How do I know that my gynecomastia has stabilized?

[amethyst tint]

I mentioned this in an earlier thread, but thought it deserved a thread of its own. Any comments would be greatly appreciated.

This may sound like an obvious question, but at what point can I be confident that my condition is sufficiently stable for surgery?

I've had gyne for close to seven months (triggered by a brief course of TCM meds + treatment, which I stopped six months ago) and my hormone levels recently tested as normal. However, I can't say for sure that there have been *no* changes since onset. If I had to guess, I would say that my chest seems to have gotten slightly larger since that time - not much, but a little. And while the initial achiness/soreness has mostly subsided, I can "feel" my chest sometimes, sometimes as a slight ache or bulkiness.

For a while I was taking photos every month or so, but stopped a couple of months ago. I'm going to take another set over the next day or two.

The apparent cause of the gynecomastia was a combination of (1) chinese herbal meds, which, according to my endocrinologist, have the same mechanism as finasteride (she discovered this after researching the herbal meds in question); and (2) three or four weekly applications of some kind of scalp treatment for hair loss, which my endocrinologist says can stay in your body for a while. I stopped both treatments in July 2010 and, as I mentioned above, my hormone levels are currently within normal range.

I want to go ahead with surgery this spring if possible, but I don't want to do so prematurely. My questions are as follows:

- Any thoughts on keeping track of bodily changes pending surgery? (I find it hard to continually assess my condition because it's so subjective.)
- How do you know that it's safe to proceed with surgery (ie, that no further growth is likely)?
- Lastly, should people w/ gynecomastia wait until they have *no* achiness or discomfort in their chest before going ahead with surgery (in other words, are these symptoms always a red flag for surgery)?

[Paa_Paw]

The most generally accepted answer would be that the condition has fully stabilized when there has been no change for two years.

Within that period of time the condition could change significantly. If the Gynecomastia was due to a drug side effect, and the offending drug was withdrawn, the condition could completely resolve in that time. If the condition does not fully resolve, then surgery would be the only way to diminish the breast size.

In the interim, there are an assortment of garments from several suppliers that will help with the contour problems.

Two years may sound like a very long time, But time is a relative thing. When looking ahead, two years seems like a long time but looking back two years is not long at all.