If you're going through puberty and are overweight, the best advice anyone can give you is to lose weight. Obese people generally have higher levels of estrogen, and estrogen is one of the potential causes of gyno. I have a cousin who developed gyno at the age of 13, and, knowing that obesity generally means more estrogen, told him that losing weight could possibly make it go away. Two years later, fed up with man boobs, he finally decided to lose weight. Over the course of six or so months he lost around 35 pounds and his gyno completely dissapeared. Seeing as we are related, the same could have been the case for me if I hadn't spent my pubescent years overweight.
Not saying that this would be the case for everyone, but if you're currently going through puberty and are overweight, drop the pounds and give yourself a better chance at it going away.
Losing Weight can make a big impact on the fat and sometimes the skin. Gland is not reduced with weight loss. In addition, you cannot pick where the fat will come from with weight loss.
Wearing the extra fat is not healthy. Check out your risks with a
BMI Calculator (Body Mass Index)As the skin envelope is no longer filled with fat,
Drooping Breasts or Ptosis can happen. Skin can tighten over time, often several months.
After Massive Weight Loss the skin sometimes just does not tighten enough. Building muscle is one way of filling a loose skin evelope of the male chest.
Unfortunately, it can be difficult to distinguish just what is causing the problem. Gynecomastia male breasts can be fat, gland, or most commonly a combination of both. Sometimes skin and sagging tissues can be a factor. Pseudo Gynecomastia is supposed to be fat only gynecomastia. The problem with that "classification" is that in almost every case of gynecomastia I have seen there is some component of gland. This gland can be very small, but it is present almost all the time. So do you have Pseudo gynecomastia when there is a 1%, 10%, 50%, or 90% deformity from fat? Reality just does not work that way.
Defining the problem with photographs sometimes can help.
However, it is impossible to tell from photographs if the deformity is from fat or gland. The dynamic images,
of my standard set of images can show a region that compresses differently. Even clinical examination differentiation can be difficult.
Fat tends to be soft, gland tends to be firm. Fingers of gland often dissect between fingers of fat. Look at this
drawing and move your mouse over the arrows. However, gland can be soft and fat firm confusing the picture. Gland tends to be located under the nipple and pinching pressure can sometimes tether to the nipple pulling it in.
Men with excessive fat do tend to have certain contour issues. Check out this
link about Sumo Wrestlers. Men tend to carry excessive weight in their chest and stomach.
Hope this helps,
Michael Bermant, MD
Learn More About Gynecomastia and Chest Sculpture