Doctor's advice

[JohnnyH]

So I have had (probably relatively mild) gyno since the beginning of puberty, which was a time when I took Risperdal. I recently went to my GP since it hadn't go away, I got referred to an internist in a hospital. There I did a blood test which was meant to exclude other factors such as current hormonal imbalance, and the internist concluded that it was indeed probably caused by Risperdal. (I'm not overweight).


Then the internist told me that there was nothing that could be done about it because surgery would leave ugly scars that are worse than the mild gyno according to her. She said I could only hope it would wear away after some years, or that if I would train my chest muscles it would become less conspicuous.


Now on this forum I see many people recommending surgery. Was my doctor wrong in saying it can't be recommended because of scarring? Or does it depend on the particular case and may she have been right in my case?

[Alchemist]

Hi JohnnyH,

This site is a resource for those desperate enough to want surgery.  50% to 70% of men will have mammary gland growth, and usually fat and muscle by the time they die according to autopsy studies.  Another 10 or 20% have fat and/or muscle only appearing as a breast.
.01% to 0.02% of the 75,000,000 to 100,000,000 in the USA has surgery each year, a total of about 1% of those with gynecomastia in a lifetime.  99.98% to 99.99%  don't have surgery, 99% NEVER have surgery for gynecomastia.  So first the majority of men you see (across a span of ages) have gynecomastia.  Watch reality TV.  Guys hiding wear 3 layers of overweight over size shirts or compression vests despite summer heat.  Guys who accept their bodies wear shirts that fit and if they have breast pain, wear a bra of a comfortable type.
Look around you and know you are seeing 50% to 70% of men have enlarged breasts.  The 10% or so who are flat as a board look different.  Do you think that everybody out there pays any attention to you?  Do any of them care what you look like?  Do you care that 2/3 or so of guys you see have breast growth from some cause?  Do you want to build up so much fear that you have to get surgery or throw you life away?   The people here that can't go swimming, can't go out with girls (or boys, doesn't matter), can't perform on stage or give speeches or ever take off their shirt and furthermore they can't talk about it either generally so they avoid swimming and so on without ever actually saying why.

If you don't want your life controlled by fear and shame don't teach yourself to think about it that way.  Because 0.01% to 0.02% of men with gynecomastia each year jump off the surgery cliff  is no reason for you or any other of the  99.98% to 99.99% to jump off that surgery cliff.  The ones who don't care are not posting here.  There is also the little problem that 10% (claimed by a good surgeon that posts here, and you always want to have the best for this) are not satisfied and some smaller number wish they had never had surgery or it doesn't help how they feel.  Much of the trauma for me and others was from middle school and high school.  In the adult world nobody cares, nobody attacks you, nobody harasses you endlessly, nobody gropes you and almost nobody notices and nobody cares.  Just don't care about a cosmetic change. If one medication doesn't get you another will, over and over possibly.  It's a common side effect and so many guys for no particular reason.  You will have more than enough medical situations that you don't need any extra. You have hardly started.  In the end gravity gets us all 6 feet under, one part at a time is seems like.  

I'm a nudist.  Even excellent shaping jobs are often visible across the pool.  If you can't stand the thought of people KNOWING because they can see the scars and shape that you had breasts remodeled, but again most people will never notice except for a brief noticing without attention.  Badly done surgeries have lousy scars and look lousy and change body contours.  From a surgery had by belly button is a full inch or more lopsided because of a sloppy surgery, a large collapsed area below a gall bladder scar, and a large split muscle down the length of my abdomen from the level of the scar (all the same surgery).  My father was almost killed by a botched parathyroid operation.   Any surgery can be life threatening for completely unforeseen reasons.  I have D to DD breasts depending upon edema.  I haven't seen any of those resolved in a surgery that I might consider if I were looking for a surgery.  So if you have some large breasts, like DD or H cup or whatever that really is noticeable, the surgery is messy and more easily to have a non satisfying surgery, in my opinion.  Most of the guys with larger breasts wear bras for comfort and ignore them.  Do what make you happy.  Don't do it because of the 1% who ever get surgery.  That isn't exactly a consensus.  Good luck.

[George Pope, M.D.]

If you are concerned about your gynecomastia and want improvement, you should visit a board certified plastic surgeon in your area, preferably one who does a lot of gyne surgery..  It doesn't sound like your GP is familiar with the surgery if she thinks it will leave horrible scarring.  It does not.
Good luck-
Dr. Pope, MD

[Alchemist]

A comment on Dr. Pope's answer.  He gives the best reason why to have the best and experienced plastic surgeon for this kind of surgery.  I have seen some absolutely horridly done surgeries for male breasts.  The better the surgeon the more likely of satisfaction.  Choose wisely.  The problem is that many good surgeries, as good as they can be, are not necessarily satisfying people in terms of reversing their fears and behaviors.  Even good surgeries are often visible across the pool.  And by visible, it may be just barely visible, and obvious that a person had breast surgery, or at least the fear is that "everybody will know that I had breasts" or something like that.  That is a small percentage but for the guys with that it is 100% for them.  Get the best surgeon if you are going tpo get surgery.  I worked in group health for decades and have talked to a lot of people about their complaints, part of my job. Do what will make you happy, if anything will.  Good luck.