regarding the gland

[dean86]

Let me get something straight.. this "gland" truly defines someone with gyno right? There is no way to get rid of the gland without surgery?

What is the gland exactly and where doe sit come from? and how big does the gland have to be that I know i have no chance of getting rid of it without surgery, and how small can it be that people have actually experienced results from just diet and exersize?

help!

[lowt]

I think it's a similar effect to your voice breaking. Hormones make it happened, and once it has, the actual physicality of your voice box has change, and can't go back.

I don't the gland "appears" in men - I think it's there, dormant, flat, just waiting for oestrogen to activate it. But I don't know this.

Another interesting breast-bit (hoho) is that fat cells can swell up by ten times in size, but they can also shrink too.

[dean86]

when you talk about fat cells swelling up, would they feel different than normal fat cells?

i'm assuming what im feeling is a gland because it's obviously a different texture from the fat


is there any way the gland developed as a result of being overweight? or would it be there even if I was skinny?

[nukem2k5]

This is my understanding of it:

The mammary gland is natural to have, and during puberty your increased hormone levels can cause it to become oversensitive and it may enlarge.  When that happens and they do not de-sensitize, you've developed gyne.

I think being overweight has some role in it but there are skinny guys with puffy and sensitive nips also.  It just seems more prevalent because overweight gyne victims have larger boobs because they also have fat in their chest, not simply the gland.

[Mr_Nip]

Nukem has it right.  Plus, a skinny man may also have a fat component in his gyne.  A woman's breasts are composed of fat and gland.  A man's breasts are the same with gynecomastia.  There may be a lot of gland tissue or very little, but it's still gynecomastia if it resembles a woman's breasts. 

[dean86]

so basically if i have a gland under my nipples, there is NO possible way I can have a "normal" looking chest without surgery?

keep in mind, i am 19 right now, still growing, but no chance it will naturally go away? I lift weights too, and lifting seems to make my chest look better, especially with the development of pecs

[Mr_Nip]

I guess there's a slight chance it could go away, but at 19 it's unlikely.  If you've had it for two years or more then I would say it's definitely not going away on its own. 

Gyne is difficult to remove by diet and/or exercise because it's part of your body kind of like your ears.  You can't get rid of your ears with diet and exercise.  Women can diet and exercise and get smaller, but they still have breasts.  It's the same with men.

Surgery is the only proven method of getting rid of gyne.  An endocrynologist can be helpful in determining if the cause of your gyne (imbalanced hormones) is still there.  That's valuable information if you don't want the gyne to return after surgery.

[dean86]

in regards to women, you see all these anorexic movie stars, and their breast size decreases a LOT.

the problem with me is, I never noticed the lumps under the nipples, i just assumed my breasts were bigger because i was a little overweight... so how would i really know how long i've "had gyno"?

[Mr_Nip]

I know what you're saying, and it's true that women's breasts can get much smaller when they lose a lot of weight.  Their arms, legs and even cheeks decrease a lot in size, too, but they still have them.   They still have their breasts, too, although they are smaller.  Gyne is commonly mistaken for fat that is from being generally overweight.  It is possible for somebody to put on extra weight in the chest just as in the belly, thighs, or wherever.  Gyne, however, is hard-wired into the body most often by the effects of hormone imbalances or genetics.  In other words, it's not just a fat chest.  It's literally women's breasts on a man. 

How long have you been self-conscious about people seeing your chest?  That would give you an indication of how long you've had it.  If your gyne is moderate to severe then you may be able to go through old pictures of yourself and see it there.  I can look at my childhood pictures and see it through some of the clothes I was wearing. 

[DrBermant]

Let me get something straight.. this "gland" truly defines someone with gyno right? There is no way to get rid of the gland without surgery?

What is the gland exactly and where doe sit come from? and how big does the gland have to be that I know i have no chance of getting rid of it without surgery, and how small can it be that people have actually experienced results from just diet and exersize?

help!

Helping others understand your problem with photographs sometimes can help.  However, it is impossible to tell from photographs if the deformity is from fat or gland. The dynamic images, of my standard set of images can show a region that compresses differently.  Even clinical examination differentiation can be difficult.

Fat tends to be soft, gland tends to be firm.  Fingers of gland often dissect between fingers of fat.  Look at this drawing and move your mouse over the arrows.  However, gland can be soft and fat firm confusing the picture.  Gland tends to be located under the nipple and pinching pressure can sometimes tether to the nipple pulling it in.

Unfortunately, it can be difficult to distinguish just what is causing the problem.  Gynecomastia male breasts can be fat, gland, or most commonly a combination of both.  Sometimes skin and sagging tissues can be a factor.  Pseudo Gynecomastia is supposed to be fat only gynecomastia.  The problem with that "classification" is that in almost every case of gynecomastia I have seen there is some component of gland.  This gland can be very small, but it is present almost all the time.  So do you have Pseudo gynecomastia when there is a 1%, 10%, 50%, or 90% deformity from fat?  Reality just does not work that way.  I prefer the original meaning of the word by Galen who first used the phrase: female like breasts.  He defined gynecomastia as an unnatural increase in the breast fat of males. Although Galen was aware that glandular enlargement of the male breast occurred as a separate entity, he did not consider this gynecomastia.

In my opinion, if the contour looks female, then you have gynecomastia wether it is fat and or gland and or loose hanging skin.  Female breasts come in many different forms from the small puffy nipple of a developing breast to a large hanging structure.

I prefer to treat the contour, how it looks.  If there is a concern about a female like contour, I try to sculpt a male like chest.  Picking your surgeon is like picking an artist.  Not all surgeons have the same skills nor approach to this problem.

Hope this helps,

Michael Bermant, MD
Learn More About Gynecomastia and Chest Sculpture

[nukem2k5]

i just assumed my breasts were bigger because i was a little overweight... so how would i really know how long i've "had gyno"?

I was in the same boat.  I was overweight so I thought my boobs were just fat but I came here and learned about the gland and everything and decided to get surgery.

[headheldhigh01]

the dr can correct me if i'm wrong, but i'm really not sure think there's enough formed gland tissue in the normal male state to speak of.  the term normall refers to denser gyne tissue, like you get in the disk or ring cases, and in the case of the larger cases that bear closer resemblance to women's, it's expanded out with both fat and duct content so that it feels softer and is more prone to lipo removal, whereas the denser stuff requires excision.  so all gyne is technically gland, but the term is usually applied where you can feel a more defined mass.