From chest pain to broken ribs, the dangers girls face
THOSE secretly sending chest binders in the post might think they are doing teenage girls a favour. But they should reflect on the physical damage these very tight garments can do.
Most obviously, the restriction causes chronic chest and back pain. More seriously, binding the chest can result in broken ribs and dangerously restricted breathing.
What’s more, when these girls grow up and decide they want to have babies – as many surely will – they may find out they can’t breastfeed because long hours of tight binding will have crushed their breast tissue.
Research on the health impact of chest binding is scarce. But a study by US researchers who surveyed 1,800 users of the garments makes for sobering reading. Three-quarters reported pain and more than half believed they had suffered rib fractures, which increases the chance of a punctured lung.
If the chest is restricted during the healing process the ribs may not fix in the right position, leaving these girls with lifelong musculoskeletal problems.
Many experience shortness of breath, which fits parents’ reports that daughters give up all exercise when they start binding. That isn’t healthy.
I am also extremely concerned about the damage these girls are doing to their breasts. Breast tissue is fragile and does not like to be disturbed.
In parts of Africa, pubescent girls undergo ‘breast ironing’ with hot rocks to stop them developing. The practice, condemned as gender-based violence by the UN, leads to breastfeeding problems. Yet here a publicly funded institution is supporting a practice that may have similar consequences. It is unconscionable.
Teenage girls have always experienced complicated emotions during puberty, and always will. Today, many seem to be convincing themselves they are ‘gender dysphoric’.
We should examine these feelings in greater depth – such as asking why many girls seem afraid of turning into women – rather than acquiescing to their immature desires to mould their bodies into something else.