Hello.. new here.. some questions

[thejanitor86]

Hello everybody.. first of all I have to thank whoever made this forum for making a great community that can talk about gynecomastia..

My name is Steve and i'm 18 years old and i've had breasts since puberty.. i've suffered through high school with my breasts but i need it to stop now that i'm at college.. i can't take it anymore. i hate my body so much i just want to die. i did not even realize that there was a condition for men that had breasts until i looked it up online about a year ago.

as i said i'm 18, and i weigh around 240lbs. here are some pictures: 1, 2, 3

i don't have the money or even a means of transportation to get surgery.. and it just sounds really scary after reading about how people lose all feeling in their chest muscles. i've been thinking about ordering a gynecomastia vest but i'm really not convinced that they're made for my "size". i've also been considering just getting some ace bandage or a compression bra or SOMETHING even temporarily just so i dont have to deal with this anymore.. can somebody please point me in the right direction? i should also probably say that i've never brought it up with my doctor and he hasn't said anything either so i don't know what to think. and the same with my parents.. or anybody. i seriously ENVY people that are able to cope with their gynecomastia day-to-day but i can't do it anymore.

and also i'm sorry if this is in the wrong section of this forum..

[headheldhigh01]

this is absolutely the right place for general questions, and congrats on finding the site.  learning that other people had this too is quite a discovery    

if you get a semi-competent ps instead of some general surgeon who barely knows what gyne is, you won't lose all feeling in your chest muscles or even close.  you might lose some around the areola but maybe not even then, depends on the procedure.  (not that i wouldn't make the trade if i had to.)  

just search up "compression vests," guys bigger than you have probably bought them.  men don't buy them because their chests are too small  other people have improvised with shirts that are smaller or even retail pieces by body armor.  

you don't really need to bring it up with your doc since all he'd probably tell you is what it's called.  if he was really dumb he'd tell you it might go away, but given the degree you have it, i doubt it.  you won't have to tell your parents unless you want them to help you with an op, you can deal with this on your own.  it's nice to get the support, but it's not necessarily right for everyone. 

if you can't start saving up a few grand, you're probably stuck with the compression-type short term fixes for now.  but at least you can do that, and now you know people who know what it's like.  

[dogandduck1]

Yours is most probably worse than mine and I still had surgery. I'd definitely advise looking strongly into the possibility of surgery. It would be a good idea to tell someone close and move from there, parents maybe?

[thejanitor86]

Thank you for the responses..

I'm thinking about purchasing this (http://www.contourmd.com/Male_Vest_by_Contour_p/11-mvp.htm) vest. has anybody else used this one? and also i'm kind of confused what to actually put as the size.. i can comfortably wear an XL shirt without it being too tight. large shirts are fairly tight on me, so should i go with a L size vest for the "extra" compression or should i still go with XL?

i'm also considering buying a vest from http://gynecomastiavests.com/ or http://www.gynecomastia.underworks.com/ if anybody would recommend something better from there.

EDIT: Just did a measurement and i'm 46" around (with chest included) if that helps.