Will wearing a binder hurt my body?

[dinosaur.girl7]

Hi! So I recently acquired a binder, today being the first time I've worn it for an extended period, and was wondering if there were any negative affects it could have on my body? I'm not a trans guy, so I wouldn't want to wear it every day, but I am a little confused about gender right now and I enjoy wearing the binder and feel like it helps me figure things out. I know if I wear it for too long or have it too tight it can be dangerous for my breathing, but what affect will it have on my breasts? I know it compresses them temporarily, but will wearing it have any lasting affects on them? I've heard before that it makes the tissue more elastic-y and (for lack of a better word) makes breasts "saggy." Is this true? Will it do this even if I only wear it a few times? I know breasts sagging is something that happens naturally overtime and that's totally fine, but if possible I'd rather not accentuate the process. Will it do this? And are there any other potential risks I should be aware of?

(Also, my mother is extremely against me binding for this reason--she thinks it'll damage my body (ie breasts) so she doesn't know I have one)

[Heather]

How breasts look over time is almost overwhelmingly about genetics and then whether or not you ever use them for breastfeeding (nope, even gravity actually has way less of an effect than people think). There is no data that suggests that brassieres of any kind -- including binders or sports bars -- help or hurt breast tissue, save that the jury is out a bit about bras with wires.

[dinosaur.girl7]

Thanks so much for the response!
Yeah, it seems like people are really unsure. Some people who've used binders long-term think it reduces the elasticity and makes them more "malleable" basically by breaking down the breast tissue, but others say it just happens overtime anyway?

Regardless, even if it was true that binders broke down breast tissue over time, if I wore the binder sparingly (say, once or twice a month at most) would I probably not experience any changes? I'm also worried about telling my mother I'm using one, so I want to be able to reassure her that it's safe.

[Heather]

The thing is that those folks obviously can't know if the changes in their breasts would have happened regardless (which they probably would have). That's why study on breast health is better for this kind of thing than personal anecdote or people just guessing with no study or education whatsoever.

I also think, too, that when it comes to gender issues, we have to factor in the mental health costs and benefits. We know that people presenting their gender as they feel best about it is beneficial to mental health AND have no data that binding presents breast health or long-term appearance changes, so!

Again, can't speak to "what if" here, because so far, there's just nothing out there -- and given breast cancer funding and concerns, believe me, breast health is something highly studied -- to suggest that's needed, nor any data that gives me a jumping off point to know or even make an educated guess.

Does your mother by any chance wear bras with underwires or suggest you do? If so, your easy comeback here is a) she and you can go ahead and look for study that shows this is really a non-issue when what you're doing feels comfortable, not painful, and there will be zip to find, and b) if she wears an underwire, what you WILL find related to this is that there may be causes for concerns about those. (And you can do all that without being snarky about it, easy.)

[groudon17]

i've seen before on some trans blogs that wearing one often/daily does give you a chance of becoming flatter/saggier. to avoid this people suggest not wearing one more than a couple times a week. from my own experience, between HRT and binding, i did slightly shrink as well as flatten. when i began binding i was a large, and now i'm a small, though my current small is almost too big and i'm working on finding a tighter one. i don't think everyone's body works exactly the same way (plus the HRT affects my experience too) but just something to keep in mind