. This can include swelling or flattening, bulges, or dimples. There may also be retraction in some areas.
Purpose of Cooper’s ligaments
Cooper’s ligaments are found under the skin of the breast, through and around the breast tissue. They connect to the tissue surrounding the chest muscles.
These ligaments maintain the shape and structure of your breasts and help to prevent sagging. Cooper’s ligaments support the breasts on the chest wall, maintain their contour, and keep them in position.
How do Cooper’s ligaments relate to sagging?
It’s natural for Cooper’s ligaments to stretch out over time, causing your breasts to droop. This can be due to genetic factors, body mass index, and the size of your breasts. Age, weight fluctuation, and cigarette smoking can also influence sagging. Lower levels of elastin, estrogen, and collagen due to aging also play a part.
Having multiple pregnancies can cause your breasts to sag, since the skin is stretched during your pregnancy and while lactating. This causes Cooper’s ligaments to stretch and loosen. Plus, postpartum hormonal changes cause depleted milk glands to diminish in number and size.
When Cooper’s ligaments are stretched, they eventually lose strength. Without the support of these ligaments, the breast tissue sags under its own weight since it’s heavier than the fat around it.
Exercises to help strengthen Cooper’s ligaments
There are several exercises that you can do to help strengthen, firm, and tone the chest area that’s attached to the Cooper’s ligaments. This may help to prevent sagging and working these pectoralis muscles will very certainly lift your chest muscles, slowing the process of sagging, and continuing a more youthful, rounded appearance.
Everyone changes over time and we can teach ourselves to grow older gracefully without getting emotionally upset about it. We can be thankful to live a longer lifespan. The alternative is not so desirable.
Be consistent with your practice in order to see the best results. Here are a few exercises you can add to your workout routine. You are never required to use weights. The modern exercise bands do an excellent job, and of course cost less and are easily stored or carried if you move from one living location to another. If you have a gym teacher or physical therapist you can get help and advice about using bands and I recommend wearing glasses or goggles for extra eye protection. Exercise bands are NOT the same as Bunge cords with hooks! Do not use anything with loose ends and hooks as they can lead to an extremely injurious accident. I used to think Bunge cords were such a grand idea for back packs, sails, many purposes…. And then I met a patient who suffered an eye injury from a snap of a cord from her back pack. It has slipped out of her hand and whipped her eye.
Pec flys
- Lie on your back with bent knees. Your feet should remain flat on the floor.
- Hold a dumbbell in each hand and extend your arms straight up with the insides of your wrists facing each other. Your shoulders, elbows, and wrists should be in one line.
- Slowly lower your arms to the side, keeping your elbow slightly bent.
- Then return your arms to the starting position.
- Do 2–3 sets of 15–20 reps.
- What you’re doing here is working the UPPER division of the pectoralis muscles which you can feel below your collar bone (clavicle.) You can also work this area in other ways. Pres your palms together so your hands are before your face, press hard and slowly extend your arms with hands still pushing together. No cost, no weights, very convenient any time.
- A variation that is important, press thumb web to thumb web so your right hand is over your left. Your right hand fingers naturally lay over the left knuckles.hand grips hand, press together and extend the arms slowly. This works a different division of the upper pectoralis.
- Now, press your right fist into your left palm, hands against your chest, elbows out to your sides and arms level (parallel to the floor). Press hard, slowly move the two pressing hands across to the left as far as you can, then back to the right as far as you can go. Raise your hands to eye level and do it again. You’ll soon realize you can do this in an oval sort of circle working all the pectoralis muscle and the ligaments. These exercises work well with a rolled up bath towel between your hands too. A ball made of foam, a dense pillow is good for this exercise instead of the towel.
- I have a plastic bucket. I pour water into the bucket to a level right for me, (you’ll find yours). I do this on my knees. Slip your fingers and spread thumb under the lips at the top edge of the bucket and lift and attempt to squeeze the bucket together at the same time. You’ll build shoulders, a bit of upper shoulders and back, and chest doing this. The result is the breasts will lift and be pushed forward a bit by the developing muscle under them. You’ll gain a cup size or two and look “perkier.”
I really like exercise bands. They don’t cost much, they’re light weight and easy to pack and store, or carry to another location. Increase resistance by adding another less resistant band.
Please see this woman trainer teaching the proper pushup for women Good to do and she knows her training well. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bt5b9x9N0KU&t=16s
Rubber exercise bands are a great idea. I like them. Whatever you do take it slowly, gently, teach yourself what works and then you can add a little weight, a few repetitions and eventually you’ll have the weight you want. Each week you’ll get a little stronger. Finally you’ll decide “this is the right weight and bust size for me” and then do same weight maintenance exercises 3 times per week.
End by doing some stretching. Stretch hands behind you to pull your arms back. Set your arms on the back of your chair or your hands on a table top or you bed mattress and stretch the arms back and up higher slightly. Don’t cause pain. Just get a comfortable stretch. This guides development of better shape and helps maintain a proper upper back posture. Nothing looks worse than the round shouldered look.
I will cover more about this subject in another article. Thanks for reading. Now….don’t just read, try it and if you think you want a coach to help, find a gym and get a bit of further advice.
