Can soft breast tissue be taken out with lipo?

[throwaway5479]

Hi everybody,

My name's Dan and I've been self-conscious about my chest since I was a kid. After almost 25 years, I've decided to finally do something about it. 

I was gonna write a big intro, but I'll skip that.

I had an ultrasound scan the other day, and the nurse said that I didn't have any hard lumps (to be fair, I've never felt any) but that I do have some soft breast tissue that showed up as white streaks on the ultrasound.

I do feel some pain in my left boob though (mostly when touched), and I thought that was caused by glandular tissue? I've never really felt anything behind the nipple. It's more up towards the armpit. 

I'm hoping to avoid the procedure where they cut the nipple off and pull the hard lump out.

So considering I've never felt any lumps, and the ultrasound just showed the soft streaks (that are sometimes painful to touch), could I just have lipo?

For a bit of background, I've been taking tamoxifen every day for almost 15 years, to counter the side-effects (breast tenderness) of hairloss drugs I was taking, so I think that may have retarded the growth of anything more substantial

[Paa_Paw]

All of the breast is soft tissue, but not all soft tissue yields to Lipo.   Glandular tissue usually has to ge removed separately  and rarely does the nipple need to be removed.  Usually a small incision is made around the bottom or side of the areola, not all the way around.  
Trying to guess how much is fat and how much is glandular tissue by palpating (feeling) is not a sure thing, even for experienced doctors.   
My name is Dan too.  In my case, I have had the condition since puberty, or age of 12.  For me that was 1949   Back then, surgery was not a good alternative.  By the time modern surgical methods prevailed, I had other priorities.  
Welcome to the site, and good luck.  

[Dr. Elliot Jacobs]

There are a number of misconceptions about feeling one's chest for "gland."  Virtually all gynecomastia (excess tissue on a male chest) contains both fat and gland tissue in varying ratios.  Gland does not necessarily feel hard and fat soft.  In fact, sometimes it can be the reverse.  Not even an experienced surgeon's hands can tell how much gland is present.

Sonograms and even mammograms are worthwhile to rule out breast pathology, such as a tumor.  However, these tests provide no additional necessary information when deciding upon surgery.  If you have excess tissue on your chest and do not like it, then the only answer would be surgery, which can target the excess tissue and remove it.  The results of a mammo or sono do not affect this decision in any way.

Finally, for most patients, a combination of lipo and gland excision provides the best results.  In rare circumstances, when I use my own instruments (which I designed myself for gynecomastia and which are sharp and aggressive), I can remove virtually all tissue with "lipo" alone.  However, this cannot be predicted prior to surgery -- it is only apparent once the surgery is begun.

Dr Jacobs