#I AM SO TIRED OF NOT BEING ABLE TO USE MY RIBCAGE EVENLY

[goldkirk]

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[capttower]

Hiya Everybody! TOWER here! It's been awhile since I have posted, it's been weeks! But, I took that time to prepare and make my project this whole time.

Am finally ddone with the first one, rather the first chapter of my very own fanfiction! Yes! I'm pretty new to the whole writing thing coz I'm more of an illustrator and making fanarts.

I'm truly grateful to the people helping me out on this and for encouraging me in trying NEW THINGS!

A major thanks to @geekgirles and @indayia-indy for looking out and helping me all the way, and to all the people supporting me on this one!

Without further ado! I present to you...

CRESCENT ~●🌘●~

This story takes place after the world tour, and slowly depicts of a hidden past of the ancient times of all trollkind, way before the strings existence. In the present, the trolls finally lived in harmony and is co-existing one another and their lives once more, a one big party. However, things may escalate in more adventures romance, comfort, isolation, hurt, and longing. The truths of the past, may be revealed, in the most unexpected of places.

  “One… two… three…” a light green trolling counted, with his arms pressed to a tree bark and covering his eyes with it,  his back facing  the opposite direction. While he counted, his playmates looked for the perfect place to hide before the count ended.

“four…,five…, six…,” some were hiding in the bushes, some blended  in along with the foliage of the surroundings, and some went further to find a better hiding spot in hopes of not being caught instantly.

“seven… eight… nine…ten!” He took his small arms away from his face. “Ready or not, here I come!” beamed Keith as he trotted in their playground to find his playmates and looked to every possible hiding spots the place had to offer. As he looked for his friends, he heard rustling from a nearby bush. “Huh?” it moved again and Keith grinned from ear to ear as he found his first catch. He tiptoed to the bush as he rubbed his hands together evilly, thinking of giving them a little scare. As he got closer, he could hear small voices behind the bushes, proving his assumptions right. ‘Thought you guys can do better in hiding such an obvious spot now, did ya?’ Keith quietly chuckled menacingly.

“Hehe”

“Shh! Keep it down, he might hear you.” whispered a light-pink skinned trolling with yellow hair.

“Sorry I can’t help it.” squeaked the other trolling with purple skin and red hair holding both hands up to his mouth, stifling.

“Do you think he’ll find us?”

“Who knows, maybe he’ll find the others before he gets to us” shrugged the light-pink trolling.

“Oh, YOU’RE SO WRONG.”

The two trollings gasped simultaneously. “GOTCHA!” roared Keith as he grabbed the two.

“Aaaaaaaaahhhhhh!!!” they shrieked on the top of their lungs half-scared to death of Keith’s face appearing between them in the bush. Keith and the trollings stumbled in the dirt. Their high-pitched scream caused birds to fly out the trees, disturbed by the sudden outburst below.

The two trollings were clutching their chest as to calm their beating hearts. “Keith! You scared us half to death!” the light-pink trolling exclaimed waving her hands, exasperated as the other trolling nodded, frowning.

“I’m sorry Lilac, but do you guys have to scream like that?” he retorted as he furrowed his brows and put a pinkie in his right ear in attempt to soothe his ringing ears.

“We wouldn’t have done it, if you hadn’t scared us like that in the first place” countered the light-pink trolling as she huffed, crossing her arms over her chest, the other trolling nodded in agreement crossing his arms as well. “Fair point” deadpanned Keith. Both trollings glared at him, waving his hands at them “Ok, ok! Sorry, I won’t do it again. It was just in all good fun.” rising from the ground and patting away dirt of his shorts.

“Looks like we’re out, Lilac.” The purple trolling shrugged.

“And most likely the first ones found too.”

“Of course you’ll be found first. You two are hiding in the most obvious spot of hiding places, and you guys can’t even stay quiet.” Keith quirked an eyebrow at them. The two looked at each other and smiled sheepishly. Keith shook his head in disbelief with his hands on his hips. “Yeah, I gotta go look for the others.” Running to the direction where the others might be, “Wait for us, Keith!” called the purple trolling as he and Lilac ran after him laughing.

Two pairs of feet ran as fast as their little feet could take them, giggling from the adrenaline rush and excitement. They stopped shortly, panting hard from all the running, knowing they were far from being caught, for now.

“I think hah… hah… this is far enough, hah… hah… don’t you think? panted the young troll with pink purple skin and bright blue hair with big headphones on the top of her head. Turning to her fellow panting companion as she leaned with one hand to a rock “Yeah, this is good enough, and I’m exhausted.” groaned the yellow skin and pink haired young troll, slumping all the way down to the rock beside her breathless friend.

“Hehe, he won’t find us for awhile now. We’re far out from them.” giggled the purple young troll, finally breathing evenly. “I suppose, we’ve been running like forever!” exclaimed the yellow troll, raising both hands in the air and bringing them down unto the ground again.

“That gives us time for a breather.”

“Yeah, we’ll just have to wait 'til Keith finds us.” laughed the purple troll, lowering herself to seat beside her friend.

As the purple troll took her time to be comfortable, the yellow troll looked around them, her smile slowly turning into a frown, as she realized something, “Uh, CJ?” worry in her voice, calling out to her friend.

“Hmm?” hummed CJ, now relaxing with closed eyes.

“I hate to ruin your moment of relaxation, but, we're in the middle of one place that trolls shouldn’t be even in broad daylight” fiddling with her fingers as she spoke, voice slowly getting low in volume.

“We’re in Misty Meadows.” Priscilla squeaked.

CJ opened her eyes almost instantly, as to what her friend said, and abruptly sat up, looking around the place. It was a bit misty even during the day, the forest seemed to be low in lighting, critter sounds echoed quietly in the distance from every direction. Both young trolls looked at each other. “I think we lost track to where we were running to.” the yellow troll finally spoke, worry etched on her face. CJ gulped at this, and said, “Maybe we should get out of here, and find somewhere else to hide and rest.”

“Yeah, we really should.” CJ quickly stood up and offered a hand to help out her friend. Priscilla reached out and managed to grab the offered hand when a crack sounded off nearby. Both trolls froze by the sudden sound, eyes wide darting for the source of the sound. They stayed still for a few moments, having enough of it. CJ pulled her friend up, and they both stepped away from the rock, slowly backing away still facing to where the sound went off. Both held unto each other’s hands tightly, to the point they were turning white from the tightness. Sweat forming on their foreheads, threatening to break into a slow trail falling down to their brows, their breathing quickening from nervousness, the pounding of their hearts got so loud,  they could hear it in their ears, and thumping hardly in their ribcage.

“What do you think it was?” Priscilla anxiously asked her friend.

CJ momentarily contemplated the possibilities, what could have made that sound? “Maybe it’s just a critter or something.” she skeptically shrugged. “Now, let’s get out of here before anything more freaks us out.”

BOOM!

The ground shook like thunder, hitting the ground with such force, the two young trolls slightly jumped and stood close to each other shivering in place, eyes wide like it was about to pop out of their head. They heard a growl and a small breeze hit their backs, making them shake uncontrollably from their toes to the tips of their hair and a looming shadow covered them completely. They slowly looked behind them, they frighteningly looked up to the massive figure above them. Their eyes widened in terror, as theirs met four dark beady eyes staring back at them hungrily, all the while snarling at them, with its sharp teeth on display, six long legs, towering over them ready to trap its prey, a tarantapuff.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAHH!!!" They screamed on top of their lungs in horror, and the tarantapuff roared along with them, lunging itself at them. The two young trolls, evaded on time, and ran away from the huge beast in hopes of escaping the hungry predator. They gasped and panted heavily, the fright of becoming the spiders’ meal fueled them to their very core, forcing their small feet to move accordingly, to break free from the dreadful fate.

It snapped at them too closely, they were able to evade its big mouth on time, as they turned a sharp left changing directions, that was too close! Next time, they wouldn’t be so lucky, for the tarantapuff was even more pumped up and determined to not let its food get away.

They were getting tired from evading, and running, but they couldn’t stop now! “CJ! I’m getting tired.”Priscilla shouted.

 “Keep running Priscilla! We can’t stop now!” CJ shouted back. Priscilla braved a glance at their back, seeing the tarantapuff snarling at them right on their tail. An arched root of a plant caught Priscilla’s left foot and she stumbled to the ground, hard. “Ooof!” Her glasses fell off from her face and she landed face first.

CJ turned back in time to see her friend fall, “PRISCILLA!” she yelled, scared for her friend. Priscilla rose using both hands to support herself and winced of the pain she felt on her left ankle. She looked at it and panicked of the sight of her swollen ankle. “Oh no” she cried in fright, realising she wouldn’t be able to get away now. She jolted when a shadow, once more, towered over her, engulfing her form in darkness. Anxiously looking up, meeting the horrifying gaze of the beast with her own. Her sight getting even blurrier, tears were pooling her eyes and a tear managed to slip from her eyes and stain her cheeks with its wet trail. Is this how she was going to die? Being eaten alive by one of the vicious predators that most critters feared. CJ was crying at a distance away, she couldn’t move, she was shaking from intense fright for her best friend. She had to save her friend! She had to! But her body wouldn’t listen to her! She tried and every muscle in her body tensed heavily, it was starting to ache. She closed her eyes tightly, hoping the next moment she opened her eyes her body would finally go running back to her friend and protect her from the spider. When she heard it roar, she instantly opened her eyes, the world around them seemed to slow down in motion. The tarantapuff was pouncing on the small form from its line of sight down below opening its mouth as wide as possible. The hole that is the mouth of the spider has closed in on Priscilla, who seemed to be screaming in despair. CJ’s eyes widened even more, heart beat pounding hard in her chest a mile a minute she reached out a hand, hoping it would reach her friend instead.

“NOOOOOOOOO!!!”

SLASH!

A loud thud landed on the forest floor shaking everything in its wake, plants swaying from the heavy fall. It was the spider’s body that fell limp to the ground. Lifeless. Everything fell silent, the forest, once more, falling back to its silence. CJ stood still with her tears still falling from her eyes. Her breathing was ragged from all the nervous rush she felt moments ago. What just happened? The spider, why was it in the ground? Priscilla was still there, her body rising and falling from breathing hard in the dirt where she sat, waiting for the inevitable. But it didn’t happen. The next thing she knew, her friend was about to meet her end. And it didn’t. She was confused. It all happened so fast. As these raging thoughts swirled in her confused mind, a figure in the distance before her moved. Her line of sight had come back to focus, and reality resided in once more.

A glint of light shimmered, from a pair of what looked like, two long blades held by a dark tall figure, standing a few steps away from Priscilla. ‘Huh?’ CJ questioned in her mind, ‘Who… is that?’ She eyed the tall figure. A black cloak on their shoulders, its torn edges ended right at their ankles' level. Dark purple mane, sticking upwards, swaying slightly from a breeze passing by them, sharp ears on each side of their head. She couldn’t really make out the skin color since they were mostly covered by their cloak but, she could tell, their skin tone was even darker than their mane.

Priscilla has long looked behind her seeing the tall figure, standing a few steps away from where she sat, in awe and slightly terrified of the figure's intimidating appeal. Despite their sharp look and dark tone, and two huge scars on their face, the first passing through their left eye and to the tip of their sharp brow and the other stretched from the lower side of their cheek, up to their temple. Their clothes were different from the ones that the trolls wore in their village. And their eyes were what caught her attention the most. Their eyes looked like they were glowing, even in daylight. Piercing green-emerald eyes, she noticed, they were like small gems for eyes.

“Are you all right?”

Priscilla’s stupor was broken by the rough hoarse voice coming from the dark troll. CJ snapped as well at this, and slowly went to her friend’s side. Walking a good distance from the stranger, she knelt beside her friend to check on her. Priscilla sadly smiled at her, happy that her friend was at her side again. This lasted for a moment, and they looked warily together at the dark troll.

Seeing the exchange, he sighed and lifted his hands with his blades in hand, he heard the young trolls squeaked shakily, he stopped and looked back on the two young trolls, scared of his sudden movement and caught the yellow troll’s hand at her left ankle. He could see the change in color of her skin under the young troll’s palm. Assuming that he was the cause of their bodily tremor, he then slowly lifted the twin blades all the way to his shoulder and sheathed them in his back, careful not to make sudden movements to scare the young trolls even more. It clicked, indicating that the blades were finally in place. He proceeded to reach from an inside pocket in his cloak, pulling out a small jar. After fishing out the item, he walked to the two young trolls. The two gasped silently and huddled to each other tightly, and looked like they were about to cry. Priscilla whimpered, mostly because of the sting of her left ankle. “Don’t fret, I don’t mean you any harm.” the dark troll spoke in his hoarse voice again.

CJ looked up at the stranger, doubtful of his words. His voice was kind of rough, husky even, but there was a gentle side of it. She looked at her friend, hand still on her swollen ankle and she looked like she was in more pain. She wanted to soothe her friend from the pain, but, she couldn’t do that on her own. So, she looked back at the dark troll, who was standing patiently, jar in his hands, gentle eyes glowing in a shimmering manner. Her heart calm, trusting the offered help from the dark troll, she nodded, and retreated her arms around her friend, as she was about to let go, firm hands gripped on her arms tight, not allowing it to go any further. CJ faced her friend, and saw the worried look on Priscilla’s face, her lips quivering. Her eyes speaking to her ‘don’t let go’. Seeing the message, CJ smiled a soft smile at her in reassurance. “Don’t worry, I won’t go anywhere. I’ll be right here. He just needs a moment to look at your ankle.” She said comfortingly.

“But-“

“I can’t fix your ankle without making it any worse. I don’t know any medical treatment. But, he’ll help you. He’ll help us.” Priscilla glanced at the stranger still not convinced. She looked at her friend again.

“Trust me.” CJ said, squeezing her friends’ hands in hers. Priscilla looked in her friend’s eyes, searching hers asking for her to trust her. She smiled sadly and nodded. CJ beamed at this and looked at the dark troll with a nod.

“See? You’re all better.” CJ inferred at her friend, sitting beside her the whole time, Priscilla smiled and nodded with her friend in agreement. It didn’t hurt as much as it would moments ago, her ankle was bandaged by a dull green cloth with a wet ointment underneath it, soaking the swollen area of the ankle. “Thank You, Mister!” Priscilla gratefully said, no longer scared of the dark troll.

The dark troll was putting away his things when he heard the chirpy voice of the injured young troll. He looked in their way and replied back “You’re welcome.” He stood up, hands in his knees leaning for support to lift himself up, until he was finally standing tall. He was large and tall for a troll. Dark and mysterious in a way, CJ couldn’t help but ask him, “Um, mister, are you from around here? I haven’t   seen you anywhere in the village.” Priscilla, widened her eyes at CJ, bewildered by her friend’s sudden questioning.

Caught off guard by this, the dark troll looked at her, casting a shadow over the young trolls. “No, I’m not.” CJ nodded at this, “So, you’re from another tribe then?” she asked again. Priscilla was gaping this time.

“Yes, I am.”

“Cool!” CJ jumped up from her seat, and her eyes were like stars. Priscilla stayed still, eyes still wide at the unfolding scene before her.

The dark troll was slightly taken aback by her actions, but he didn’t show it. “From what tribe are you then?” the dark troll opened his mouth but was cut off by another voice, “CJ! Um, isn’t it rude to bombard him with personal questions?” the stranger and CJ looked at her like she wasn’t there for a moment until she talked. The yellow troll then slowly shrank in their gaze in embarrassment, feeling like she did something wrong. CJ blinked, and turned back to the stranger, and looked up at him, in time to see him looking back at her as well. Realizing what she'd done, a blush creeping on her cheeks, as she smiled sheepishly. “Hehe, um, sorry about that.” She apologized.

“It’s… fine.” he slowly replied, and continued before he was asked any more, “Look, we need to get you both out of here before anything else comes out.” As he talked, he caught sight of the broken glasses and went to retrieve it.

“Yeah, we really should go back.” CJ replied taking a glance around them. “By the way, what’s your name mister?” she suddenly asked. The dark troll paused at this, halfway from picking up the glasses. He couldn’t reveal his name and proceeded in picking up the broken object.  As soon, as the dark troll got a hold of the glasses, they heard a snarl behind them. The dark troll swiftly turned around, feet dragged along the dirt, and falling into a protective stance in front of the two young trolls. CJ and Priscilla gasp loudly by the sight of five tarantapuffs. Fright taking over their body, and huddled shakily together even more scared than ever.

‘This is not good!’ the dark troll mentally said to himself. He glared at the huge five opponents before them. And chanced a side glance to his small companions, they were trembling uncontrollably, terror shadowing in their eyes. He groaned, thinking how they were terribly at a disadvantage at this point, running away would be futile with five predators that could corner them to their deaths. There was only one thing to do, “CJ, right!?” he unintentionally yelled. CJ jolted at this and looked at him “Ye-yeah??” she shakily answered.

Priscilla had a bad feeling. “You two need to run as fast as you can, and away as possible as you can! Run back to your village!” He then pulled out his twin blades from his back, fully unsheathed in their full glory. “I’ll distract them while you run. Now GO!”

“But Priscilla, she can’t run!”

“And I can’t see well!” they both shouted back with emphasis, finding it impossible to do so.

“You’ll have to do what you can! Even if I take you there myself, they will still catch up on us! Now, hurry! They’re coming closer!” declared the dark troll.

“I’ll hold them off! Now, GO!!” he roared jolting the trembling trolls and, try as they might, ran miserably towards their village. “Be careful, mister!” shouted CJ, as she helped her limping friend.

A tarantapuff tried to chase them but was blinded by dirt splattered right into its beady eyes, screeching from the pain. The dark troll smirked at his accomplishment. But, it was not over yet.

Taking one last glance to assure they were far enough, the spiders screeched at him angrily for being blocked by the dark troll. He glared back at them, his eyes gleaming dangerously, readying his stance. And he took a deep breath closing his eyes temporarily in concentration. The beasts are now advancing for him to make him pay for what he did. He opened his eyes, glaring intensely at his advancing foes. He lunged with speed and jumped so high in the air, the sun’s brightness was blocked by his form. This made the spiders squint, and stopped them from their march. The dark troll descended with his blades, ready to strike, and cried a battle cry.

There you have it! 1st chapter of 'Crescent'. Hope you enjoy this, coz there WILL BE MORE!

Til' next UPDATE! 😉🌘

[realtransfacts]

hi, do you have a post about binding safely? I want to show my mom so she can see that it's not unsafe if you do it right. thanks!

I did try my best to make a comprehensive but not too long Binding 101 post here - and one that can hopefully be read and understood by people who don’t bind & have no desire to bind themselves, at that!

Of course this post won’t include everything, but it should hopefully cover most of the basics. It may not be exactly what you were looking for though, because even when done safely, binding is not ever completely danger-free.

Why do people bind their chest?

There’s more than one reason to bind, of course, but the most common one among trans people is physical gender dysphoria.

The feeling of disconnect or dislike towards a part of your body can be hard to explain in word sometimes, especially since many people experience it in very different ways. But it is a feeling that is draining, that is painful, and that can do tremendous harm to a person’s mental well-being.

So, binding one’s chest in order to hide these parts of our bodies, both from ourselves and from others, can be a hugely relieving and freeing thing. And something that makes life so much more bearable and enjoyable.

How do people bind their chest?

There are many different ways to bind your chest, some more dangerous than others.

Ace bandages (and any other brand of similar bandages) and tape are a no-go if you want to keep yourself safe while binding. They are capable of messing you up pretty seriously even if you only bind with them for a very short time.

Some safer DIY options could be [sewing your own binder from scratch], [making one out of a camisole], [making one out of a pair of tights] or making one of out shapewear underwear [link 1] + [link 2].

However, the best option is to get a binder that is professionally made. [gc2b] is a company that makes binders specifically for trans people and it is where I have got my binders from, but [Underworks] is another popular place that a lot of people buy from. And of course there are many more aside from those two.

Wearing one (1) high compression sports bra in your right size can also be one way to bind you chest. Although keep in mind that they are not designed to be work for longer periods of time and that the lower band of it will put a lot of focused preassure on your ribs (while a binder will distibute it more evenly). Wearing multiple sports bras on top of each other, or wearing ones that are too small for you, is not safe.

When should you not bind your chest?

There are numerous medical conditions that could make binding very unsafe, so if you worry binding may trouble you for those reasons, it could be a good idea to talk to your doctor about it.

I personally have asthma and that makes binding a bit more dangerous for me than for non-asthmatic people, as my breathing is already a bit worse than it should be. So further restricting it by binding is something I would like to avoid doing, which is part of the reason I am working towards getting top surgery to have my breasts removed. Still, the possible dangers of binding are still worth it for me when I weigh them against the certain mental suffering that comes from not binding.

Even for people without medical issues though, there are times when you should not be wearing your binder:

When you sleep.

When you exercise*.

When you have already worn it for 8 hours**.

If you’re new to binding: when you are alone***.

*Some companies like Underworks sell [binders specifically made for swimming] and [gc2b have said that their binders are ok to swim in too]. You should still be very careful when swimming in a binder though, as it does restrict your breathing and movment a bit. And be sure to wash the binder you swim in regularly, as having chlorine left in it can irritate your skin.

**The given maximum of binding hours per day in one go is 8. But everybody’s body is different, so not everyone can safely bind for that long. Personally I can usually only manage 6 hours before my ribs start to hurt pretty bad. And it’s best to not start with trying to go for the 8 hours limit right away when you get your first binder; it’s better to start binding for a smaller amount of time in the beginning and the gradually increase it over time, to allow your body time to adapt to it.

***Binders can be difficult to get out of on your own sometimes, especially in the beginning when you haven’t yet figured out the best way to do it. So in the beginning, it is best to only bind when you have other people around that can help you out of your binder in case you would need help getting it off.

How do you take care of your binder?

Binders will get worn out over time, just like any other piece of clothing. However, it may be more noticable in binders than in regular clothes, as their compression ability will visibly get worse and worse the more worn out it gets. Getting a new binder about once a year is usually recommended, but it really depends on how much you wear it.

You should wash your binder regularly. Doing this might actually help it last longer, depending on the style of it.

Some have tags that say they are machine-wash safe, in which case you could absolutely wash them that way. But personally I always handwash mine, just to make sure they’re not unnecessarilydamaged.

I use a small amount of mild detergent and cold water. Spend a lot of time rinsing it out afterwards with just water, to make sure there is no, or at least no big amount of, detergent left in it. Then I carefully scrunch it up into a ball to get as much water out as possible (don’t twist, because you don’t want to stretch the fabric) and then hang it on a hanger over the bathtub to let it drip and dry completely overnight.

For the style of binder I have (the gc2b ones), washing it regularly in cold water helps the fabric retain some of its elasticity. Which is something that can help it bind better for longer.

It may be ideal to wash it after everytime you’ve worn it and sweated in it, to prevent it from irritating your skin, but washing it just once a week is enough if you can’t do it more often than that.

What are the dangers of binding your chest?

Binding will inevetably wear out the elasticity of your skin and the breast tissue in your chest area after a while. How long it takes varies from person to person, as everybody’s body is different. But you will likely notice some difference within the first year if you bind a lot. This has little to no known actual dangerous side-effects in itself, but it will make your chest sag more and may affect how the result of top surgery looks if you plan on getting that in the future, as well as affect what types of surgeries you can get.

Even safe binding will likely give you some aches in your ribs, back and shoulders. But it is still best to take your binder off and give your body a break once you start feeling pain.

Excessive and unsafe binding comes with a lot of dangers:

Difficulty breathing, which can lead to fainting and, if binder is not removed, suffocating.

Extremely irritated skin.

Damaged (bruised, sprained, brokwn) ribs.

Damaged ribcage.

Damaged lungs (if punctured by a broken rib).

Damaged spine.

These things can usually be avoided as long as you bind safely, however.

How do you know if the pain/side-effects you get from binding is normal or not? When should you be worried?

Listen to your body and learn to interpret its signals. Everyone has different pain thresholds and everybody’s body has different limits, after all. So you will need to learn your own.

But some general signs and side-effects, normal and not, are as follows:

Normal:

Sore arms, shoulders, neck and/or back. This soreness may linger for a a couple of hours after you take the binder off, or not show up until the day after. It should go away completely after 2 days without binding.

Getting a bit out of breathe after having climbed a set of stairs or similar. Although you should still be able to catch your breathe again without too much difficulty.

Some chafting under your arms.

Increased chest and back acne.

Slight anxiety caused by feeling restricted.

Not normal, take the binder off as soon as you can and see a doctor if the symptoms don’t go away within a couple of days:

Difficulty breathing, especially if even after you’ve taken the binder off.

Not able to take deep breathes, cough or sneeze.

Sharp pain in chest or ribs.

Lightheadedness, feeling like you’re about to faint.

Losing vision, having your ears ringing or getting a tingling sensation in your fingers, even if just for a moment. (Often signs that you are about to faint.)

Feeling too sore/too restricted/too tired to do everyday activities that you could do without problems before you started binding.

Numbness in arms.

Bruising.

Skin rashes.

Nausea during or after binding.

Not normal, go see a doctor as soon as you can, could be signs of a serious injury:

Any of the symptoms from the list above, if you are feeling very worried about them. Better safe than sorry.

Not able to breathe at all.

Blueness in your libs or fingertips.

Fainting.

Sudden intense bursts of claustrophobia and/or panick attacks, especially if you do no get those when not binding.

Noticable change in ribcage shape.

Wow, that’s a lot of dangers. Is it really worth it?

For many people, including me: yes.

Like I said in the beginning, there are many reasons for why people bind. But mine is dysphoria, so that is the only thing I can talk about here.

Dysphoria is not a joking matter. It is often a very intense and painful kind of suffering. And taking these risks is often still better than having to deal with the dysphoria that we have when we are not binding.

This may be difficult to understand if you are not dysphoric yourself. But please try to understand that people would not knowingly be taking these risks if we didn’t feel like we needed to.