I am 31 and have been wearing constrictive sports bras since I developed breasts in high school. I didn’t know about binders until well into my 20s. I wish I had. Without the availability of binders, many people like me spent years wearing Ace bandages around our chests. This practice was harmful and made it difficult to breathe. Now that binders are more widely available, I wear one most days.

I’m currently training to run the New York marathon for the second year in a row, and I’m starting graduate school at Columbia University in the fall. These are things that I would not have been able to do without a binder.

— R.J. Russell, 31

I am well aware of the risks of wearing binders for too long, in excessive heat and while exercising. I do my best to be careful, but if I’m desperate, I’ll wear one for a bit too long because my dysphoria is a worse alternative to being uncomfortable for a few hours.

I recently discovered TransTape, a medical-grade tape that you can use to open-chest bind (basically tape your breasts to the sides to make your chest appear as flat as possible). And because the tape is stretchy and doesn’t wrap around your entire chest, it doesn’t compress, allowing you to sleep and shower in it, and it can be worn up to five days. I’m trying it out for the summer so I don’t have to suffer as much with a hot, tight binder.