My son's gyne, please help

[michael75]

hi all,  my son is 13, hes a bit overweight. he is active and does not eat a lot of junk.  his gyne is pretty bad, his reg. doc didnt hesitate to sending us to see a surgeon, a general surgeon. the surgeon said he needed the operation too.  the surgeon is the head of surgery at the childrens hosp. so im sure he is not a hack.  i went in with high hopes but those hopes were slashed when he said " his chest might be concave after the surgery"  I said, " cant you contour his chest with the liposuction?"  he said he doesnt use lipo he just uses a scalpel to cut away the extra fat and the gland.
then i said " will you be using a compression vest after surgery?"  he said " no, we dont use them".

so what im asking is,  has anyone had a similar surgery? 

is this guy off his rocker?

would our insurance co. be more inclined to cover the cost if a gen. sergeon does the operation?

thanks in advance,     mike

[George Pope, M.D.]

Mike,
As a plastic surgeon, I suppose I could be biased, but most plastic surgeons perform surgery for gynecomastia, and we're very experienced at it.  Liposuction is usually a part of the procedure, particularly if the patient is overweight.  The surgery performed usually entails direct excision of glandular tissue and liposuction.  Postoperative compression vests are a very important part of the procedure.

If you need help locating a plastic surgeon in your area, refer to the home page on this site and click on "Find a Surgeon".  You can learn a lot about gynecomastia from the threads on this board.  The guys here who actually have gynecomastia are very educated on the subject and are happy to share information, their stories, etc.  You can also check out the website of The American Society of Plastic Surgeons at www.plasticsurgery.org

Good luck-

Dr. Pope, M.D.

[johnnybot]

Stick with a P.S His good is to make it work and look good you general surgeon is all about effectiveness not cosmetic apperance.
sorry about the spelling im not a doctor lol

[Noseguard]

Mike,

You hopes should not be dashed.  Concave results are not an acceptable result.  From my "research" concave results are the result of dr.s who don't have the experience/skill to get it done right.

Seeing a plastic surgeon is a must, seeing a PS with good experience and satisfactory before and after photos is also important.

FYI, the first PS I saw had a fancy office, was located in a very well to do town, and quoted me $7500.  When I talked with him I was uncertain he was experienced enough with this.  Then I saw his photos and he said the concave results were "normal" for this type of procedure.  Like you I was discouraged, sad in fact.  I could not believe my choices were Gynecomasitia or a concave chest.

I was pleased to find there are better doctors who get better results.  Being expensive and in pretty office means nothing.  Find  Gynecomastia "expert", study photos, ask questions.

You are a great dad for doing this for your son, he may never know all the pain you saved him from.  And that is exactly the idea.

Good Luck

[Paa_Paw]

Your son is to be congratulated for having such a thoughtful Dad.

What has already been said is so good that I have nothing to add.

Good Luck!

[matt123]

Take care of your boy.  I wasnt so lucky to have a dad that paid such attention.  Ive got two boys and hopefully they wont have the same problems Ive had, cause Ill get it fixed and Ill get someone who knows how to deal with gyne.  Im a 35 year old professional now, and didnt even know what gyne was until about 4 years ago.  I just thought I had a deformity of some kind that was sexually degrading.  I remember when I was 13 or 14, my mom asking the doctor about it.  Mine is not terribly severe, but noticible (a or b cup, glandular, puffy nips).  The doc, back in 1988 or so, said dont worry about it, it will go away in a couple years.  He never explained what it was, or what might happen.  It never did go away.  My parents never did anything about it.  It costs 3-4k now to get it fixed.  I would give 100k now not to have had all those insecurities and imbarressing moments back when I was going through the years which really formed my psyche, and the years (in late hs, college, grad school) when I should have had the confidence to explore my sexuality.  I did explore, but shame held me back.  Dont let your son go through this.  If you cant afford treatment, I understand that, but at least educate him about the condition, so he wont think himself to have some sort of shameful disfigurement.   

I have made peace with gyne now, and will probably never have surgery to correct it.  Deep down, I dont think I have ever forgiven my parents for leaving me untreated and ignorant about my gyne. 

Ive been a long term reader of this board, but rarely if ever posted.  I guess I let a little bit of my old anger vent in this post, but it is not directed toward you.  I wish I had had someone to act as you are to investigate gyne on my behalf.  In short what I am saying is to educate your son, or have it fixed.  Knowledge leads to either a soloution or acceptance.  Either one is better than being ill informed.  Thanks for helping your son.

Matt 

[matthew1]

Matt excellent post, Like you  my parents brought my  gyne [ very puffy nipples] to my doctors attention. Prior to that i was unaware I had gyne. After that  doctor examination a was self  conscious, still am of my chest. That was 30  years ago. I have suffered greatly and believe it contributed to some depression issues. 
     Unlike you,  once I get my separate hormone issue taken care of, I plan on surgery

[Noseguard]

Matt123.....just had surgery at 40. Glad I did.  You got 5 years on me, your young...have surgery, take your shirt off.  Forget the past you have 40+ shirtless years ahead of you.

[PhillyPUFF]

shirtless years

The thought of that just makes me smile inside. I'm 23 years old. I've suffered all the same embarrassments and shame as all of you. My surgery is scheduled for July 3rd. I'm sooo looking forward to my 'shirtless years'. My advice: get the surgery done by a well qualified PS. I have missed out on so fu*kin much, although I know I have plenty of years left to make up for it. Good Luck!