Lost the Weight...But not the Gynecomastia

[gynedowner]

Like many people here, I have struggled with gynecomastia since the onset of puberty. I gained weight, got chubby, and then the gynecomastia kicked in and never left. I recently have been working out a couple hours a day for months and restricted my diet. While I've seen inches fly off my waist, not hardly an ounce has been lost off my chest. To be honest, it made me want to gain the weight back so at least i would be labeled 'fat' instead of 'that guy with breasts'. As soon as I caught myself thinking like that, I scheduled my surgery (2wks from today).

I just want to hear if anyone else has struggled with this?
If so, how have you dealt with it?

[Dr. Elliot Jacobs]

When you put weight on your body, it usually goes to the chest, abdomen and love handles.  And when you lose weight, those are the last areas to improve.

If you are overweight with gyne and then lose weight, the fat component of the gyne may decrease a bit (along with the rest of your body), but the gland tissue remains.  That is why one cannot diet and remove one's gyne successfully.

Dr Jacobs

[DrBermant]

Like many people here, I have struggled with gynecomastia since the onset of puberty. I gained weight, got chubby, and then the gynecomastia kicked in and never left. I recently have been working out a couple hours a day for months and restricted my diet. While I've seen inches fly off my waist, not hardly an ounce has been lost off my chest. To be honest, it made me want to gain the weight back so at least i would be labeled 'fat' instead of 'that guy with breasts'. As soon as I caught myself thinking like that, I scheduled my surgery (2wks from today).

I just want to hear if anyone else has struggled with this?
If so, how have you dealt with it?

Some questions tend to come up here in this forum quite frequently. Take a look at the date of this prior post:

Dieting and exercise can make a major change in the entire body including the chest.  Gland is not helped by weight loss.  Residual fat and gland can still cause distortions in the male chest profile. 

The problem is that we do not know how to target where weight comes off from or where it gets added to.  Men tend to add weight to their chest, abdominal region, and love handles.  It can be very difficult to lose weight from those regions. 

Surgery is sometimes an option, before weight loss.  Weight loss is the coarse tool while surgery is the fine one.  As a surgical sculptor, I prefer the coarse tool first, then the fine one second when possible.  I have many patients who lost weight after surgery.  Losing weight after surgery is a gamble.  If the breast area does not reduce with weight loss it can look as if the breasts have "regrown" while what actually happened is that less fat came from the chest than other areas.

Losing weight, having surgery, and then putting fat back on is also a gamble.  Men tend to put fat back on the breasts, abdomen, and love handle regions.  You may get away with it, but is rushing worth it?

Realistic expectations of what surgery offers is important to long term happiness.

Here is a later variation of the same question/answer showing an evolution of my efforts at public education here:

The problem is that Male Fat Pattern extends around the chest, under the arms, and around the back.  Plastic Surgery is not a good tool for a global fat problem.

I advise my patients to get to a weight / body fat percentage they are comfortable with before considering surgery.  A BMI Calculator does not differentiate between fat, muscle, and bone.  Body Fat Calculators can help with the fat percentage and are better at helping with the fat component.

For those with too much body fat, Weight Loss Before Gynecomastia Surgery can help with the fat, but not the gland.  However, you cannot pick where your fat comes from.

The biggest change I have noticed over the years, is that patients who lose weight tell me that they feel so much better about themselves. It often changes the front to a degree, but the sides and back can see a major benefit from getting the excess total body fat under control.

Plastic Surgery is not a good jump start tool for weight loss.  I have seen disasters from patients from other doctors with deformities from significant weight loss after their surgery.  Men tend to put fat on first in the belly and chest bands.  We tend to take of those areas last.  Early surgery and depending on weight loss to predictably change the body is a nasty gamble.  No Surgery Body Shaping Garments are a better temporizing choice.

As a surgical sculptor, I view weight loss as a coarse tool and my plastic surgery as a refinement tool.  I prefer to use the coarse tool first, and then my sculpture for refinement.

For those having compromise surgery before (or without) weight loss, try to check out before and after pictures from many different angles.  (You should carefully evaluate results with more than just one or 2 views for each patient, especially if those views change from patient to patient. Plastic Surgery is not an alternative to losing weight.  A fat person will still look like a fat person, just one with smaller breasts.

Hope this helps,

Michael Bermant, MD
Learn More About Gynecomastia

[Bobby - LAgyne]

that's what happened to me. 210 to 162lb for 5 9". muscles, veins and six pack are showing as well as g-glands. my plan is to have a surgery in a few months, but meanwhile using compression undershirts (UNDERWORKS).
no-one needs to know what i have under my t-shirt, they can enjoy the sight of my arms - if you will. right?

[Paa_Paw]

We seem to be running two threads on the same subject, but I guess that is OK because each looks at the subject from a different viewpoint.

There are many myths about Gynecomastia, That it is only a condition associated with obesity is but one myth of many.

Another is that weight loss will make it go away, Unfortunately, you now know this is generally untrue.

We do not make a practice of going out of our way to say what you want to hear; but we do try to tell the truth.

[DrBermant]

that's what happened to me. 210 to 162lb for 5 9". muscles, veins and six pack are showing as well as g-glands. my plan is to have a surgery in a few months, but meanwhile using compression undershirts (UNDERWORKS).
no-one needs to know what i have under my t-shirt, they can enjoy the sight of my arms - if you will. right?

I have found these Body Shaping Garments superior for temporary contouring than that brand. That is what my patients tell me who had purchased the other brand before trying the ones we use for our patients.

Hope this helps,

Michael Bermant, MD
Learn More About Gynecomastia and Male Breast Reduction