My gynecomastia "with pictures"

[omgninja]

Ive had gynecomastia since i was around 10 years old, i am now 18. up till about a year or two ago i just thought i was overweight so i started a balanced diet and regularly exercising. I noticed that my chest was toning and the gynecomastia went down by quite a lot but it is still very visible. My current girlfriend new that they upset me and i explained that they were one of the main causes for my low self esteem and my severe bullying when i was younger. She found out what the condition was called and told me she thought i had it. after this i started researching into it and found this website a few months ago. i arranged an appointment with my GP who referred me to a consultant in LLandudno hospital (NHS). I was pleased to get referred there was quite a long wait, i went to that the other day in which he confirmed i had gynecomastia and gave me an appointment for a ultrasound scan which i am currently waiting to have. I will keep you posted with anything that happens. I will post pictures as soon as possible.

[DJB]

Welcome to the board friend.  The NHS has a very bad name for dealing with this condition.  I myself had an op on thr NHS and they did not fix me.  They insisted on lipo suction only, when my problem was glandular.  Make sure sure you ask the Doctor plenty of questions, ensure you are comfortable and confident he knows what he is doing.  Sounds to me like your problem is glandular (excess breast tissue) so 100% INSIST on excision.  Do not listen when they tell you you will get the best results with lipo.  Insist on excision.  I would even go as far as saying do not have the op if they only agree to lipo, it will not fix a problem with gland.

[omgninja]

Yeah, thanks it is quite obvious that there is only a small amount of fatty tissue there now. if i could i would go private but theres no way im going to have the funds.

[outertrial]

Ultrasound. For gods sake why? Its really a case of how many pointless appointments and wasted months of your life can the nhs manage for this problem.

[omgninja]

Ultrasound. For gods sake why? Its really a case of how many pointless appointments and wasted months of your life can the nhs manage for this problem.

Thats what i thought, but i've put up with it for 8 years so far so whats a few months.

[GynO_DuDe]

A few months is everything ... I'll be absolutely honest with you forget about the NHS, start saving up NOW.

I was 18 when I first went to the NHS, got messed around nearly 2 years on & off and finally had my operation privately with Mr Levick at the age of 20. I just turned 21 last month ... and im so glad I didnt wait for the NHS, I would happily pay twice as much of what I paid to get rid of gynecomastia.

[GynO_DuDe]

By the way ... I can imagine some of you saying 'its ok for some people ...' well no it's not. I sold my car, put some of my student loan and my own savings together to get the £4000 to have the operation.

So it all depends on how much you want it done really ...

[outertrial]

Cant argue with that.

[kingboob]

By the way ... I can imagine some of you saying 'its ok for some people ...' well no it's not. I sold my car, put some of my student loan and my own savings together to get the £4000 to have the operation.

So it all depends on how much you want it done really ...

I couldn't agree more with you G-Dude.   

My problems are more complicated because I lost a lot of weight and had excess skin all over, not just gynecomastia; however the nhs still messed me about for 12-18 months before I got a 9k bank loan (which I can't really afford tbh)  to go private - and even then my surgeon is being extremely generous and doing everything as cheap as possible & a lot of the work free under.

Ninja:
Ultrasound is a complete and utter waste of time in my experience & opinion - I just hope they agree to fix the issue once you have jumped through all the hoops & ticked the right boxes.  best of luck

[omgninja]

its been ages since my consultation and i still haven't received anything to tell me when my ultrasound scan is.

[Blue2]

I went through my GP and saw a consultant on the NHS about 10 years ago. I was told then that there was nothing they could do and they didn't even suggest lipo! They just said that it was the way I was built and would have to live with it. Great eh! Anyway, after 10 more years of frustration I finally decided to do more searching to see if I really did have gyne. Surely enough I found the answer right here on these boards. About a month later I had found the perfect surgeon, had my op and I am now on the road to recovery. All being well I should be free to go shirtless this summer (fingers crossed!). Just the though of it brings a smile to my face!!

So my NHS experience wasn't good, but that was a long time ago. I know a few people on here have had good experiences with the NHS, but at the same time others have had poor results. You really need to find a PS that has a lot of experience operating on this condition. If you can find one through the NHS then good luck, if not get saving! I was very lucky and managed to get the money through my company, but it has taken me this long to pluck up the courage to persue it since my NHS knockback, so I will afford myself this little luxury! Good luck with your search.

[omgninja]

I've just found out i'm 6 weeks into a 14 week waiting list just for this stupid scan, does anybody know how long it would take from applying to having the operation if i went private?
 I was optimistic after i saw my GP and thought it would be fairly straight forward after i had my blood test now i really don't know what to do, theres no way i'm going to be able to afford to go private, i'm going to university in September so i need to save for that

[irish lad]

from what iv heard.. private about 4 weeks cud e a bit less or bit more!

[GynO_DuDe]

With Levick, I made a on the spot decision to have a consultation and had an appointment the following day after I made a phone call ... and at the consultation booked surgery 2 weeks later. Enough time to stop having garlic/tomatoes and following any other pre-op guidelines Mr Levick needed done to carry out a safe operation.

[barclay]

not all nhs experience are bad, i had mine done on the nhs. I must say, i didnt go for ultrasound, my surgeon recognised the condition right away and booked me in for the surgery.
Im now around 7 weeks post op and apart from a little bit of swelling, everything is fine.

Like you said, youve waited 8 years, whats a few more months, I had the same attitude towards it and everything worked out fine. It is cheaper to go abroad for surgery though rather than go private in the uk if your thinking about doing that.