A WOMAN claims she was left with a gaping hole in her chest after wearing tight-fitting under-wired bras.

Lynne McConnell, 51, started wearing the close-fitting bras 15 years ago, after being measured at a shop.

She said they always felt too tight, but numerous shop assistants told her they were fine and she kept wearing them until she noticed a lump in the middle of her chest.

The pea-sized bump grew to a 4x4cm rock-hard mass – directly over where the midpoint of the bra sits on her chest in a matter of days – and she sought medical help.

Lynne was diagnosed with a painful cyst which had to be cut out, leaving her with an open wound which took three months to heal.

Lynne, who works in pharmaceuticals, claims her surgeon said the wired-bra had put pressure on a gland, which blocked, and caused the cyst to develop.

British Skincare Foundation dermatologist Dr Adil Sheraz confirmed tight clothing, like underwire bras, are known to cause cysts.

Lynne, from Brighton, said: “There is a lack of awareness about these types of bras.

“Something has clearly gone wrong and all I want is for people to learn from what has happened.

“I don’t want anyone else to go through what I have. It really affected my self-esteem for a long time.

“I couldn’t wear a bra for weeks and I try to take pride in how I look. It wasn’t nice at all.”

Lynne, who has 34GG breasts, has been buying under-wired bras since 2003.

She was fitted by experts in a shop, but had to return numerous times over the years, to complain of tightness.

The Scot, who moved from Glasgow to Brighton five years ago, said she often put tissue underneath the bra to add comfort.

But she said when she complained, bra fitters said the garments fitted adequately, so she kept wearing them.

“The staff just said that’s how they are supposed to fit,” she said.

In June last year she noticed a “pea-shaped” lump which became very painful.

The lump grew and she phoned 111 and was told to go along to A&E at the Royal Sussex Hospital, on June 16.

Lynne was given antibiotics and doctors suggested the lump could be an abscess caused by infection.

But the tablets didn’t work and when Lynne went to her local breast clinic on July 4, she was in “agony” and was unable to wear a bra.

The doctor at Brighton’s Park Centre for Breast Care said it was a cyst and it was removed immediately under local anaesthetic, she said.

Lynne said: “It had become particularly uncomfortable to wear a bra and the lump was growing quickly.

“By the time I went to the breast clinic it was really painful. I went in at 3pm and left within two hours. The surgeon just cut it out there and then.

“It was just too tight. I always said it was too tight but they just told me that’s how it should fit.

“It was uncomfortable but I just listened to them. The staff insisted that’s how tight they need to be.”