Review: Homemade/DIY: Medical/Surgical Tape: Dysperdis

Review by Dysperdis

Product name: Medical Tape

Manufacturer’s website: Medical tape, also known as surgical tape, is made my several companies. It can be bought at any drugstore.

Cup size at time of use: C

Ratings:

Comfort: -3/5

Effectiveness: 0/5

Discreetness: 0/5

Overall: -1/5

• This website is meant, not only to inform the reader of binding methods that work well, but also to warn about methods that are useless, painful, or dangerous. This method was all three.

  Using medical tape to bind my breasts may have been the stupidest thing I have ever done. I heard from others that it was a possible way to bind, and, as my binder had yet to arrive, I was willing to try it. I bought a role of medical tape which proclaimed to be safe for use on skin.

  It took quite a bit of tape to see any results. By the time I was done, the tape was layered thick enough to be absolutely useless. There were lines and creases running across the front- these were visible through my shirt.

  Wearing it was extremely uncomfortable. I was near tears for most of the time I wore it. Taking it off was worse- in a few short hours, it appeared to have formed a very close relationship with my skin. Close enough, in fact, to remove a large portion of it. The following pictures are some of the scars left by the tape, taken about 6 weeks after the fact.

  I would never, ever endorse this method of binding.

Review: Homemade/DIY: Pressure Bandages: Who is Morgan

Review by Who is Morgan

IMPORTANT NOTE:

There have been reports of sternums being fractured using this method and actually piercing lungs. Use at your own risk.

Product name: Tensor Bandage

Manufacturer’s website: Any drug store. They’re used for wrapping sore ankles, wrists, knees, etc.

Cup size at time of use: A

Ratings:

Comfort: -3 /5

Effectiveness: 3.5/5

Discreetness: 2/5

• This is probably one of the worst ways to bind. Hands down. You run a large risk of hurting yourself by wrapping your chest too tightly, as I did. I did this for a cosplay once, when I was still in denial about my gender identity, and refused to bind for a very long time after that.

  My mistake in this cosplay was that I (stupidly) didn’t realise that if you are binding using this technique, you have to move your breasts sort of… up and out. You want to sort of tuck as much tissue as possible under your armpits and use the bandage to tie it all in place. DO NOT SIMPLY BIND TIGHTER TO GET A FLATTER PROFILE. YOU WILL DO YOURSELF DAMAGE. I ended up with a severely bruised sternum and was unable to breathe freely for weeks.

  Now, other problems with bandages? They slide. They’ll slide up. They’ll slide down. They’ll separate at the fullest part of your breasts. They’re uncomfortable. They leave odd bulges under your clothes if not done PRECISELY correctly. A breast can pop free. They’re sweaty because they end up multi layered and have a LOT of elastic. Because of the way they shift, they are not very effective and can cause a lot of questions, especially if you are at all active.

  Benefits? They’re cheap. They’re available everywhere. Your parents don’t need to know what you’re using them for.

  If you MUST go for this option (I HIGHLY ADVISE AGAINST IT) then I recommend that you get the WIDEST bandage you can, as it will (in theory) slide less. And wear at least 2, if not 3-4 layers over top.

  Why is there no photo of me bound with these things?

  I will never use them again as long as I live.