Binding

[BeBe]

Before I embarrass myself by calling the clinic, I thought I'd ask here to see if anyone knows.

I am a "binder". Girdles... corsets... LOVE the feeling of being tightly bound. There are the added perks that my waist is far more defined and I'm never hungry when I'm bound.

But... I don't know if putting on a waist cincher is going to screw anything up. I'm mostly concerned about the port site and it flipping (I have no idea how that happens, so of course I'm concerned). Has anyone heard or read anything about whether or not binding is OK?

Thanks!!!

[MamaMichelle]

I really can't imagine it causing too many issues, except maybe affecting the healing of your scars since they won't be able to breathe and will have something rubbing against them all day. As for a port flip it is sewn into your abdominal muscles so nothing externally (except maybe being punched in the stomach) would have any way to cause a flip.

They give girdles to people after they have liposuction to help the skin snap back faster and that's similar effect to losing weight so I guess it might help.

You aren't the only one who likes to be bound, I have a girlfriend who's OBGYN gave all her patients girdles to wear after their babies were born to help the skin shrink back and 5 years later she still wears one daily!

[Clynn]

You're not weird. I just spent four days surrounded by people wearing corsets. I've never worn one, but whenever I wear pants that are tight I notice I have more restriction. I would imagine a corset has the same effect. I'd suggest taking it easy once you've healed up or right after a fill until you get an idea how much it affects your restriction. Once you've found your new comfort level you should be good to go.

[BeBe]

My concern is that mine aren't simply girdles, but binders... the extreme corsets (for "wasp waists"). They tend to push your "guts" up I guess... and that's what worries me.

I've had plastic surgery before, and I was given compression garments - but what I use now is a way beyond that level. (You've seen old movies where someone else is tightening the corset so tight the wearer almost faints, right?)

I'm probably worried for nothing... but $8,000 is an awful lot of money to throw away if I'm wrong. LOL

[jena]

I'll never forget the scene in Gone With The Wind where Scarlett is hugging the bedpost getting her waste cinched so she will have that famous 16 (17? 18?) inch waist line!

[MamaMichelle]

I'll never forget the scene in Gone With The Wind where Scarlett is hugging the bedpost getting her waste cinched so she will have that famous 16 (17? 18?) inch waist line!

It was a seventeen-inch waist, the smallest in three counties . . . lol

[MamaMichelle]

ARTICLE FROM THE LONDON TIMES

October 12, 1997

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It's a Cinch BY RICHARD McCLURE

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Why are some women squeezing back into corsets and even binding their feet? RICHARD McCLURE on body training and the painful quest for an hourglass figure

At first glance, there is nothing remarkable about Pandora Gorey. She is tall and pretty with a posture to die for, but that's about all, really. It isn't until your eyes wander down to her waist that you notice her most distinguishing feature - the tiny midriff of a pubescent girl. Yet 31 -year-old Gorey is not a painfully thin, anorexic ,or a slave to cosmetic surgery. Nor will you find her sweating it out on the StairMaster to achieve her unusual figure. Instead, she is among a growing number of women who are strapping themselves into severe bindings to reduce the size of their waist, lengthen their neck, and even customise the shape of their feet. Known as "body training," the trend is spreading to the UK from across the Atlantic. Just as tattooing and piercing gradually expanded into mainstream culture, so torso modification is being practised not just by fetish freaks, but by professional, well-educated women.

Where once women were forced into tight corsets and foot bindings as acts of subjugation, the same items are now being put on as articles of choice: "I get a great deal of pleasure from modifying and changing the shape of my body," explains Gorey, who has reduced her waist measurement from 25 inches to just 19 inches over the past two years. "I wasn't unhappy with my original figure, but I'm just much happier with a small waist. I think it looks extremely attractive. My ideal is the 1950s body shape of movie stars such as Gina Lollobrigida and Sophia Loren. Although I can never be as sexy as they were, at least I can grasp a part of of what they had."

The most common form of body modification, waist training, involves wearing a succession of tighter and tighter corsets over a period of months, starting out with one 3 inches to 4 inches smaller than the normal waistline. By wearing the garment for longer and longer periods each day, lacing it ever tighter, then repeating the process with a smaller size, the waist is progressively reduced, forcing the stomach and spleen upwards and the intestines and bladder down. The constant binding also lessens the appetite, adding to the shrinkage, and, after only a few months, those who practise this type of modification maintain that the average waistine will be 2 inches smaller. By continuing this training long term, a permanent reduction of 6 inches can be made.

For Gorey, the inconvenience of such a dedicated regimen is far outweighed by the dramatic end result, and the feelings of confidence it elicits: "It's wonderful to have those curves and look so feminine," she says, "but it is also a postfeminist action. It's telling people you're a woman of power." An insurance clerk from Letchworth in Hertfordshire, Gorey often "trains" her waist while at work and, occasionally when sleeping, replacing her regular £80 garment with a slightly looser night corset or a special training belt, which keeps the waist at its reduced size.

Others who have discovered they can change their shape this way are even more fanatical. Karen Wright, a 26-year-old student at Manchester University, frequently wears a corset for more than 12 hours a day, changing it every four hours, and always keeping a cotton layer between her skin and the garment to prevent chafing. Compared with her average-sized 37-inch hips, she now sports an ultraslender size 18-inch waist.

"I've always wanted to achieve an hourglass figure, and now I have," she says. "If I didn't body train, my waist would naturally be about 26 inches."

Like Gorey, Wright claims her tiny waist makes her feel powerful, but says her reasons have nothing to do with female liberation. "I've never been into feminism - I'm old- fashioned. I'm the sort of woman who believes men should always open doors for me and I body train solely to increase my femininity."

Although binding the torso too tightly can lead to urinary problems and poor circulation, Gorey claims the only discomfort she has ever suffered has been a bad case of skin chafing, and occasional bouts of indigestion:

"At first there was a lot of pain involved," she admits, "but you soon get used to the feeling of pressure on the abdomen. You can only seriously injure yourself if you misuse the garment."

"The real problem is avoiding gassy foods or fizzy drinks, anything that is going to expand your stomach, which means, unfortunately, that champagne is out of the question."

Surprisingly, although some doctors consider any form of body modification dangerous, others maintain that waist training, for example, does not pose any serious health risk. Dr Richard Park, a gastroenterologist at Glasgow Southem General Hospital, says: "Because the female body is built to accommodate the displacement of abdominal organs during pregnancy, the stomach and intestines will move with some ease. But wearing tight corsets should be approached with caution. Increasing the pressure within the abdomen pushes the stomach contents up into the esophagus, causing severe heartburn and other symptoms of reflux. If that pressure becomes excessive, there may be a danger of serious damage to the esophagus."

Gorey is now taking body augmentation a step further, using a custom-made corset to elongate her neck. The process works on the same principle as the neck rings worn by Burmese hill tribes - artificially increasing the neck's length by pushing down the collar- bones - but the effects are much milder. Even constant use is unlikely to lengthen the neck by more than an inch.

Despite her zeal for body training, Gorey insists her goal is modification rather than mutilation, drawing the line at more extreme forms currently practised in Califomia, notably the fashion for sculpting the feet with the use of Chinese-style bindings and a device called a foot bender. Made from metal and resembling something from the Spanish Inquisition, the bender's main function is to tutor the feet to wear extremely high heels: "The bender is strapped onto the foot and wom for a couple of hours at a time," explains Fakir Musafar, a body modifier who teaches foot bending and binding in San Francisco. "By making the metatarsals bend and the ankle move forward, it creates an extreme arch and, carried out sensibly, can reduce the size of the foot."

One of Musafar's students, Sharon Nickle, a computer operator from San Francisco, practises both waist and foot training. Following frequent use of a foot bender, her feet are now two sizes smaller than they were and approaching her delicate lotus-flower ideal. Despite the obvious dangers - the Chinese outlawed the crippling custom of binding half a century ago - Musafar says that risk of injury is no deterrent to body trainers: "In the long run, there will be more and more people wanting to modify their feet and torso," he predicts. "Body training is here to stay."

Gorey agrees: "Lots of my friends have taken it up after seeing my waist," she says. "Compared with the positive image that weight training has, body training is usually seen in a negative light, which is a shame. Now that's starting to change. As far as I'm concerned, every woman should do it."

There are no recognised body modification and sculpting courses in the U.K.

[Dontondan]

Never heard of this trend, but the scene in GWTW and Scarlett getting laced up creates memories. I personnally think that type of figure is very sexy, but I can't even stand tight jeans!!! Women have been doing this sort of stuff for CENTURIES! Maybe you should consult OCC, I am curious for the answer...keep us updated with what they say.

[MamaMichelle]

I think after reading the bold sections of that article below I think there is no way Dr. Ortiz would suggest that someone with a lap-band ever attempt something like that!! Though with those results I can see why someone would be tempted!!!

[lynna]

Thanks for the memory of Scarlett yelling at Mammy! I am tired this morning-4days post op and needed a smile! >

[BeBe]

I'll have to send him an e-mail... I don't think I could ask him over the phone. There is a certain stigma about it, (like it's perverse) and I don't know that I could ask. lol!

[MamaMichelle]

I'll have to send him an e-mail... I don't think I could ask him over the phone. There is a certain stigma about it, (like it's perverse) and I don't know that I could ask. lol!

I would suggest sending him a link, or copy of the article above... Since he is a man I don't know if he will fully understand what you're asking about!!

Even I as a female didn't think it would cause any issues but when you mentioned the degree to which you like to be bound I found that article and when it talks about your organs rearranging and it forcing food back up the esophagus I can imagine that would only cause serious issues with the band!