/DECIDED TO HAVE SURGERY/HAVE A FEW QUESTIONS/UPDATED WITH PICS

[Era]

Hi I am 23 years old and have been dealing with gynaecomastia since I was 13, I think its fitting I finally rid myself of the issue on its 10th anniversary.

I have decided to get a loan to pay for the surgery and am looking to have it done in June. I am 6ft tall and weigh 13 st 10 lb which gives me 4 solid months pre op to lose some body fat for the surgery. I am going on vacation to Mexico in September giving me another 4 months to recover from the surgery somewhat.

I’m going to go with Karadis and book my consultation in 4-8 weeks, it’s a bit of a pain because I live in Manchester but oh well it will be worth it.

I have a few questions that I will list below:

How long do you have to wear the compression vest for post op?

How many times will I have to return for a check up post op?

What will my chest look like at the 4 month mark post op?

Can I get a sick note to be off work or will I have to use my holidays?

How long do you recommend being off work for?

When should I incorporate gentle massaging for scar tissue?

I feel excited now I have finally decided I am willing to get a loan to pay for the surgery, I just can’t wait to get everything booked, I have a feeling 4 months will fly by. I just have to make sure I successfully lose some body fat as the lower it is the better the results will be.

I will post pictures when I get home to show people what my body composition right now is like an also the state of gynaecomastia. You guys will probably not say its too bad but I feel its worse than some of the pics I have seen from people who have had the surgery in this forum.

Here are a few pics of my gynaecomastia, please give me your opinion on how bad you think it is, my mum always says it doesnt look bad and i dont need surgery and it drives me insane i dont know if she is blind because im her son or if she is just stupid.

Front 1


Front 2


Front 3


Side 1


Side 2


Side 3

[sjwsjw]

Compression vest is worn 24/7 for 14 days (you can take it off for half hour or so to shower), then you can cut it down to 12 hours for another 14 days. It's not noticeable under the right clothes, I wore mine at work (wearing a formal button up shirt) and took it off in the evenings. You will be giving an information pack tho which tells you most faq you might have. 

I'm coming up for 9 weeks post op. I had a follow up at 6 weeks and he asked to see me in April (about 14 weeks post op). Although he asked if I could he didn't tell me I had to, it's a 7 hour round trip for me but piece of mind is worth it.

4 months is enough time, it'll look fine by then. My scars are healed and pretty hard to spot without looking for them already, just got swelling atm but that will easy over time.

No sure about the holiday or sickness I'm self employed but I'm sure you could ask for a sick note?

You could be back to a desk job in a week, more if it's a little physical.

Massage after 2 weeks or so, depends how tender you are. Need to be healed before you start poking it about.

[Era]

Thanks for the reply sjwsjw! Congratulations on your surgery!

I forgot one more question, do you have to sleep on your back after surgery and for how long. I think im going to have the full 2 weeks off of work, the women at my workplace are very touchy and we banter a lot so getting hit in the chest or some one touching my body and asking me what the hell are you wearing under there a bullet proof vest would be tragic.

[Era]

Added pictures

[Mandrayke]

You are supposed to sleep on your back, propped up on cushions for the first couple of nights at least, I think this is to aid drainage of any built up fluid. it's recommended to sleep on your back for a while after that but mainly because you'll be sore and sleeping any other way will be uncomfortable. To be honest I'd just listen to your body and see what works for you, I was sleeping on my side after about three days as I absolutely cannot get to sleep on my back!

[sjwsjw]

Cheers

Yea I took a couple of weeks off work, was nice to take things as easy as I wanted for a while.

Yup you'll need to sleep on your back tilted up on some pillows or something. I wasn't looking forward to that but I found it more comfortable than I expected tbh.

I can see your issue with the puffy nipples. My mum said she didn't notice mine either. I was always hiding it so maybe I was just better at that then I thought. Either way I wanted it done for me. I noticed it.

[Era]

Hmmm i suppose that doesnt sound too bad. Yeh your case could be classed as really minor but if it causes you to not live your life fully then imo its well worth getting it fixed rather than just living withing it.

I weighed myself on monday morning i weighed 192 lb, im looking to lose like 25-30 lb so 16 weeks seems like a nice ammount of time. I am going to update my weight like once a month here hopefully it will help me stay on track.

[sjwsjw]

Yea sounds like a nice amount of time to get to where you want to be.

I'm 6ft and weighed in at 67kg (10st 7lb) at the hospital. I had more fat to gland then I was expecting tbh. Looks like you have more gland tissue, I didn't really have puffy nipples so much as a rounder shaped chest.

Yea keep updating here, it'll give you a reason to check out other people's logs as you go. I found that very useful while I was waiting for things to start myself. Good luck 

[Era]

Dam your weight is pretty much where i would love to be, when i was 18 i was 11 stone and all through school i was 10 and half, i cant believe i allowed myself to put so much weight on it really does creep up on you. I went on holiday last September and it was just awful i picked a spot right in the corner near the shower so i could be out of the main area and go under the shower to shrink my nips before i walked to the pool. That's when i sort of realized how badly it was impacting my life.

You can really see the gland on the side pics it looks really large right behind the nipple i bet Karadis removes a kg of gland haha. If i want to go up to London for my consultation in the first week of June do you think it would be best to book it now along with the train tickets?

[sjwsjw]

I would then you know what's happening, if you can get a date now you don't need to worry about not getting the date if you was to wait. You should get a reasonable price on train tickets that far in advance too.

[Era]

Booked my consultation today for the 3rd april, im excited things are moving

[thetodd]

I wouldn't get to hung up on your weight, i know some people do it but to me its a waste of time. What matters is what you see in the mirror, and ive found scale watching curbed my eating habit's for the worse.

I will be blunt because sometimes i think its not mentioned enough regarding recovery. Once you have had the surgery, it will hit you hard its a mixture of emotions. Everyone has a seperate reaction in regards of swelling.bruising and scar tissue. Since you have been living with it for ten years, its not a case of "They are gone now, im cured!". What tends to happen is that although the physical scars are gone, the emotional ones are still kicking around and magnified on bad days.

I mention this, because you are going to Mexico 4 months after surgery and you seem like the anxious type (like me). Even if your chest looks absolutely gyne free, your head will be telling you another and you may need to use some coping strategies to deal with that anxiety.

Get the surgery, dont worry to much about the prep. You can get a sick note from the doctors, but you may only get paid statuary sick pay with is around £105 a week so you may want to take holidays if you dont get paid sick pay. If you havent got a gym membership, get one but find a gym where no-one you know goes and you can use the pool to build yourself up for the beach.

You will benefit hugely from the surgery, im not trying to scare you but its worth me telling you now rather than you panicking when your post op.

[Era]

Hey thetodd thank you for taking the time to read my thread and reply!

The weight loss isn't really for the surgery it just ties in very well with it. I weigh 14st currently and have always weighed between 11-11 and a half so i feel really chubby. Also i have seen the pics of people post op who are built similarly to me and i would hate to have a flat chest only to look down at my bulging belly.

I'm well aware about recover after reading quite a lot of logs i am dreading it a little bit but think i am prepared for it. That's another thing this site is really good for you get to see what people are going through post op so you can really be prepared, like if this site didn't exist and i had the surgery i can imagine post op being total hell because like you said i would think right i have had surgery now in a few weeks when the bruising goes down i will be ready for the beach.

I'm going to just take 2 weeks holiday off of work it seems like the easiest most simplest option.

[Pez2]

Very Wise words from thetodd there!

When you get a flat chest, you're going to notice your belly more, especially if it's something you're already insecure/aware of. And I'd be lying if I said I'm perfectly happy with my body post op and that it hadn't made me want to lose weight, etc. But remember, you don't need surgery to get rid of that. All you need is good exercise and the gyno surgery will give you the confidence to get out there and do that so don't worry too much about it. Learn to be comfortable with your image.

And of course, naturally you will worry pre-op, after I'd confirmed my date for the op I was expecting sleepless nights thinking about it, worrying it'll all go wrong. But honestly, I never did. There comes a time, like yours at the swimming pool, when you realise, I have to do something about this and enough is enough. And for me, once I realised that I knew the op would be a relief and was a necessity more than anything. I'm 2 months post op now and it goes so quickly 

[Era]

Ok so I had my consultation on Wednesday. I should have wrote my questions down as my mind went absolutely blank while I was in there. Ive booked the surgery for the 21st of may, im really excited and also nervous, its only 5 and a half weeks away. Im also having trouble in my relationship at the moment and there is a good chance I will be going on my own for the surgery (i live Manchester) so im not looking forward to that and imagine i will feel scared and alone.

since i first posted ive lost a stone, i have about 1 more stone to go, im not going to reach it by the time of the surgery but im going to push as hard as i can, i don't want to have a flat chest only to have a protruding abdomen.

After the surgery im going to eat at maintanence calories (it makes no sense to me to eat in a deficit as surely this will hinder recovery? When would you guys say i would could eat in a deficit again, 2 weeks post op?

One concern i have is i never made sure karidis will remove the gland, do i need to even bother emailing him with the question or will he 100% be removing it.

Did anyone have trouble finding his clinic in the hospital? i asked 3 people and they all gave me different directions, one woman told me to go to the 10th floor (the hospital only had 3 floors)

and lastly, the post op info says the incisions under the nipple will not be sealed off so they can drain fluid before sealing themselves after 72 hours. it also says i can shower in 24 hours as long as i wear water proof plasters, and to leave them on for 7 days. how can any fluid drain when the incisions are sealed off with plasters?