Best Strategy for good surgical results

[Talay]

Hi,

I'm 36 and I've always been self-conscious of my body and have always blamed my weight for this, but I have recently lost a lot of weight and I’m now heading towards the average body fat percentage for my height/age. So far so good, but despite the weight loss and people telling me that I’m slim I’m still self-conscious and wouldn’t wear a t-shirt in public. It only dawned on me a few weeks ago that I have man-boobs. It was a revelation and when I used the Internet to study this subject I came across this website.

While I want to get rid of my boobs as soon as I can, from reading this forum the results from surgery are not clearly defined and, as well as carefully picking my surgeon, I want to do whatever it takes to maximise the surgical results even if it means putting the surgery on hold for a while.

I’ve read here that it is recommended that you lose weight before having the surgery so I’m thinking that a good time to have surgery is when I get back from my skiing holiday in early February of next year. This means I have until then to lose as much weight as I can and pick a surgeon, then I have the spring to cover over any compression garments with bulky clothing and six months of recovery between then and taking my t-shirt off during my summer holiday.

What do you guys think? First off, is it worth putting off surgery to lose weight or should I just go for it? I want to start working out with weights to complement my cardio, will building up my chest muscles make my surgical results better or worse? Say I do loose fat and gain muscle mass on my chest for surgery what does that mean when (let’s face it) I stop working out so much and put some fat back on and loose some of the muscle?

Any advice is appreciated.

[tttdone]

yes you should deffenitely loose as much weight as poosible before surgery. this allows the surgeon to remove as much of the actual breast tissue as possible, becasue it is not covered with a bunch of fat. and yes lifting weights and building up your chest muscles is a good idea. it may make your gyne a little more noticable becasue your chest muscles will be bigger but it will give you way better surgery resluts and you wont have as much of a chance to have a "crater" looking area in your chest.

[latediagnosis]

Whats your height/weight? Also pictures would help a lot..

[Talay]

Thanks for the replies, I'll get some pics sorted out as soon as I can....

I have to admit that I got knocked off my dieting and exersise regieme when I realised that I have man boobs. It was a little frustrating knowing that all the dieting and exercise in the world wasn't going to bring me to my ultimate goal. But it looks like the surgical option is an even bigger reason to hit the gym

[DrBermant]

Hi,

I'm 36 and I've always been self-conscious of my body and have always blamed my weight for this, but I have recently lost a lot of weight and I’m now heading towards the average body fat percentage for my height/age. So far so good, but despite the weight loss and people telling me that I’m slim I’m still self-conscious and wouldn’t wear a t-shirt in public. It only dawned on me a few weeks ago that I have man-boobs. It was a revelation and when I used the Internet to study this subject I came across this website.

While I want to get rid of my boobs as soon as I can, from reading this forum the results from surgery are not clearly defined and, as well as carefully picking my surgeon, I want to do whatever it takes to maximise the surgical results even if it means putting the surgery on hold for a while.

I’ve read here that it is recommended that you lose weight before having the surgery so I’m thinking that a good time to have surgery is when I get back from my skiing holiday in early February of next year. This means I have until then to lose as much weight as I can and pick a surgeon, then I have the spring to cover over any compression garments with bulky clothing and six months of recovery between then and taking my t-shirt off during my summer holiday.

What do you guys think? First off, is it worth putting off surgery to lose weight or should I just go for it? I want to start working out with weights to complement my cardio, will building up my chest muscles make my surgical results better or worse? Say I do loose fat and gain muscle mass on my chest for surgery what does that mean when (let’s face it) I stop working out so much and put some fat back on and loose some of the muscle?

Any advice is appreciated.

After Major Weight Loss, the body compensates only so far.  Building muscles can fill a sagging chest, but may also make the gland stick out further.  Loose skin after weight loss can shrink to a degree.  Gyecomastia and chest lift after weight loss may be an option for gland of gynecomastia and redundant skin issues.

I see many patients who are frustrated and hope to use plastic surgery to deal with sagging tissues, fat they want to eventually lose, and restore a more youthful contour.  However if further weight loss is planned, what will happen to the  tissues that were lifted?  Expecting after surgery for skin to tighten after further weight loss is just not realistic.  It may, but more likely it will not.  More likely there will be new sagging forcing the patient to accept drooping or a revision surgery. 

Being patient can help.
To deal with my patients' frustration, I started years ago using No Surgery Body Contouring Garments as an emotional band-aide to contour and shape the body.  So many have expressed their appreciation and how their comfort level increased with these garments.  This comfort allowed them less stress while they were waiting to get to a weight they wanted and for their skin to adjust.


Hope this helps,

Michael Bermant, MD
Learn More About Gynecomastia of Male Chest Ptosis - Sagging and Male Mastopexy Chest Lift Sculpture

[headheldhigh01]

another important rule is take it easy mending post-op.  don't strain or do serious exercise or overexert for at least 4-6 weeks.