For most of my life, I had a pretty flat chest and happily so because it reflected the "gender is B.S. and I am a rainbow of possibilities" identity I'd always had. Then, a few years ago, I went from kind-of-flat to Christina Hendricks seemingly overnight due to a hormonal change, and I was not pleased. Not because she's not stupidly gorgeous, but because I viewed myself as more of a tomboy, and having a more traditionally feminine figure felt strange and foreign to me. So I looked into chest-binding.

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Chest-binding basically just means flattening your breasts using a binder, which is like a super-tight sports bra. Many transgender men bind because they can't afford top surgery or decided not to get it.

Jackson Treece, 29, told me he never liked his breasts while he was growing up and "leapt at the chance" to bind them saying, "[Binding] offered me the ability to shove something that was bothering me to the back of my mind and not have to worry about it." Some people, like Ollie Fjor'Skera, 25, really don't like binding, saying, "It hurts, it makes my shoulders sore, it's hard to breathe, binders are expensive, and it's hard to find a really good one," but they'd rather deal with all of those problems than the body dysphoria they have related to their chest.

When you do a Google search for chest-binding, you get a slew of information, which is mostly links to chest binders that may or may not be too small or too painful or poorly made or super expensive or won't work if you're over a B cup. And then you get a bunch of additional information about how if you bind the wrong way, you can seriously hurt yourself, so you end up feeling like, "OK, so then WTF am I supposed to do with these boobs I'm not thrilled with having?"

To spare you the same confusion, I spoke with a bunch of queer women and transgender men who know how to bind responsibly.

1. Find a store that will let you try the binder on IRL. Dan Simpson, 36, says there's a store in Chicago called Early To Bed that lets you try binders before you buy one so you can make sure you're getting the correct fit, as opposed to guessing with online measurements like a boob mathematician. Every binder manufacturer has a different sizing system, so having a friend help you measure and making sure your measurements are accurate as possible will help, but it still might take some trial and error (see: returns and exchanges) if you do it online.

2. Don't order a binder that's too small for you thinking it'll make you even flatter. I know that seems logical, but Simpson says that if you order one that's too small for you, it can be extra painful. Searah Deysach, 42, who doesn't bind herself but owns aforementioned feminist sex shop Early To Bed, which sells binders, says point blank that if you can't breathe in your binder, you need to go up a size because duh, you need to breathe. It's not worth being a little flatter if you can't be alive while you're doing it.

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3. Don't use your DIY skills to create a chest binder just because some character you saw in the movies did that. Any time you've seen binding in the movies, it was probably someone like Christina Ricci's character in Now and Then taping down her boobs, but Deysach says using Ace bandages, tape, or other DIY items can be harmful to your health because "tape is terrible for your skin, and Ace bandages can get tighter and tighter." Treece adds that the point of binding is to compress the tissue evenly and those methods often don't do that. They also don't breathe, which can impair your ability to tolerate long-term binding. So don't do that, OK?

4. And don't cut costs on your binder if you can help it. Treece notes that there are a lot of binder exchange programs out there for low-income people (often young transgender men) and many transgender YouTuber peeps will auction off their old binders after they get top surgery. But, Treece says, "If you're willing to spend $50+ on a bra to support you and your back, why not spend $30 on a binder that won't cut off your circulation, give you nerve damage, or possibly cause you a trip to the ER?" This means avoiding the $3 to $5 binders you might see online shipping from Hong Kong. The pain is not worth the savings.

5. You can totally bind by just wearing sports bras, but they might not make you as flat as you'd like to be. Deysach says that tons of people use sports bras to bind, but actual binders that cover more of your chest will often give you a flatter profile overall.

6. If you have big breasts, don't expect binding to be as easy and effortless as it looks in movies starring A-cup actresses. If you don't have Ruby Rose's nearly-flat chest and you're trying to bind, Jackie H., 37, says you'll experience something much different than someone who has an small cup size. Jackie recommends Underworks compression tanks, binders, and tri-top binders for thicker bodies and larger cup sizes. Sybil Hawthorne, 35, says she's a 32DDD and can get to a pretty flat chest by doubling up on binders, so that can be an option as well. But pro tip: If you have more tissue to flatten, it has to go somewhere, and for Jackie it landed in their stomach and hip area, which meant their pants stopped fitting well.

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7. Try to limit the amount of time you wear your binder as much as possible. I know it's tempting to want to have a flatter chest all the time, but Deysach recommends only binding for as few hours a day as possible and never sleeping in your binder, so you can let your body relax for a while. Treece also doesn't recommend working out in your binder if you can help it, since it can restrict your breathing. If you absolutely must wear it, he recommends wearing a looser binder and making sure your binder isn't making you move differently. Caleb, 23, says he's fallen asleep in his binder once or twice and it was awful, saying, "Binding constricts your ribs and diminishes your lung capacity, so I was really sore the next day or two, and had to take it extra easy on myself." Not worth it.

8. Getting in and out of your binder will be as awkward as taking off a pair of tights in front of someone, if not moreso. Treece says it's even more awkward if your skin is moist, but even if it's not, your binder will likely stick to you or pull on your skin or trap your limbs, causing you to spastically muscle in or out of it. It's not gonna be graceful. Just sayin'.

9. Binding might exacerbate other medical conditions you had previously. Sofia B., who suffers from Crohn's disease, says her nausea would get a lot worse when she would bind her chest, so now she limits binding to only a few times per year. It's tough to say why that happened, but since improper (and even proper) binding can cause shortness of breath and other issues, talk to the doctor you see for any medical conditions before you start binding.

10. Binding might make you feel like you're in that hot hot Miami heat 24/7. Hawthorne says she never thought that just adding two more pieces of fabric (aka two binders) would make her overheat so much, but it does. "I've gone to clubs and danced while binding, and it's really uncomfortable and sweaty and gross," she said. Jen Laws, 30, of PerfectFitBrand, added that they often have to change midway through the day because the sweating is so intense, so carrying a backup binder is a cool plan.

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11. Yes, you can do something about the potential chafing. Jackie recommends Body Glide, which looks like a mini deodorant stick and will help your skin under the creases and crevices of your binder so you don't chafe. It's the same stuff athletes use it for biking and running.

12. Oh my god, wash your binder. Treece says it's even more important to wash your binder than it is to wash your bra (which, TBH, most of us don't do that often, EEK) because it's covering more of your body than a bra does and, as we've been over, you're going to sweat in it a lot. Similar to a bra, you're best off hand-washing it so it doesn't get damaged.

13. But you're definitely going to want to line dry your binder. Don't put that thing in the dryer after you wash it! Laws says dryers do a number on the elastic, and it'll stretch out much more quickly.

14. If your partner loves you, they'll love your decision to bind. While most people I spoke with said they're lucky to have supportive partners and family members who knew about their binding and were fine with it, Fjor'Skera says they've had partners who would tell them they didn't "need" to bind or that they were jealous of their breasts. Fjor'Skera is non-binary and says they're happier now that they have a partner who understands binding and body dysphoria (and that their partner helps them put on the binder because it's not always easy to do alone.)

15. There will come a time when your binder will be ready to retire (and that could be a few months or a few years, depending on how often you use it and how well it was made). J. Michael, 35, says he likes to buy one at a time and keep a few in rotation because he hates when binders get older and start lacking in compression and increasing in stinkiness, so it's good to get some new ones now and then.

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