I Ain't be on this site for a while but im back with some good news. After about 8 years living with gynecomastia & after a number of vists to see a consultant. I finally got told yesturday i will get the op but it wont be until a few month yet . I got referred by my doctor again & i went to see the consultant yesturday. I got turned down the other times because i was a bit over weight, now i have lost a bit of weight i can finally get the op, so i am now waiting for a date & i cant wait. I am still a little over wait 13 stone & they told me to try lose bit more down to 11 stone would be ideal. With my gynecomastia it is only in one breast, my left side. I am 25 year old male & i lost all my confidence & don't like going out in t shirts & hate summer. By this time next year i be on the beach with my top off & i cant wait, i will finally get my life back. Happy days ahead
Congratulations on your weight loss. Weight issues normally result in problems on both sides. With
One Sided or Unilateral Gynecoamstia, weight loss is not normally a factor. For such patients the problem is usually
Uneven or Asymmetric Gynecomastia, the problem exists on both sides to different degrees.
Losing weight can help with the fat of gynecomastia but does not help with remaining gland / scar tissue. I have seen many cases that losing weight that unmasks the remaining gland / scar tissue. Patients feel better about their bodies at the lower weight, but how the contour looks can be unpredictable.
Unfortunately, weight loss after surgery is not predictable, you cannot pick where the weight goes on, nor where the weight comes off. Men tend to put fat first on the breast and belly. We take the fat off those regions last. If someone has their chest contoured even before weight loss, then loses weight in a normal male pattern and does not lose as much in the chest region, it can look like the breasts came back.
For my patients, I advise them to get to a weight they are comfortable with before surgery.
As a surgical sculptor I prefer using a coarse tool first and then one of refinement. Losing weight is that coarse tool. Plastic Surgery is best reserved for refinement. I also have had patients who lost weight after surgery. Some got away with it and were happy with their new contour. For others it came off in a fashion that left results less satisfactory, you just cannot predict. The unhappy patients were those from other doctors' prior surgery, and then had lost the weight. Most said they were upset that they had not been educated about such issues before surgery. Education is knowledge and puts the power with the patient. Although sometimes you can get away with it, or use revision surgery at additional cost, to me it seems just more logical to be patient and work on the weight first, then the surgery.
Hope this helps,
Michael Bermant, MD
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