tom

Lowering your voice is always a chore. Coaching your voice to be lower than what it was previously was is tricky but there are ways to make your voice sound more masculine before you start T.

The Tilt Technique: Probably the most common trick and some of you may already know how to do this:

-Tilt your head back and stretch out your neck, I’ve figure out that doing that helps prevent making your voice sore afterwards.

- Now, don’t keep your neck too stretched but still keep it back and hum at your lowest volume.

- Slowly lower your head to have your chin meet your chest while still humming.

- Do this about 5-10 times or until your voice is at the point at which you want it.

- keep in mind that this effect is only temporary (until you practice more and more); and that doing this too much without water or breaks can actually damage your vocal chords and give you multiple throat aches.

Some other things that give an immediate illusion that your voice is naturally that low:

-Talking slower and quieter: This helps a lot with passing, especially in stores and in schools.

- Physically lowering your voice slightly: we can all lower our voices to sound deeper, but when is it to the point that people can notice it? Unfortunately lowering it too much is super noticable, but lowering it a little bit isn’t usually that noticable.

There are many temporary (and by temporary I mean like 20 minutes) things you can do but those aren’t that good.

If you have money or are able, there are also voice coaches that can help you get your voice lower.

“-Tilt your head back and stretch out your neck, I’ve figure out that doing that helps prevent making your voice sore afterwards.

- Now, don’t keep your neck too stretched but still keep it back and hum at your lowest volume.

- Slowly lower your head to have your chin meet your chest while still humming.

- Do this about 5-10 times or until your voice is at the point at which you want it.”

Yes:

Getting winded after walking quickly/upstairs with binder on, but able to catch breath

Chafing in the underarm areas

Soreness (during or after) in arms, shoulders, or back

Increased acne on chest or back

Mild anxiety about tightness

Chest sagging

No, take it off and rest, see a doctor if problem gets worse or doesn’t go away after taking the binder off (or after one week):

Nausea during or after binding, including nausea caused by pain

Bruising

Out of breath/can’t catch breath when not wearing binder

Skin rash

Sharp pains in ribs

Not able to cough or sneeze

Numbness in arms

Feeling too tired/sore to do everyday activities

Suddenly having any of the above symptoms even if you’ve been binding for years 

No, see a doctor ASAP, could be a sign of serious injury:

Anything from the above category if you can just tell/feel something is wrong, better safe than sorry

Extreme claustrophobia/panic attacks 

Sharp pain in chest/heart skipping beats or beating very fast

Not able to breathe  

Dizziness

Blueness in lips or fingertips

Change in shape of ribcage