What does your gynecomastia feel like?

[Raider Fan]

Started feeling around on my left gynecomastic boob tonight and got to wondering if everyone's gynecomastia feels about the same.  Does everyone with gyne have tissue/lumps underneath that can be felt?  Are they mainly under the nipple/areola or are they outside that area as well?  If you can feels lumps or tissue, how big is it?  Are they generally small, or can they be any size and still be considered gynecomastia?  Do women have this lumpy tissue in their breasts as well?  If not, why not? 

Are these lumps only there while the gyne is active and growing?  Do they go away when the condition stabilizes?  Or do they never go away?  If the tissue is always there and can be felt, what's the difference between that and a sinister lump (the kind women feel for)? 

Just wondering how to tell the difference between a cancerous lump and the lump/increased tissue caused by gynecomastia. 

[Mark102]

My gyne feels like a bunch of small lumps. It feels like they are a bit clumped up, but some are not.

I recently started a post about gyne tissue and hope to also get some answers about gyne.

Mark

[DrBermant]

Started feeling around on my left gynecomastic boob tonight and got to wondering if everyone's gynecomastia feels about the same.  Does everyone with gyne have tissue/lumps underneath that can be felt?  Are they mainly under the nipple/areola or are they outside that area as well?  If you can feels lumps or tissue, how big is it?  Are they generally small, or can they be any size and still be considered gynecomastia?  Do women have this lumpy tissue in their breasts as well?  If not, why not? 

Are these lumps only there while the gyne is active and growing?  Do they go away when the condition stabilizes?  Or do they never go away?  If the tissue is always there and can be felt, what's the difference between that and a sinister lump (the kind women feel for)? 

Just wondering how to tell the difference between a cancerous lump and the lump/increased tissue caused by gynecomastia. 

Breasts in mammals have the same feel female or male. There is a texture to the tissue: soft fat, firm fat, soft gland, and firm gland make up the feel of this tissue. Tiny cancers cannot be felt. Larger cancers have a much more dense feel that does not move as well. Male breast cancers are quite rare but I was able to make the diagnosis just looking at the distortions of the skin even before touching one particular patient's chest. Touch confirmed an amazingly large adherent cancer that was blatantly obvious. That is why standard of care dictates the gland tissues be sent to pathology for evaluation. Yet for all of the years I have been in practice, there has never been a single gynecomastia or female breast reduction patient where the pathology showed a small cancer not detected by clinical exam. When I find something on my Exam of the Male Breast that is suspicious, I send them for a Male Mammogram and possible biopsy before considering surgery. That is also why I need a confirmatory hands on exam before agreeing to operate on any one patient.

Hope this helps,

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

[Dr. Elliot Jacobs]

Gyne is a benign condition and its presence has been proven NOT to predispose to breast cancer.  However, 1% of all breast cancers are in men.  Most men are rather cavalier with their health -- and that includes checking for possible tumors on the testes, skin, breast, etc.

Since women have larger breasts (for the most part), their cancers are usually picked up by mammogram, rather than by feeling for a lump (by the time one can feel a lump, the cancer has been there and growing for a while).  For men, with usually smaller breasts, oftentimes breast cancer can be felt as a firm lump near/under the nipple or adjacent to it.  If this lump is ignored, then trouble can ensue.  However, if it is discovered and treated early, male breast cancer has an excellent cure rate.

The diagnosis of gyne basically is that of the presence of excess tissue on the male chest -- usually a mix of fat and breast tissue.  Sometimes it can feel firm or soft, or very hard, or like a bunch of grapes or olives.  When operating on gyne, I find that sometimes the very firm tissue actually comes out easier with lipo than I expected -- and sometimes the softer tissue is more difficult to lipo. 

Bottom line: what the tissue feels like has nothing to do with what surgery needs to be done (ie excision alone, lipo alone or combination).

Dr Jacobs