Okay so I don't have a very big chest but I still despise it. I know binders exist and do their job well, but I wonder if I need the extreme binding and not just something to hold a flat chest? Ok so when I lay down for example my chest disappears, and honestly I'm found laying on my back during breaks and feel so much better after feeling lots of dysphoria because I feel they've finally disappeared. But I want to experience that while standing up too and wonder if binders are the only option. I refuse to wear bras/sports bras though, I get those are an option but I do not want a cloth that constantly presses up against me to give me a constant painful reminder of what's there.(mostly because of the shape...I'm sure they do a great job but feeling the shape is just no....) so does anyone have any advice? If binders are an only option would going one size larger help with movement/still do it's job?
The only thing I was going to suggest as an alternative is to sports bras, wearing one backwards. To get your chest flatter you're going to need to compress and you'll be able to feel it. If you want to bind then you're going to have to deal with that. Getting a size larger won't bind as well and getting the right size still allows got full movement. There's nothing I can't do when I bind, it just makes my chest a bit tight and my breathing heavier. Other than that mobility is the same.
Yep, I'm the same. Got a pretty small chest too and honestly I like the look of a binder, but I hate the feeling of it just as much as a sports bra. It's really constricting and the way it presses against my chest is sometimes just horrible in terms of reminding me that my chest -is there- It's pretty rare that I wear a binder so I mainly just get shirts that are mens fits and not really tight. Depending on what I'm wearing, I've got either a crop top like this in plain grey http://img1.cndirect.com/media/catalog/product/A/M/AM001120_PU-G.jpg which doesn't feel like anything much, and flattens enough (not perfectly) but I prefer the compromise to a binder or sports bra which work a little better but because of being uncomfortable, just aren't worth it for me. Or if I'm wearing something that hides things pretty well anyway, I'll just wear nipple covers (safer than tape - my skin is ridiculously sensitive). In winter, I don't bother wearing anything because you can't tell. Uhh, typing that was a whole heap of uncomfortable >< Dunno if it helps. I know most people bind.
I have a very small chest and I sometimes wear a sports undershirt thing to compress it. They are easy to come across if you go to a sports shop, and they're pretty comfortable.
You know, after wearing sports bras for a while you won't notice them anymore. So you could give it a shot.
You could try a size up. Personally, I have a small chest (the fact that you have basically a flat chest when lying down suggests we're around the same size) and wear a velcro binder so I can put it on a bit looser when I don't need such strong compression (really, I only wear it significantly tight if I'm wearing a fairly tight shirt or if I have really bad dysphoria and need a 100% flat chest). I find that in most clothes, even wearing the binder unvelcroed (so, no compression at all) makes me look flatter just because there's a layer of sturdy flat fabric between my chest and my shirt. If I wear it very loose, I get flat enough for it to not be an issue except in fairly tight shirts. I suspect that if you wore a binder that was slightly looser on you, you'd still get pretty flat without having to deal with as much discomfort from your binder.
How small are you exactly? Like an A? Witnessing my only ftm friend IRL's transiotion didn't really prepare me much because he didn't do a lot of stuff most transguys do. He never had to bind for example because he wore like a 34AA. He just didn't wear a bra. He did later have top surgery though, and doesn't even have scars because I think they did keyhole or something. He doesn't pack or anyhing either and doesn't want a hysto or bottom surgery. But yeah, everyone does things different. You don't have to bind if you are pretty flat. I understand not wanting to wear a bra. I used to not wear one at all and just wear dark, baggy clothes. I kinda need to bind though. I am 34B (i assume. I haven't worn a real bra since 9th grade). Here are a couple suggestions: 1. Put medical tape over your nipples. 2. Wear a tight, regular tanktop under your clothes.
Ah the sports bra backwards thing sounds interesting. The only thing I was worried about with the whole bras thing is the fact that when they're on you they're cupped or segmented and I'm not comfy with them in general. But I'll take your work on the binder and sports bra tip. ---------- Post added 18th Jun 2016 at 08:13 PM ---------- I might try these out actually, including that nipple tape? I'll take a look into it at least. But usually I can hide under multiple layers but unfortunately it's summer and there's lots of heat advisory warnings so I can't layer as much as I used to in winter. ---------- Post added 18th Jun 2016 at 08:18 PM ---------- I've never tried a sports shop before but I'll take a look at what they have! I could try, an above comment mentioned sports shop ones. I'm just used to going completely without one since I hate that "female" reminder, hopefully they have some that come without straps? I dunno but hopefully I can learn to ignore it if it compresses well. ---------- Post added 18th Jun 2016 at 08:20 PM ---------- Thanks for the binder advice I'm 100% going to look more into Velcro binders if I decide on getting one for just that reason! I'll attempt the sports bra thing first and if I dislike it this is definitely where I'm going next!
Well the smallest A size is big on me so I just don't wear them period, the only thing smaller is training bras but my rib cage is too large for those. And funny enough I'm aiming for keyhole surgery too since I know I'm small enough. I just want enough binding though that when I wear tight shirts that I can hide my chest (my new job won't let me wear baggy clothes anymore since it looks unprofessional to them so I kinda need some options now.) But yeah I'll give the medical tape and tank top thing a try, I don't own any tight ones so I'll have to go out and look for one. On a separate note thank you so much everyone for all of these tips I'm definitely going to try them out and hopefully I'll find something that works out for me! ---------- Post added 18th Jun 2016 at 08:31 PM ---------- I figured that was the case but I'll try them out, and yeah I've heard about ace bandages being extremely dangerous and can permanently harm you so I'll steer clear of those.
I've seen guys on you tube who don't use any kind of binder at all. They just use a few plasters in le nipples and they're fine with that. You could just get a loose half binder, cos then it would be more or less like a really short vest that's as loose as one too. Or a tight undershirt thing maybe.
