ROCHESTER, N.Y. — UR Medicine wants more female athletes to consider sports bras as an essential piece of athletic equipment. Medical research shows that some eighty percent of girls and women are wearing the wrong-sized sports bra causing back, shoulder and neck pain and skin abrasions that can make female athletes feel uncomfortable and even embarrassed.

UR Medicine wants to help remove barriers to exercise. Dr. Katie Rizzone is a sports medicine and pediatrics specialist who realized there was little research on sports bras and breast health. She says wearing the wrong-sized sports bra can not only compromise your performance, some girls even drop out of sports because of it.

“It is shocking to me the lack of data in this area for people who just want to be active on a more regular basis,” Rizzone said. “It is hard to lose weight if you are having breast pain or if you do not feel confident in your body to go to a gym and work out if you do not have appropriate support. So there are many different facets with that we can do a better job with helping girls and women with.”

Karen Herczeg admits she has no idea what her bra size is, that’s why she is at UR Medicine Fitness Science for a free bra fitting.

“No, I do not know, and you guess, I order so many things online,” Herczeg said. “I haven’t been fit for a bra since I was young and a lot has happened since, I have had family, kids and work done, it’s time. Our bodies have changed a lot.”

To find your correct bra size at home, use a soft tape measure to measure your band size, that’s around your rib cage just below your breasts and then around the fullest part of your chest. Subtract your band size measurement from your bust size and each inch difference is one cup size.

“It would be hard to go running without running shoes or play soccer without a soccer ball,” Rizzone said. “So I think it is something everyone could consider a self-gift to yourself that if you haven’t gone and gotten your breast sized up recently, to go.”

Simply put, a good bra is essential for athletic performance. The more we talk about it the more empowered more women and girls will be to find the right fit. Sometimes that means trying on five, 10 or 20 of them to find the right fit.

UR Medicine’s Fitness Science in Henrietta at Marketplace Mall offers free bra fittings for female athletes and sports teams. To make an appointment, you can call 585-341-9200.