#how to bind

[hattr]

I’m just wondering from any trans guys or just people in general who wear binders is it unsafe to wear one if I have breathing difficulties bc I rly want one but I’m worried I’ll waste my money. I’m also thinking of getting it from spectrum outfitters and I’ve been on tiktok for ages looking for a good brand and I think it’s good, can anyone give me any tips?

[lush-lovely-leafery]

[queerplatonicpositivity]

I came out as non binary a few months ago to my mom and sister. When I came out I explained my dysphoria to them and that I wanted to use they/them. But it has been about 4 months and my mom still wont let me get a binder because they can be dangerous. So I was thinking of getting a free binder behind her back, which feels wrong to me. Is there anything that can I say to her explaining that binding is not so dangerous. Thx!

Hi, Anon!  Congrats on coming out to your mom and your sister as non-binary!

As for the binding, that’s complicated.  Binding, like pretty much anything, can be dangerous if it’s not done correctly, but can be safe when it’s done correctly.  

A good example of this is driving.  Driving can be incredibly dangerous if it’s not done correctly.  People need to drive safe vehicles, drive within the speed limit, drive in the correct lanes, drive with the proper training, drive sober, drive with any special equipment (like eyeglasses, in my case), drive only for certain periods of time (not for 18 hours solid), etc. in order for driving to be safe.  

In order for binding to be safe, you need to have a binder that fits properly (isn’t too tight, for example), and is made of safe materials (don’t use ace bandages, for example).  You need to make sure you’re not wearing it for too long, and take breaks, and be aware of your body and your breathing and health.

There are some people who bind who are so affected by dysphoria that they don’t bind safely, and it can cause health problems.  Your mom might be worried that you will be one of these people, or that once you get a binder, you’ll be so happy with how you feel in it that you’ll disregard binder safety and use your binder in an unsafe way.  She might be scared that it could turn into a power struggle, where she’ll have to beg/order you to take it off after several hours, or something like that.

I know this is hard, but it might be worth trying to talk to her about what, specifically, she’s scared of.  If she tells you that she’s scared you’ll bind 24/7, then you can promise her you won’t (and keep that promise).  If she’s scared you’ll pick a too-small size and damage your body, you can talk to her about proper sizing and maybe even get her help with measurements/ordering, if you’re comfortable with that.

Binding is a tool, like a car.  And like a car, binding needs education to use it correctly.  When you bind correctly, it’s safe.  When you don’t, it’s not.  So it’s not so much about convincing your mom that binding is inherently safe (because, like anything, it can be misused).  It’s more about promising your mom (and yourself) that you will bind in a responsible, safe way, and to help educate yourself and her about what that might look like for you.

I’m not sure what country you’re in, but no matter where you are, Minus18 is a great website based out of Australia that has incredible resources for LGBTQIA+ minors.  Your mom might be more willing to trust a source that is from an established organization.  Here is their guide on binding: https://www.minus18.org.au/index.php/resources/sexuality-info/item/441-how-to-bind-your-chest

I hope your mom is willing to listen to you and ready to educate herself alongside you about how to bind safely.  Please keep us updated on how you’re doing and how it goes!

[binderhelp]

Safe Binding Practices

Hello all, this is your Other Mother--I mean;; other mod, Oliver! (Coraline, 2009 dir. Henry Selick) I’m here to explain how to be as safe as possible while binding with a list of chest binding do’s and don’ts! 

Let’s start with the Dont’s.

1.) Do NOT ever bind with ace bandages, duct tape, or medical tape. These are all extremely unsafe methods of binding due to the materials’ inability to expand with your chest while breathing and can cause major rib damage, lightheadedness, and fainting due to lack of adequate oxygen. Not to mention that they all dig into your skin, and the tapes can pull skin right off when you’re removing it!

2.) Do NOT ever sleep in your binder, for much the same reason as above; even safe binding restricts your ability to breathe somewhat, and sleeping in a binder when your breathing cycle naturally relaxes can prevent you from breathing at all. Dysphoria may feel suffocating at times, but sleeping in a binder can actually suffocate you! 

3.) Do NOT double-bind, meaning wearing two binders, a compressing sports bra and a binder, tape and a binder, or any combination of two binding methods you can think of. Once again, you need to be able to breathe! Double binding restricts your ability to breathe normally twofold, and the extra compression on your ribs and breast tissue can cause deformities that will lead to chronic pain, breathing difficulties, and can make you a poor candidate or a straight rule-out for top surgery. Please take care to find the right size binder for your body so that it can bind as effectively as possible, and treat it gently so that it does not get too loose too quickly! More on binder care in another post, so keep an eye out for that!

4.) Do NOT wear a binder that is too small for you--even by one size. The binder should fit your body well to prevent rib injury, fainting, and back pain. It may be tempting to go a size or two smaller than what you need in order to look flatter, especially when you are just a smidge between sizes, but trust me! Wearing the wrong size binder is dangerous and miserable! You’ll be short of breath and in pain the entire time you are wearing it, and it can cause damage to your body that may prevent you from binding or getting approved for top surgery in the future. If you are looking into getting a binder and are having trouble determining your size, ask for help! You can send an email to [email protected], or shoot me a message @binderhelpmod-oliver here on tumblr; I’ll be happy to help!

5.) Do NOT work out in your binder. This one is tricky to work around, because for many of us working out or exercising can increase dysphoria greatly. In this case, it is recommended that you wear a binder one size larger than what you need in order to accommodate for the bigger breaths that you will be taking. Once again, wearing a binder while exercising prevents you from getting enough oxygen and can cause you to hyperventilate or faint. 

6.) Do NOT slide your binder on over your hips. Not only is this incredibly difficult and not a practical way to get a binder on, but it will stretch out your binder very quickly and cause the binder to lose its ability to, well, bind. 

So what DO we do when binding?

1.) Wear the right size binder. You should be able to take deep breaths without any difficulty or pain, although the binder will feel tight. My first binder (that actually fit me properly!) was very comfortable and felt like a warm hug rather than a restraint. 

2.) Start slow. Whether you are new to binding or you just have a new binder, ease into things with short lengths of time binding. Begin with 1-3 hours, then evaluate how you are feeling and move onto 3-5 hours the next day, and so on each day until you feel comfortable binding for the full 8 hours. 

3.) Take breaks from binding. The maximum amount of time that a binder should be worn is 8-10 hours, and a break should be taken every 4 hours. Wherever you are when you hit the 4 hour mark, stop what you’re doing and go somewhere safe (like a bathroom or your bedroom) to take off your binder, take at least 15 DEEP breaths, and stretch your chest and back muscles as thoroughly as possible. At least a 10 minute break is recommended, but 15-20 is preferable. The extra five minutes will make a world of difference, even when you are very experienced with binding. Take care of yourself!

4.) Sit up straight. Normal consequences of bad posture are magnified by binding, and you are 100% more likely to experience pain and difficulty breathing if you slouch while binding than if you keep your back straight.

5.) Bind for your body type. Look at cis men’s chests; they aren’t completely flat! Sure, some guys have ‘washboard’ abs, but nobody has an ‘ironing board’ chest. It will be extremely uncomfortable for your chest to be completely flat due to the pressure on your breast tissue and rib cage, as well as look comically unnatural if your chest is much flatter than your stomach. Look at pictures of cis guys and note the size of their chest relative to the size of their stomach to get an idea of what looks natural. This will save you a lot of grief and pain in the long run, and if you are feeling unsure about your bind--Ask A Friend! I always ask a friend or family member if my bind is alright. The main goal is to get a second set of eyes with a fresh, hot take on how convincing your bind is--not how perfect it looks. Ask if you pass, not if your chest is flat. 

6.) WASH YOUR BINDER. It may be tempting to wear it 24/7/365, but binders get dirty and start to smell just like any other article of clothing. To prevent rashes, acne, and overall unpleasant scent, we recommend washing your binder at least 2 times a week, and more than twice if you have a tendency to sweat a lot or are very physically active. 

Thanks for reading, and remember to bind safely! Keep an eye out for our post on caring for your binder, and as always:

Stay Strong!

Oliver and Zoran

[system-r3pair]

Binding alternatives

I get that not everyone can get a chest binder.

Either unsupportive parents/family or not being able to afford it.

Some good ways to bind without a binder are:

Layering sports bras

Okay so everyone has heard of this but it does work. Dont do the one backwards and kne forwards shit. Layer them (no more then 3) and position your chest to your sides.

Work out muscle shirts with built in sports bra

This helps with the first one, wear two sports bras or even one then put on a or two muscle shirts with a built in sports bra (no padding) on over them. It's amazing how effective it can be. Posistion the same way.

1 pieace bathing suit

This one is less concievmt but also works.

I did this most in middle school.

You get a tight one pieace bathing suit and wear it over two or one sports bra(s).

Dont cut out the bottom, itll make it not tight anymore from the lack of streach of the material. This one is better for winter as it will make you warmer.

Cut tights and bandages dont work.

The material isnt firm enough if you just cut it. It may if you sew it and make changes but on it's own, no.

Ace bandages are unsafe and if anything with how tight they are just make your chest look the same or even bigger.

They use to make my chest swell and my ribs are permanently damaged from them.

Just dont

Also my chest is a DD and these work

Theres also free binder giveaways everywhere.

[raccoonlemonade-blog]

Trabajito de “infografia” para la clase de digital. Me base en los binders de gc2b para hacer la infografia.

Tho is in spanish I think (andhope) is easy to understand even if you can’t read it. I did this based on the binders from @gc2b-apparel

[da-at-ass]

A couple notes on binders that I haven’t seen before

I see the usual advice posts on binders regarding “don’t go too tight” and “take regular breaks” and “how not to overheat” but there’s a few things I’ve learned after over a year of regular binding (coming up on a year of part-time and a year of full-time, in fact) that I’d like to share for the benefits of those starting out and those who haven’t figured out/noticed these bits yet. For the record I’m a trans man who has been on testosterone for a year (my T birthday is...today! Holy shit!) and I’m not sharing my former bra size, but it was large. I’m in my mid 30s so well past puberty.

First off, if at all possible get a binder instead of using ace bandages, duct tape, saran wrap etc. It is going to be a lot safer for you. Stick with a company that actually has safety messaging up front about their product and regularly connects with the trans community. GC2B, @shapeshiftersinc and Underworks are the ones usually recommended around the comm. I’ve gotten excellent binders from both GC2B and Underworks. (This is information that’s in most intro posts about binders but I figured I’d get it out there in case you don’t know. Also, since this is a post specifically on binder garments, any other binding method isn’t covered by this advice.)

Testosterone is going to change your boobs. This will change how your binder squeezes them down, in a positive way IMO. Testosterone will shrink down your breast mass somewhat, making top surgery unnecessary for those who start with very small breasts. After enough time it will also make them very not-firm. (I thought of them as kind of liquifying, though that’s stating it a bit in the extreme.) This will mean that they will conform to a binder’s shape much easier as time under testosterone goes by. Also, your weight will redistribute to different areas of your body, possibly away from your chest and upper torso and underarm area, which can shrink your upper torso after some time.This means that over time, your binder size may change! Or you may need to (or be able to) get a different style of binder that fits a little differently.

You should be able to breathe. My current binder, since I just got new ones, is pretty tight but fits about the same way that a properly-fitted, properly-laced corset would, in that I’m kept in a firm consistent shape but I’m still able to breathe as much as I want. (In fact it stacks up a bit safer than the corset since sans boning there’s a lot less risk of breaking a rib and it’s not greatly changing the shape my internal organs settle into, which is why corset training is a thing.) I can run, exercise and do yard work in this binder and it does not adversely affect my breathing rate. Compression should not be impacting your ability to go about your physical work and should not be endangering your ribs--if it is, then you need to go up a size.

Your chest should not be completely flat. Take a moment to stare at this picture of John Boyega and scope out his chest. You’re welcome. Oh, there was a point to that, right--notice that he’s got a pretty large chest area there. When looking at how flat you get your chest, remember to compare it to actual profile photos of masculine chests, preferably masculine people who have a build similar to yours, so you understand what’s feasible. It’s pretty normal to think you need to be flatter to pass when you’re actually perfectly fine. Also, a good trick is to pull your breasts up until they’re more centered in (and supported by the binder and no longer take on a breast-like shape and take on a pec-like shape. With my chest, I found this became even easier as testosterone softened the breast tissue over time, so remember that it may take some time to get the results you want.

Sans the compression part, the discomfort I feel from a binder is literally the same, or even less than, a damn bra. I say a damn bra because honestly a bra felt like twisting my flesh into a convoluted horrible shape that humans weren’t supposed to be in, even though I know some people feel (and look) perfectly fine with breasts. It took me a long time to figure out that many women felt like their breasts sitting in bra cups was a normal and even good feeling (when the bra was a proper fit), and realizing how incredibly uncomfortable and unnatural I felt in a bra was part of how I figured out I was a trans man.

No really, even beyond dysphoria bras are just as uncomfortable or more so. I wore them for over 20 years so I would know. A bra has a constraining elastic band that typically needs adjustment throughout the day, along with possible additional hardware like underwires (which can even worm their way out of the bra and stab you). The straps can dig into your shoulders. “I want to go home so I can immediately take off my bra” is, as far as I can tell, a universal sentiment among women, along with “I don’t want to leave my house because I don’t want to put a bra on.” I have heard of back problems, scarring, and other ailments from badly fitted bras or just regular bra use. I developed a major shoulder problem in part due to where a bra’s band sat and how tight it was. Bras cause a lot of problems that are often complained of and are chronically ignored by the medical industry because (mostly) women wear them and the medical industry loves to ignore women. In many cases, binders have less problems than bras in the discomfort area because underwires and thin straps are not concerns binders come with, and instead of a band taking on most of the strain, there’s a much larger area of spandex. So in cases where someone is going from bra to binder, you’re either going to come out even or actually end up ahead. (Something that, tbh, I rarely ever see mentioned by posts centered solely on the cons of binders--they never seem to talk about what most women endure every day without question.)

But a lot of the same stuff about bras applies to binders when it comes to sizing and replacement. You’re supposed to get sized every time you get a new bra and you’re supposed to replace your bras every six months. (Although this is news to a lot of people who wear bras tbh.) This is because elastic and spandex and other stretchy materials wear out over time, so that the bra that fit you six months ago is not going to fit the same now. And in the meantime, you might have changed shape a bit. I just replaced all my old binders, and one was about nine months old, the other about a year old (Yeah, I put it off.) The old binders were so loose that my chest was starting to look... nonmasculine in them. Comparing them to the new binders, they’re now inches wider because they stretched out that much over time. Even if a binder company claims their binders last longer, keep an eye on your binders once they’re over six months old and replace them if you notice they’re not fitting correctly anymore. A binder can “last” without being as effective anymore.

A properly fitted binder can actually feel better than a looser one. (Just like a bra, for people who wear bras.) I kept my old binders so I can do yard work in them and as sort of the “wearing pajama pants around the house” equivalent of a binder since it’s honestly easier to do MANY tasks when my chest is more or less the right shape and a binder isn’t just something I wear to pass in front of other people. But since they weren’t the proper tightness anymore, my chest was moving around too much over time, and I was having to constantly pull at the edges of the binder which were shifting around far too much. Too loose and a binder would actually have me feeling a bit of dysphoria again when I was in public. If it’s not doing its proper job it’s not really going to feel right. So while you don’t want it so tight that it’s hurting you, keep in mind that if your binder is too loose, it may end up more uncomfortable than one that’s at just the right tightness.

Also one last thing on taking breaks from your binder. I do this sometimes when I can’t slip out of mine but I can’t just stay in it for the entire rest of the day. I slip into the bathroom, take off the binder, and then use my shirt to rub over my back and chest so that I’m feeling different stimulation on the skin. Like a rubdown with a dry towel. This really helps “reset” my nerves and make my body ready to wear the binder again, because often the discomfort I’m feeling isn’t “it’s too tight I’m gonna die” and is instead “my skin just wants to breathe and feel the grass between its toes~.”

That’s it! Good luck with binding if you’re doing it, and if you don’t, I hope you feel a bit more informed on what it’s actually like to wear a binder.

[eriktheshark]

A new video on my account on how to bind safely!

It includes CC (for those who may not understand me/hard of hearing!)

Hope you like it! Please like, share and subscribe if you do!