One-third of female marathon runners experience breast pain, or mastalgia, during the London Marathon, concludes a study published online on Friday in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.
Women with larger cup sizes, and childless women, are the most susceptible to breast pain, and wearing a sports bra isn't always helpful, said the study published just before London's annual event on Sunday 21 April.
Nearly 1,300 women were surveyed as to the frequency and intensity of their exercise right after they had passed through the registration area at last year's London Marathon.
In all, 32% of the runners said they experienced breast pain, a figure that rose to one-half for women with a size F cup or larger, and fell to one-fourth for women with a size A cup or smaller.
Finally, childless women were significantly likelier to say they had breast pain, the study found.
