MAN this sucks..

[sickman]

Hi, im 14 yrs old and live in England.

Guys this sucks... i'm a teen and i've got "man boobs". Well my nipples just stick out a little and theres a small lump behind it. IT REALLY SUCKS! Had it for around 2 years now.. My friends go to the swimming pool, i say no. My friends go to the beach, i say no. YOU KNOW WHY? cos these damn breasts i'm so depressed, i change in the locker room for football practise with my friends, and guess what. None of them have my condition!! I have abs and muscles and everything but it's my damn chest, i know how u guys feel but i think i'm too young for surgery..

advice needed, thanks ppl

[Spleen]

You have a way to go before you can seek a surgical solution.  My best advice to you is to try to be more confident.  This is hardly the end of the world.  It maybe hard to understand since you're young, but the more confident you act...the more confident you'll feel.  The alternative will be to spend your teen years embarassed and miss out on a lot of fun activities.  

[GynoVict1m]

Man ! Same here !

15 years old. Play basball - i see NOONE else with my condition

I have decent ableture and biceps.

But I got these big nipples! AHHHHHHHHHH

[jc71]

I stopped playing sports where you can see it, like baseball and started playing more hockey.  it's tought to see with a chest protector on.

[jc71]

Come on Blatino.  I've got nothing against guys like you who get turned on by guys with breasts.  Let me repeat that again.  I've got nothing against guys like you who get turned on by guys with breasts.  I don't want to be accused of being a homophobic or whatever the latest generalization is that you plaster on everyone who you think has insulted you and your right to be gay.  

However, do a yahoo search for your "big nipple/breast thing" and i'm sure you can find many discussion boards to satisify your desires.  gynecomastia.org is not one of them.

[jc71]

sickman - you're only 14, you have a perfect opportunity to see an endo and hopefully get treated with meds and avoid surgery.  Give it a shot.

[sickman]

My parents are doctors and they said that im at the stage of puberty where most boys get it. I discussed this with them and all they said was be patient and they'll DEFINATLEY go. either thats just the motivation from a typical parent or im destined to stay with these things... I feel theyre going down very slowly though.. Would they come back?

[Paa_Paw]

At your age there is a good chance of self resolution.

You Seem to think you are alone, News flash: half the boys your age are affected. perhaps even more.

Will it stay and not resolve? Perhaps, So?

To be a good candidate for surgery, you'd have to be well through puberty and pretty well physically matured. at your age, you probably have a few years to go.

I think you need to have another heart to heart talk with your parents and really let them know how you feel.

I suspect that your situation may be entirely normal. but I have yet one more alternative for you: See if you can get an appointment with a Doctor who will be neutral.

You are not really alone, Just look around.

[Paa_Paw]

All you are getting here is the textbook routine. We all know that MOST people don't have gyno -

[/quote]
graham_ashe,  If you really believe the line quoted above you really have no clue what you are talking about.

This site has over 4600 members, and there are a lot of people who visit but never join in. While it is true that not many of us can fill a bra, Gynecomastia to some extent is present in so many men and boys that your Doctor probably did not even note it when doing your last physical. While unexpected, and usually intensely disliked, the condition is simply not rare, unusual, or abnormal.  

Because it is unexpected, many people opt for surgical reduction.  Because it is actually quite normal, Insurance companies balk at covering the surgery.  Oddly enough, I can understand both sides.

Kids will tease because you have breasts. That is true. They will also tease if you have freckles, red hair, no hair,if you are fat, skinny, short, or tall.  At the age of 27, With a squeeky voice, a baby face, and 38A breasts; I didn't crawl into a hole, I became a Police Officer. People have a tendency not to tease the man who wears a badge and gun, Even though my Badge was perhaps more prominently displayed than most.

As an old man now, with 8 children and 19 grandchildren I cannot think of anything I missed because of my breasts.  The list of things that I missed out on because of my attitude about my breasts is long.
And yes I still have a squeeky voice, I get Ma'amed on the phone all the time.

The lesson is simple, Develop a strong sense of self. Then go for it and have a good life.
If you ultimately decide on surgical reduction, Fine.
If you Decide to cope with the breasts, that is OK too.

Just keep a good atitude.

[Spleen]

Right on Paa.  

[Paa_Paw]

Thanks Spleen,

I know this is a terrible pun, but;

I just had to get that off my chest!

[GynoVict1m]

Its hard in highschool. I know studies show 50-75% of all teens have gyne blah blah - but in school, the only people i see with large breasts, are the overweight people... There was ONE kids my size who had it, and he got TORTURED.

Noone likes him because of it, they bought him a sports bra during soccer season, he got nicknames such as "acorn breasts", etc. etc.

This is the reason I try and hide mine so well. Its very unnacceptable in my school.

[Paa_Paw]

I'm old, but I do have a good memory.  School was rough.  By the time I got into the USAF, I had quit playing the part of victim. I still kept hidden as much as possible. But I refused to be a victim. The teasers quickly found other prey. Believe it or not, I actually felt guilty in a way.  Thinking I had been spared torment at someone elses expense.

In my whole life, no one was ever more cruel to me than I was to myself. When I started to respect myself others started to respect me also.  

Your self image should be between your ears, not on your chest.

[Paa_Paw]

Yes, it is old. So am I.

The concerns expressed and the replies are not things that I could improve upon so I brought it back from the archives.

It has been recently pointed out that a surgeon owns this site and the accent is on surgery. Please note that the originator of the site is a psychologist and a business manager. The present site owner is a surgeon, that is true, but the site is not, nor has it ever been, only about surgery.

Most of the correspondents are interested in surgery, so that would seem to be the major focus. I would like to point out that there are several different forums within the site and each has a different focus.