Introduction/New to the Board

[NerdoC]

Hey guys ,
I'm new to the board so i'm not familiar with the codes of practice etc so if this is in the wrong place please feel free to move it or advise if i'm doing anything wrong...

Anyway , I'm a 21 yr old male from Ireland and have been afflicted with gynecomastia for as long as i can remember. I'm certainly not the thinnest guy on the planet but i'm not obese.

I always attributed my large chest to the fact that i carry an extra pound or two , untill last year when i decided i had enough of feeling like a freak and lost some weight ..... this made the situation worse , it accentuated the condition !

So I put some weight back on because i feel it softens the condition a bit , it doesnt look as obvious.

I don't have trouble with women (nothing out of the ordinary   ) or any social problems because of the condition , however its lead to me suffering from severe depression(which i internalise.people dont seem notice if im down) and poor posture ( i tend to hunch over to cover up)

Id love to be able to just wear a tshirt without feeling like a monster . To take my jumper off when i get too hot etc i'm sure you all know how it feel

Anyway enough of my rant , just wanted to say hello and hope to get to know you all etc in the future.

[Bradley07]

Hi and welcome to the board. Have you considered seeing a doctor about your condition? A lot of people end up going to a plastic surgeon to have the operation corrected. In fact you may have a chance at getting it all paid for since you are in Ireland. I think your health care system might pay for it although you might have to get on a waiting list. I'm not sure--I'm sure you know more about your health care system than I do. Here in the USA it's considered a "cosmetic" operation and so most health insurance companies won't pay for it unless it's causing physical pain.

I had a mild case of it and almost 3 weeks ago I had surgery. I was in and out in a matter of hours and so far I'm very happy with the results. It cost me $4500 or so which sucks but, hey, can you really put a price on getting rid of gyne?  

since you said you aren't really fat then your gyne probably isn't excess fat but just excess breast tissue with maybe a little fat thrown in. So your gyne won't respond to exercise. The best thing you could probably do is go get a consultation with a plastic surgeon and see if you can get what's called "excision" (most people who get liposuction alone aren't happy). Excision almost always works to get rid of the gyne for good.

Welcome to the board and feel free to ask any questions. Also--I hope to visit your country one day.  My mother's family immigrated to the USA from Ireland or Scotland..I'm not sure which one, LOL.  I always get names and where they come from mixed up. All the O's and the Mc's...ya' know? O'donald, McDonald, McFee, McDougal, etc. LOL

anyway...welcome again!

[Time_to_fix_it]

Welcome to the boards.

Your story is a familiar one whereby an individual thinks it is just a bit of spare fat until he starts to lose weight in general, and the boobs remain.  However I firmly believe though that when we realise what the problem is we can decide what, or if, we are going to do about it.

My history is a little different to yours but the upshot was as soon as I was given a name for the condition I had acquired, I searched this site out and spent time reading through the posts other people had made on here.  You might like to do the same but I would say take your time and don’t rush into anything.  Read up on the 2 different types of gynecomastia, what causes the condition, and what your options are for doing something about it if that’s the route you decide to take.  Don’t rush into anything like self medication for there lies great danger.  You might like to post some pictures for other peoples opinions, you might not.  There are some very informed people on this site, but likewise there are some who are not, so take your time.

If you have any questions ask; knowledge is power.

Good luck and keep in touch  .

[headheldhigh01]

i'll add just a small footnote to "two types"; they're generally described as glandular or fatty, but it's kind of a continuum between the two with intermediate degrees, and even glandular can be disk or sometimes a ring.  

[NerdoC]

Yeah i actually have gone to see the doctor about it , it took a lot of guts but i eventually went down and said to her that i feel very self conscious yada yada etc

She told me that its very common.She congratulated me on loosing some weight but asked me to understand that weight can be almost impossible to shift from the chest and many women get the same thing with trying to shift weight from their thighs.  
So she sent me to see a dietician before we considered any drastic surgeries. I went along to the dietician who said just to change from low fat milk to skimmed milk and ill be ok , other than that my diet was ideal .... no joy there

Im kinda weary about seeing the doctor about it again , i feel like im not being taken seriously ya know ? haha

That was about 3 months ago now. I'm in my final year of college so i dont have that much time to do anything about it . Especially if i feel i may get brushed off as i did before. Ah bitch moan complain etc  

Thanks for the comments lads!