Boob creams and pills are just a bust
By Andy Ho
WANT bigger breasts? Though breast implants have been around for 40
years, doctors are still unsure about their long-term risks.
Unsurprisingly, many women may want a lift but fear the scalpel, so
they try out the many pills, lotions, creams and devices advertised
as breast developers instead.
It's a huge market. But are women letting their insecurity about
their bodies get ahead of their reason?
Most of these non-surgical methods are likely to give only flat
results. They may seem quite genuine, what with testimonials from
'real people' as well as money-back guarantees, but it is worth
remembering that beauty products - unlike prescription drugs - are
not regulated and don't need government approval or testing before
they are marketed.
Consider the various methods that purport to enlarge breasts.
First, exercises. Since the breasts are composed primarily of
glands and fat, no amount of exercise will change their actual size
or shape.
At best, some devices may help develop the muscles that support the
breasts. When these muscles are larger and firmer, they push the
breasts outwards, giving the illusion of larger breasts.
What about the various bust-o-lift creams and lotions?
In theory, lotions and creams loaded with the female hormone called
oestrogen might do the trick by stimulating the growth of the
glands in the breast. Applying oestrogen cream could increase
breast size - as long as it is applied.
But unless the cream is one prescribed by a doctor, it is likely to
have so little oestrogen you might as well smear salsa on your
chest.
Even if you get your hands on an unlimited supply of full-strength
oestrogen cream, don't be overjoyed: Over-stimulating breast growth
with hormones can predispose one to cancer. So a cream or lotion
(or pill) that actually works but is not a prescription item is
likely to be one chock-full of oestrogen, perhaps imported
illegally.
But marketeers of these creams, lotions and pills do not highlight
their oestrogen content. Instead, they are generally made out to be
herbal in origin - containing harmless 'plant oestrogens' that are
apparently found in some 300 plants like dong quai, soybean, oat
bran, fenugreek, wild yam, saw palmetto and so on.
Of course, being herbal, they are also touted as natural and
safe.
Yet one was recently withdrawn from the market - GroBust. When its
makers were first sued in the US, it listed Kava, a South Pacific
herb, among its ingredients - before Kava's potential to cause
fatty liver became known. This example suggests how there is often
no scientific justification for calling such products 'safe'.
Almost no non-surgical method has been documented to be effective -
and documentation is no easy task.
First, proper steps must be taken to ensure that any 'before and
after' differences don't arise from oestrogen intake, observer
bias, body weight changes, body fluid content changes with the
menstrual cycle or time of day, measuring at different points on
different occasions, and postural variations.
Second, the woman should be measured at the same time of day,
applying the tape with the same tautness each time while her
posture and position should remain the same.
Third, to safeguard against fraud, there should be several
independent observers with videotape and/or photographic
documentation. To ascertain there is permanent breast enlargement,
follow-up checks are needed for years. The breasts should also be
scanned with MRI to ensure no disease develops.
Impossible standards?
Before you lose all hope, there is one device that might just pass
muster: the computerised vacuum bra that fits over the breasts and
must be worn without interruption for 10 hours a day for three
months.
Developed by a plastic surgeon, it supposedly exploits the
principle of tissue expansion used over the last 30 years to grow
tissue to lengthen limbs, for instance.
The vacuum supposedly stretches breast tissue gently, and when
healthy cells are stretched, they respond by first swelling
temporarily, then eventually dividing and replicating to
accommodate the stretch force, thus generating new breast
tissue.
The results of a tiny trial of 12 women begun in 1998 were
published in a mainstream journal, Plastic & Reconstructive
Surgery, in 2000. There was an average increase of one cup size 15
months after treatment ended. A follow-up study of 30 women by
another group replicated these results.
A larger study by the original group involving 95 women has just
been completed with similar results and awaits publication if their
peers adjudge the study to have scientific merit. All three studies
abided with the strict guidelines suggested above.
If it truly works, how many women will stick to it in this hot
weather? Its hard, protuberant cones can't be concealed even under
the largest sweatshirt you can wear in the office. If you knock
into your colleagues or filing cabinets, one of the domes may come
unstuck - and with that, a loud giveaway alarm will sound.
There'll be loud guffaws in the office - or you'll be rudely
awakened in the middle of the night if you go to sleep with them.
By the way, you won't be able to sleep on your belly for the three
months you wear them.
If you are very lean or you are Asian - which supposedly means
tighter skin - you'll get slower breast growth than a fatter woman
or a white sister.
Still, if there is growth without the scalpel, many may just grin
and bear it.
Do beauty salons have this contraption? No, the gadget is available
through doctors only.
