Chest Binding Advice needed!

[Akira]

Hello! I'm very new to chest binding and was hoping to get some help on this forum along with any tips and tricks to bind safely!
I know nothing about chest binding other than I should not buy/use Ace bandages and I should not bind for very long hours continuously.

I've tried buying a chest binder online, it's a tube-shaped strapless one that only covers the chest area but when I tried it on I found it barely helped conceal my chest and it felt like it was restricting my breathing. I followed the size chart that was provided by the shop and bought the correct one for my size so I don't think it's too big or small.

Could it be that this binder isn't good? Or is it a technique I'm doing wrongly?

Side note: Is there a way to conceal the shape/size of my hips? My body shape is close to the Pear type and I'm way shorter than the average woman in my country. I fear that even if I manage to overcome the chest problem, the Pear shaped silhouette and short height I have might still give away my gender.

Any help is appreciated, thank you!

[Carolyn Marie]

Here are some helpful links, both from Trans Pulse and elsewhere.

 

 

https://www.pointofpride.org/blog/binding-101-tips-to-bind-your-chest-safely

 

https://health.clevelandclinic.org/safe-chest-binding/

 

 

Carolyn Marie

[Spencer Phoenix]

Binding should absolutely not be restricting your breathing. You want to be able to take a deep breath while wearing it, but also make sure it provides some level of compression. Also, I've generally heard that binders that are strapless are not good quality due to more pressure that it puts on your ribs. There are other companies that make binders that are well respected (for the most part), the most popular being Underworks, GC2B, and Spectrum Outfitters. 

 

As for your hips, I believe there are some hip compression/shapewear sort of things that you could maybe get off of Amazon. I've never used any of those before though, so there's not much help I can give there. 

 

Hope this helps!