What's the extent of my gynecomastia?

[smoke_beam]

Hi,
I am a 5' 8" tall male weighing around 205 lbs. I do have gynecomastia from the looks of it but I am curious about its extent.

I tried this method to find it out --

Determining bra size

One common way of determining bra size is described below (all values measured in inches).

First measure tightly around the torso, directly underneath the breasts. This is the frame size. To calculate the band size, add 5" if the frame size is an odd number, or 6" if it is even (the difference takes account of the fact that bras are only available in even sizes).

Next measure directly across the fullest part of the breasts over the nipples, while standing straight with arms to the side. This is the bust size. The cup size is then the difference between the bust size and the band size, converted into a letter using the following table:
Bust size minus band size (inches)       Cup size
0" to 0.5"       AA
1" or less       A
2" or less       B
3" or less       C
4" or less       D
5" or less       DD or E
6" or less       F
7" or less       FF

For example, if a woman's frame size is measured at 30", then 6" would be added to give a band size of 36".
If her bust size measured 40", that gives a difference of 40" - 36" = 4", which converts to a "D" cup size.
So her final bra size would be 36D.

From -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cup_size

Can this method be applied to men too to find their cup size? My measurements right below my breasts is coming to be 39" and over my nipples at the peak they are coming to be around 43". Do I have to add 5" to 39" as suggested in the article or do I just subtract 43" from 39". In the former case I'd be getting an AA cup size while in the latter one it would be a D cup-size. So I am wondering. Any one has any suggestions?

Thanks.

[Paa_Paw]

When you measure below the breast area you are also measuring below the level of the pectoral muscles. A difference of at least a couple of inches should be expected just to account for the muscles. The AA size would seem to be correct, except that you probably couldn't find one to fit around your chest with cups that small.

The relationship of height to weight that you gave would suggest that you are quite overweight. Since the breast area is one place that men commonly have pads of fat, this would become much more obvious in an overweight person.

This is not to say that you do not have a ligitimate cause for concern. In fact, aromatization of Testosterone to Estrogen takes place in the fat cells so the excess weight could indirectly lead to growth of glandular tissue in addition to the contouring caused by obesity.

Simply losing some weight will not get rid of the breasts entirely, but it should help. One down side is that with significant weight loss the breasts might not shrink but simply droop.

Should you be interested in surgery, normalization of your weight should come first.

[smoke_beam]

Hi,
Thanks for the exhaustive answer. I am obese yes. I have been overweight/obese since 8 years of age (I am 25 now). I lost a lot of weight from age 19 to 21. Infact I had reached the optimum weight for my height then. I recall observing my breasts to have reduced a lot after losing weight, they were almost gone. But still if I stood suppose with my chest puffed (I had to stand like that because my lower back had aches and pains and to get over them I stood like that often) people would often stare at my chest even though I could notice nothing in them myself and they seemed normal to me then.

Now of course I've regained all the lost weight and then added some more. I am working towards losing it.

Thanks for your answer again.