Help please, went to the doctor today..

[jdawg]

A few weeks ago I noticed a lump in my right nipple. It was painful and annoying but I thought it'd go away on its own. It hasn't yet so I went to the doctor today to find out what it was. Before I took off my shirt and the doctor felt my nipple, I think he already had gynecomastia in mind. He asked me if I smoked marijuana and I told him I do but not very often. He said it's common to have a lump in your nipple from smoking marijuana and it is likely to go away on its own.

So I take off my shirt and he feels my nipple, he says he'll has to do some more reading on it and he'll be back in a few minutes. I wait and he comes back and tells me about lymph nodes or whatever and other things, feels my armpit (I don't know why..) and surrounding areas. He hands me a piece of paper with the word gynecomastia written on it and told me that is what it is and if I wanted, I could go home and read up on it. Which I did, which brought me here. He told me that it should go away by itself in a year but if I don't notice any improvements within 3 to 6 months, I should seek more help.

Googling gynecomastia shocked me, I mean I just thought I had a cyst or something! Was my doctor right in his diagnosis? I am not overweight or anything but I could stand to lose a few pounds. I have been done with puberty for years as I am in my early 20's now. I don't understand why a lump in my nipple would make him think that I have this condition or could develop this condition. Also, when he told me that it should go away on its own after a while, I am sure he was referring to the lump and not breasts. It's not a lump you can see just from looking at it, it's inside and behind my nipple. I am really confused and kind of upset about the whole thing as I thought it would just be a cyst but it turns out I could be growing male breasts.

Any thoughts, questions, etc. on this? My thoughts are kind of jumbled right now so I don't think this was very clear.

[snuffy]

Actually, he felt in your armpits to rule out breast cancer.  Since you don't have lumps in your armpits you shouldn't be too concerned about cancer.  Smoking pot or drinking heavily or just being genetically cursed can create a hormonal imbalance in males that can lead to the gland behind the nipple becoming enlarged.  That, along with excessive breast fat, is called gynecomastia when it occurs in men.  If you find a lump behind the nipple but not in the armpits, it's probably gynecomastia and not breast cancer.  If you DO find lumps in your armpits then you need to get to a doctor FAST before it spreads.  So.... if you stop smoking pot and/or drinking heavily your gynecomastia might go away on it's own in a year.  If not, you can have the gland surgically removed and any excessive breast fat around the gland can be lipo-ed out.  I've had both done and it's quick and painless.  The surgery isn't cheap but it's generally permanent and is a godsend for those of us who were embarrassed by our man breasts.