What percentage of men get gynecomastia?

[broman]

I have read that 30% to 40% of men get it. But when I go out to places it seems like everyone has a regular looking chest. When i go to the gym, it doesn't look like anyone has it because they mostly wear tank tops and the tight fitting underarmor shirts.

My dad, brother, all my uncles and cousins didn't get it, only me.

Are we sure that it affects that many people?

Im thinking that it affects less that that.

[mrpower33]

I think that figure is for all men at some point in their lives.  The reason I think you see so few people with it is because (1) it resolves itself for most men during puberty, (2) sometimes the breast tissue is not noticeable, although you can probably feel it in there, and (3) everyone else with it (which is all of us) do everything we can to prevent people from noticing!  I do look for it though at the gym, and every once in a while I will see someone with it.  I agree though, no one I know personally seems to have it.  Just bad luck for us I guess.   

I am really curious for people who have totally flat nipples, is there anything under there at all or does it feel like any other part of your chest?  For those of you who have had the gland removed, maybe you can shed some light.  I'm only 3 days post-op so I'm no help. 

[shen]

I too have read those ridiculous statistics (20-50% of men) and there is no way that is accurate. It's possible that many men have "man-boobs" from being simply overweight, but there is no way that high of a number have actual clinical gynecomastia with breast tissue.

Having had gyne my whole life, it's something I tend to look for on other guys. When someone does have, trust me I can notice it - and those people are very rare, maybe one out of a couple hundred.

[nick24]

Did you guys see Andre Smith run at his Pro Day??? He is one of the top OL prospects in this years NFL Draft. You could definitely tell he has some kind of gyne, Ive seen many guys his weight and never seen his type of boobs besides on someone with gyne.

http://cache.daylife.com/imageserve/02c56820FjfJ3/340x.jpg

[broman]

Yeah he has "G", but it shouldn't be a problem for him to fix he has money lol.

[Wayne1985]

Good old Andre could use a surgery just like the rest of us.

[Wayne1985]

I also think this statistic is bogus.  I am definitely the only one of all my guy friends from high school who had a distinct case.  Several of my friends had pools, and I was definitely the only putting a shirt on before my nips got soft and puffy again; everybody else was keeping their shirt off, having a grand old time.  One kid had a VERY minor case (a tiny bit of fat under there that was a little unusual), but his nipples weren't even puffy.

I think one of my roommates that I lived with for two years in college may have had it.  Nobody ever saw him with his shirt off.

[mrpower33]

What the hell are talking about?  Men are not supposed to have excess breast tissue.  If there's breast tissue that you can feel and see, then as far as I am concerned, it's gynecomastia, even if it's just puffy nipples.  Otherwise, at what point do you say someone has "woman-like-breasts"?  Boobs come in all sizes!  I don't think you need a b-cup to say you "officially" have gynecomatia. 

[monsterclean]

At first, 30-40% seems high.  But the condition must be very common  - I just noticed this website has over 10,000 registered members!  THen there are others who probably read but dont yet post (I was one of those before)

[shen]

10,000 members. Lets assume you have another 10,000 just viewing. If this board was JUST limited to the USA (which it is not, many english speaking countries visit here), that would be 0.00658 PERCENT of America....that is six thousandths of ONE percent.

It is most definitely not 30-40% of men

[mrpower33]

You guys, for most people gyne goes away after a few years.  For us, it didn't.  That statistic if for all men at some point in their lives.  I think there have been many studies validating that statistic.

[monsterclean]

10,000 members. Lets assume you have another 10,000 just viewing. If this board was JUST limited to the USA (which it is not, many english speaking countries visit here), that would be 0.00658 PERCENT of America....that is six thousandths of ONE percent.

It is most definitely not 30-40% of men

Not to rain on your parade, but that assumes that every man with gyne has issues with it.  Some may attribute to obesity, aging, or just accept it.  SOme may just not care.  For others it goes away.  10,000 members on a forum is a pretty impressive number.

[Paa_Paw]

The most believeable reference I have seen on the subject place the number near 35% and included all instances of either visible or palpable enlargement of the breast.

This was without regard to whether the condition was cause for concern by the men involved.

The overwhelming fact is that a large number of men simply ignore the condition.

I just entered the word "Gynecomastia" and Yahoo produced 4,110,000 results of which this site was only one.

Then I went looking again and entered "Most common cosmetic surgery for Men"  It took only a bit or reading to find that Surgery for Gynecomastia ranks Fourth. (Though I do not know how current the information is and this surgery is becoming even more common with each passing year.)

[i_dont_know]

The number we're really looking for here is the percentage of men who develop gynecomastia and do NOT have it resolve on its own. Because that is the number that represents essentially all of the guys here. Not the percentage of guys who simply get it.

Think about it, if you develop pubertal gynecomastia but it resolves on its own in a few months or even a year, you could easily have avoided removing a shirt in public for that short time and after it resolved, no one would have ever known to begin with.

I agree with the fact that when you're someone who is suffering, you always tend to look at every other male around you to see if perhaps they are, too. But it always seems like every one of your friends has a flat chest. When you go to the beach, nobody has any problem taking their shirt off... it's always just you. And it makes you wonder.. if this effects up to 40% of males, where ARE these guys? Which is why I'd like to know the percentage of cases in which the gyne never resolves on its own because I feel it'd be much smaller.

[mrpower33]

Well, that number is definitely not 40% then.  I agree, it's probably a really small percentage.  If you take out body builders who got it from steroids, that number is probably even smaller.  I would hazard to guess 1 in 30, or something like 3%.  That is from just my own observations.  Aren't we lucky!