Gland....

[Celts]

Can anyone explain to me what the gland is actually attached to?

Also my chest feels like there is lumps in different areas, is the gland always 1 lump, or can it be lumps in 2 or 3 different areas?

Thanks

[DrBermant]

Can anyone explain to me what the gland is actually attached to?

Also my chest feels like there is lumps in different areas, is the gland always 1 lump, or can it be lumps in 2 or 3 different areas?

Thanks

Yes, I have developed resources to demonstrate how fingers of gland extend through fingers of fat that can be found in this post here:

https://www.gynecomastia.org/smf/index.php?topic=14795.msg103478;topicseen#msg103478

The gland is attached to the nipple, can extend in attachments under the muscle that is part of the the areola skin, and in some cases also extend to the fascia covering the pectoral muscles.

Hope this helps,

Michael Bermant, M.D.
Board Certified
American Board of Plastic Surgery
Member: American Society of Plastic Surgeons and American Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons
Specializing in Gynecomastia and Surgical Sculpture of the Male Chest
(804) 748-7737

[Dr. Elliot Jacobs]

Gland, or breast tissue, is concentrated just under the areola.  It can be soft or firm -- so feeling for it can be misleading.  It generally extends as tongues of tissue intertwined with fat (imagine intertwining the fingers of both hands together) and there is no capsule or wall between the two types of tissues -- they merge together.

Gland can extend in any direction horizontally or vertically or even directly downwards towards the chest wall muscle (pec).

Having one or two or more lumps that you feel can be misleading -- for you may be feeling fat, not gland.  Many patients go down this route of "feeling for something".  What you feel doesn't make the diagnosis of gynecomastia.  Gyne is a condition of excess tissue on a male chest -- it doesn't make a difference whether that tissue is fat or gland or both (most cases).

And when surgery is performed for gyne, it consists of removing the excess tissue (whatever it is) and not just seeking to remove gland alone.  In fact, some gland is left in virtually every gyne procedure that is done.  A successful result is measured by a smooth, natural, trim contour -- not by the percent of gland removed.

Dr Jacobs