Healing your back pain from binding

trans-i-am:

theartoftransliness:

special-fag:

When I messed up my back or ribs from binding this is what I would do to fix it. (I’m not going to mention safe binding practices, I hope you all know those by now):

1. Stop wearing your binder. Try to take a break for at least 24 hours if possible. For me, not binding meant not leaving my room. Sometimes you just can’t take a break for a full day, but have your binder off for every second you possibly can.
2. Stretch! Do some yoga, or some other back stretches. Google it, you’ll find a million results.
3. Lay down. Seriously, do it. And stay there. Stop sitting in your computer chair with that horrible posture, it’s going to make things worse. Combine this with the next step and you’ll feel great…
4. HEAT. Heating pads are your best friend. Go buy one right now, they’re between $15-$30. I used to sleep on one overnight when the pain got really bad or if I had a day of excessively long binding. Also, take a hot bath or shower before bed.
5. Sleep flat on your back. Most of the healing and repair to your back will happen at night. A good night of properly positioned sleep and a heating pad may be all you need to be pain free the next day. If the pain is so bad you can’t relax your back muscles enough to lay flat, or it hurts when you lay on your back (I had this problem a lot), put a small pillow or towel under your lower back. You can also prop your feet up, it might make you more comfortable, but it’s not necessary. If you really can’t sleep on your back, sleep on your side with a pillow between your knees and your back extended (not rounded) so your spine will be aligned properly. Don’t sleep on your stomach or in the fetal position, it will make things worse. Make sure your neck is properly supported and try to avoid having your head turned to one side all night. If your neck hurts, your back will hurt too.

If possible, get a massage. Also take some OTC anti-inflammatory medication. This list assumes that your pain is due to muscle strain or minor tearing. If your pain is being caused by improper binding (ace bandages, tsk tsk), this might not help. If it’s being caused by broken ribs, or severe muscle damage, go to the damn hospital. I hope you’ve found this helpful, and I hope your back feels better. 🙂

We’ve had some questions about binding and back pain. This might help those experiencing back pain due to binding. 

Note that most heating pads do not recommend sleeping with them or even laying on them, long exposure to the heat can cause burns even if you don’t think it’s that hot, be careful to read the instructions first.