Binding and acid reflux/upper stomach issues... could there be a connection?

[Poltergeist]

Maybe this is a silly question, but this is for those of you who bind.

My chest is too large to bind "for real", but I am always wearing very tight (much too small) sports bras, and I wear them 24/7 to be comfortable with myself. Honestly... they're so tight they cut into my skin sometimes.

For the past few months, I've had a bit of an issue with strange sensations in my chest, like there's suddenly some sort of pressure moving up through the chest, knocking the air out of me for a few seconds. I now experience that countless times every day.

Of course I went to see my doctor, who has assured me that there are no signs of heart disease, which was my first worry.

She thought it might be bad acid reflux, and gave me some pills for it which didn't really solve the problem, but on the other hand, it didn't take away the heartburn that I suffer from regularly either.

She now thinks it could be a hernia in my upper stomach.

But the thing is... I've realised that when I take my bra off, it gets sort of better. It doesn't go away, but it helps.

And now I'm wondering... if I do have a hernia or something similar... could I have caused it by binding? Do any of you guys have any kind of experience with this?

[Seamus_Jameson]

You really should talk to your doctor about this. From personal experience, when I bind for long periods, especially tightly, I experience severe discomfort in my chest and back, similar to what you are describing. I suggest a more equitable balance between your emotional and physical needs. Only bind when you are in public At home you can wear a large sweater (like 5x bigger than your normal size) and cut the sleeves to fit. The bagginess of the sweater can help hid your chest, particularly when you are siting down, and make you feel more masculinely attired (more masculine than wearing a sports *bra*).

Please do see your doctor again, though.

[AllieSF]

Well, I bind in a way. I use two waist cinchers to get my male body into a better female shape and, surprisingly it works quite well. Now, I also have suffered from heartburn as a young adult and then later in life. It got so bad, and I did not realize that, that I developed a small ulcer at the sphincter just above the stomach. It has also caused a very disagreeable and bothersome swallowing issue that is a royal (not the British type) pain in the ass when out eating is a nice restaurant. Now with my dressing and cinching, I occasionally get heartburn before I even start drinking anything. I strongly recommend that you try to get your situation under control with your doctor's assistance before it causes more serious issues, similar to mine, when you get older like me. Good luck.

[Chickhe]

I just wanted to mention...I recently tried wearing a corset, very tight and although I could still breathe, when I ate or drank anything I ended up with heartburn, reflux and hickups... so you might be experiencing something similar. The other thing, I sometimes get this feeling of being out of air...it seems to be related to sinus congestion...although it feels like its in the chest.

[Poltergeist]

Sorry that I haven't returned to this thread, the reason is there has been so much going on lately with my health, hospital visits and stuff like that, so I decided I'd return once I knew what was actually going on. It turns out I have a bit of a heart problem, unfortunately. The only good news is that weight loss might fix it, or at least make it better and more tolerable. I honestly don't know the English word for this particular heart condition, but it has something to do with bad blood flow.