Transgender Tips

Binding with Ace Bandages

Q. What's so bad about binding with ace bandages?

Instead of the bandage expanding with your chest ace bandages contract. This can fracture your ribs and puncture your lungs (this can kill you). Binding with ace bandages can also cause damage to your breasts (put a word in there that makes you feel comfortable) which can make top surgery even more difficult than it already is. It can leave more scars than top surgery should normally leave and your ribs can get really fucked up.

Q. What parts of your body can be injured?

· Ribs

· Lungs

· Breasts (insert word that makes you feel comfortable)

· Back

· Shoulders

Q. How can they be injured? What's the worst that could happen?

The worst case scenario you can die from binding with ace bandages.

Ribs
Your ribs can break or crack

Lungs
You can get punctured lungs from your ribs cracking/breaking.
Your lungs can also get fluid built up (from breathing being restricted)

Breasts (insert word that makes you feel comfortable)
You have a higher chance of getting breast cancer.
Also binding with ace can lead to permanent deformation of the breasts (insert word that makes you feel comfortable) or with any other unsafe binding methods.

Shoulders & Back
It can affect the way your whole body moves, grows (if you're still growing) and can cause serious pain to the back and/or shoulders.

Experiences

I have had binding experiences with Duct Tape and Ace Bandages.

With the duct tape it was tight, sticky, hot and I did get a bruise from it (Only wore it for 20 minutes). Even though you can still breathe, it can make it hard to breathe normally because it stays in one spot and sticks to your skin. It doesn't compress like ace bandages but it does feel tight and does hurt to breathe. It may just be how tight I had it but that's just my experience.

Ace bandages.. I wore an ace bandage once and never again. Basically every time I breathed in and out the bandage would get even tighter. I eventually took off knowing if I continued to wear it I'd either pass out (because I ended up taking little breaths) or break something.