I've been having terrible spasming chest pains.  The spiking pinching pains would start at my armpits and then spread around the underside of my breasts.  Removing my bra didn't make the pain go away, so I didn't think my bra was the problem.

I thought it was my bike, like maybe I needed the handlebars adjusted down, racer style.  Then I thought it was my pillow - too soft.  Then my desk, not high enough for my height, or maybe my sneakers, I bought arch supports and watched my posture when I walked around.  I tried so many different things and none of them worked, the pain was horrible and kept me up at night.

But it turned out that it was my bra, more particularly my underwire digging into my ribs.  My sweet hubby figured this out one night when I was doubled over in pain, he said he could feel the muscle under my breast knotting and twisting like the muscle spasms you get after swimming too long without drinking water, most telling, the spasms were centered on the reddish marks left behind by my underwire!  Total eureka moment.

I know this will sound absurd, but I didn't want to admit, much less actually do something (like getting measured) about my bra.  I had this vision of myself wearing the same pretty and lacy little nothings that I bought at Victoria's Secret when I was first married.  Back then I picked out bras based on the colors, blue lace was my fave.

But something had to be done because the pain was becoming more intense and a lot more frequent.  So I dug out my measuring tape and measured under the breasts  nd across the breasts the way the bra fitting articles online suggest.

Turned out I was not only wearing too small a band, I also had too small of cups.  Very sad and oh so obvious, I'd been busting out all over the place for a while!

Since I was determined to buy something comfortable, I looked round for something without underwire.  Underwire is the enemy of comfort, I decided.

This bra, while ugly and matronly has turned out to be so comfy, I wish I'd bought it months ago.

The straps are perfect, they never slip down my shoulders, not after one hour or six, not if I'm sitting around computing or if I'm riding a challenging bumpy trail.

The downside, besides the obvious one being how unsexy this bra is the way the boobs are pushed out to the sides, it's almost a walleyed look with both boobs pointing slighty different directions  (or else my girls are radically different sizes with lopsided nipples and I never noticed it before now).

Anyways, I don't care, because I'm so darn comfy.