Extracts from here: helloclue.com/articles/cycle-a-z/chest-binding-tips-and-tricks-for-trans-men-nonbinary-and-genderfluid
Risks and side effects of binding
Binding can affect skin, muscles, and movement, particularly over long periods of time. Tightly covering the skin and chest with materials that don’t allow free-flowing air can create warm, moist environments for bacterial and fungal infections to develop. Wearing binders that are too tight can cause underlying tissue and muscle damage, prevent free movement, and even restrict a person’s ability to breathe.
Two studies have been completed that focus specifically on people who bind. They were cross-sectional studies, observing a specific population (people who chest bind) at a specific point in time, and were published in 2017 and 2018. Both of these studies are based on data from 1,800 responders to an online survey.
Across both studies, the majority of people (89-97%) reported experiencing at least one negative symptom from chest binding (2,3).
Common side effects of chest binding
76-78% of people in studies reported skin/tissue problems, like tenderness, scarring, swelling, itching, infections
74-75% of people reported pain in chest, shoulders, back or abdomen
51-52% of people reported respiratory problems (like shortness of breath)
47-49% of people reported musculoskeletal symptoms, like postural changes, muscle wasting, or rib fractures (2,3)
(emphasis mine)
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call me old fashioned but I don’t think it’s good to give minors devices that cause the above behind their parents backs
i wouldn’t even give someone else’s teen a pair of heels! Growing bodies need extra care.
Plus, if a girl is feeling crap about her developing breasts (and crikey knows they grow in all sorts of uneven ways) she will feel a lot worse about them when they are permanently tissue damaged (look up surgical results for before and after cosmetic mastectomy - the before photos are what binding does to previously healthy tissue).