This is why you need to bind safely. The damage in the first picture is not the result of binding over numerous years with a simple binder. It’s the result of unsafe and irresponsible binding. Bind safely.
OH MY GOD I’M SHRIEKING THIS CAN’T FUCKING HAPPEN
It most certainly can.
In stead of just saying BIND SAFELY you should explain the safe and in safe ways to bind.
1. Bind using only an actual binder (make sure you measure and get the proper size), or tight-ish sports bra in a pinch. You want something that compresses while still having give so that your lungs can expand.
2. Never use ace bandages/belts/tape/etc to bind.
3. Do not sleep in your binder.
4. Do not wear your binder for long periods of time. I’ve seen 8 hours mentioned as the max amount of time. Learn to read your body. Some people cannot handle binding for even 8 hours but ignore the signs and injure themselves.
5. Whenever you take your binder off give a few big coughs, this well help to break up any fluid that may have settled in your lungs.
That’s all I can think of atm, but I think I’ve covered the basics.
I’m not tagging this for followers I just want all of you that bind hard to be careful.
FUCKING REBLOG THE SHIT OUT OF THIS
when i was young and stupid, I used duct tape to bind. NEVER EVER DO THIS CHILDREN. i couldn’t breathe, i could barely move, it cut into me so hard that sometimes i bled, it was so hot i got blisters, i would sometimes cry because of how much pain i was in, and it left my breasts numb in some places because of how tight it was. It killed nerve endings in my chest.
PLEASE. PLEEEEEAAAAAASE SPREAD THE WORD. PRACTICE SAFE BINDING METHODS.
//bind safely my fellow non-cis tumblers
IMPORTANT PIECE OF INFORMATION THAT I WANT YOU TO SEE EVEN THOUGH IT’S ALL THE WAY DOWN HERE:
Binding with a sports bra is not automatically safe! It’s easy to think “people wear sports bras all the time and no one worries about it, it must be fine”. But the people who wear them normally wear ones that fit. If you’re a decently chesty person trying to squash all that down with a sports bra, chances are the bra is WAY too small.
See, the thing about a sports bra as opposed to a binder is that a binder is the same size on the lumps and on the ribs, whereas a sports bra goes out for the lumps. That means that in order for a sports bra to squeeze the lumps hard enough to flatten them, it has to be squeezing REALLY hard on your ribs.
I’ve caused myself pretty bad damage just from binding with sports bras. Binders are actually way gentler on the ribs than the many-sizes-too-small things I was wearing. So, TL;DR: If you’re using a sports bra, don’t assume you can ignore the rules of safe binding. You still have to only wear it for 8 hours at a time, and shouldn’t sleep in it, and for the love of god DON’T GET ONE SO SMALL YOU CAN BARELY STRUGGLE INTO IT LET ALONE BREATHE.
Thank you. That is all.