Yes:
- Getting winded after walking quickly/upstairs with binder on, but able to catch breath
- Chafing in the underarm areas
- Soreness (during or after) in arms, shoulders, or back
- Increased acne on chest or back
- Mild anxiety about tightness
- Chest sagging
No, take it off and rest, see a doctor if problem gets worse or doesn’t go away after taking the binder off (or after one week):
- Nausea during or after binding, including nausea caused by pain
- Bruising
- Out of breath/can’t catch breath when not wearing binder
- Skin rash
- Sharp pains in ribs
- Not able to cough or sneeze
- Numbness in arms
- Feeling too tired/sore to do everyday activities
- Suddenly having any of the above symptoms even if you’ve been binding for years
No, see a doctor ASAP, could be a sign of serious injury:
- Anything from the above category if you can just tell/feel something is wrong, better safe than sorry
- Extreme claustrophobia/panic attacks
- Sharp pain in chest/heart skipping beats or beating very fast
- Not able to breathe
- Dizziness
- Blueness in lips or fingertips
- Change in shape of ribcage
- Fainting
good stuff to know if you wear a binder, especially if you’re new to it. this is way more informative than the basic “don’t wear it for more than 8 hours uwu!!!111!!” – although that is also good advice. sometimes the time you keep it on will vary because of your schedule, and you don’t have to panic if that’s the case. just pay attention your body, know what’s safe, and crack your poor back as often as you can.
Tag: binding
We really have harmed a whole generation of trans and gnc children by failing to communicate how serious a decision binding actually is, how there’s no ACTUALLY safe way to bind, how it permeneantly damages the body, how it can make top surgery more difficult in the future. I don’t think we should be keeping trans kids from binding (we let kids do all sorts of things they’re really not old enough to understand the potential consequences of) but we owe them the ability to make informed decisions at LEAST
So this is definitely an important conversation to have, but can you point me at some reading about “permanent damage”? I might just be lucky, but I had zero lasting effects from binding. I’d like to at least read up on it so I can have this conversation and be more specific than “be careful.”
Of course! I can’t easily source right now but I am more than happy to provide further info when I am not at work and on mobile. Unfortunately, like a lot of trans healthcare, a lot of what we know about binding is anecdotal and word of mouth. BUT permeneant damage can include:
-Musculoskeletal damage. Binders are indiscriminate compression tools; they can’t flatten the chest without applying pressure every other anatomical structure underneath including the spine, ribs, lungs and heart. Many people who bind experience chronic back pain, shoulder pain, sharp stabbing chest pains, permeneantly decreased lung capacity, literal spine deformation, etc etc.
-A continuation of the above but the ribs are actually jointed bones. Their ability to flex is absolutely vital to their ability to withstand trauma and protect your vital organs. Imagine the damage that would be done to your elbow if your bent your arm to full flexion and then tightly bound it closed like that, for six, eight, twelve hours per day, every day, for weeks or months or years. And you don’t NEED a functioning arm to live!
-Tissue atrophy. Forcing chest tissue to lay in an unnatural way can and will change the way that tissue looks, even to risk of atrophy. Some people who bind and only moderately dislike the way their chest looks find that they HATE the way it looks after binding for a period of time. Tissue atrophy can also make top surgery more difficult in the future, and increase the risk of complications like nerve damage.
-Worsened dysphoria. Once someone starts binding and becomes accustomed to seeing themselves with a flat chest, it can be much more difficult to see yourself without one, and dysphoria that much more intolerable. You can imagine the psychological feedback loop of binding more in response.
The typical safety measures passed around about binding are harm REDUCTION measures and should not be advertised as making binding “safe.” Binding is not safe. It is a very serious health decision with long term consequences and should be treated as such. That doesn’t mean it’s the wrong decision, but it should not be considered the DEFAULT decision for chest dysphoria which is frankly how it’s currently treated.
gonna drop some links to read more:
Health impact of chest binding among transgender adults: a community-engaged, cross-sectional study
Holy shit
Hey there frends-
I know a lot of you out there are struggling to acquire binders, and while you’re waiting to get one you might need an alternative. Ace bandages can be pretty hazardous to your health, so I thought I’d share my binding method with you. It came about out of necessity (I’m not in a position where I can buy myself a commercial binder,) but it’s comfortable and works great. I use it everyday and pass so well, at this point I’m not even looking into commercial binders anymore.
Hope this helps some of you.
ok but like you could reblog things like this for your transboy followers who may not be able to afford to buy a binder so that they can pass as male . … …….
Holy shit you are an absolute god
Always good to share this stuff 🙂
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