Embarassing if people knew you got surgery. How to hide that you got surgery?

[Endless]

i have this sort of denial that i have it. thats the image i also try to project, as if nothings wrong. its the most embarassing thing to tell people. the days after surgery, the weeks that follow when ur recovering, wont people notice? close friends, workmates, family, and the people you dont know but see everyday (neighbors, etc).

The ones of you who had surgery, how did u go thru this awkward phase?

The solution im thinking is to disguise it with muscle right away. To get really fit leading to the surgery, bulk up muscle. and then right after the surgery, do a lot of bench pressing to immediately bulk the chest up again. People then might think that u just replaced the fat with muscle (w/c we know is not that simple and is impossible) but the casual observer may not..?

[theman]

I'm having surgery in a few days time, and this is exactly what i'm worried about also. Would be interesting to see what other people think...

I dont think having a lot of muscle would bulk the chest up as much as gyne obviously would tho, as it wont stick out like gyne does. Also I doubt you'd be able to start bench pressing straight away, as most people have said its taken them a few weeks or more until they've started working out again.. 

[Endless]

hmm how about, right after surgery, wear the clothes that make ur chest look bigger. prior to this, we have been wearing stuff that make it look smaller. i got a shitload of shirts that have been given to me or that i bought that make it look bigger.

[Endless]

what u guys think of this plan:

1)the weeks leading up to the surgery, already wear a compression garment and gradually tighten and tighten it.

2)Do alot of body building in the arms, shoulders, forearms, back

This way, when its time for the surgery, the change will not be that obvious becoz the chest would appear to shrink gradually over the weeks up until surgery. By the time surgery is done, your arms and other parts would be ripped and bigger, so people would assume that its a workout related transormation. At the same time, wear shirts that make the chest look bigger, but to be safe, continue to wear dark colors or with concealing designs.

[mtlgyno]

Dude it takes a lot more then a few weeks to get ripped.

I was working out for 3 months prior to surgery, I lost approx. 15 lbs of fat and gained probably 5 lbs of muscle. With clean diet and loads of protein.

Unless your case is really bad, don't worry about it. No one said anything to me. People don't notice as much as you think. If people say "where did your boobs go?" Just say i've been working out and I lost some weight. But no need to elaborate a step by step plan for it.

By the way, I'm 20 days post-op, and still am not working out. I still have pain in my rib cage and pecs. i'm thinking I can probably start next week.

good luck

[Endless]

wow way to go man. Congrats and thanks for the reply.

btw, at ur state right now u think u can do stationary bike? walking is ok right, so i guess stationary bike would be ok too since it doesnt strain the muscle, its cardio but it just moves the quads and not the upper body

[mtlgyno]

Oh yeah definitely you can ride a bike. I've been doing some bicep curls, walking, bodyweight squats and lunges and biking.

The only muscles that I really can't see myself doing as of right now are delts, lats, traps, chest, triceps and abs. I can't see myself jogging yet either.

[Enterprise19]

I tell everyone I got a lump removed and I show them my scar because it goes across my skin too. I went to a general surgeon. Really no one cares. It's all in your head.

[aleksandar]

If you care so much about it or if it is too obvious, I would simply say I had a liposuction, I had an opportunity to do it (got a promotional offer, won a coupon) and I did it. Say I'm going back to the gym, so I wanted a motivational boost. Everyone understands body-image issues today and trust me, liposuction does not sound as embarrassing or radical to ignorant people as gynecomastia surgery. We hear about Hollywood stars, men included, having liposuction all the time, women read about that stuff in those awful tabloids usually accompanied with before and after paparazzi pictures of movie stars on a beach. So they're used to it although they may laugh at the thought of you having liposuction. Gynecomastia unfortunately sounds like there's something fundamentally wrong with you, even people who have heard of it often relate it to unhealthy hormonal balance etc. Nobody wants to be perceived in that way.

In most cases, I doubt that more than 10% of the people will notice, and even more, only 10% of those who notice may ask, which for most people will be not more than a couple of questions.

Building quality muscle, by the way, takes dedication and discipline, but most of all, months (for initial results) and years (for any real change) of hard work and proper nutrition. So it's not a quick fix for your perceived problem, sorry to disappoint you.

[Endless]

thanks a lot guys.

re bodybuilding,

i dont know.. im pretty much an athletic person and i try to build muscle and do weights but i always inhibit my potential to grow muscle by trying to keep thin. with Gyne, i don't leave enough room for me to gain fat therefore dont really gain muscle. I always do more cardio. The surgery will test for me if i can build more muscle without the worry of being thin. I guess its different for people. For me the times i do do weights and allow my muscles time to regenerate, they do get bigger easily. For us Gyne peeps, we know how much benchpressing pushes out our chests.. So even if we don't build 'real and permanent' muscle right away, just workout out alot still inflates the appearance even if its just workout related swelling.

[Juggernaut]

Brother... How quick do you think muscle can be added naturally? Certainly not as fast as you seem to hope.

As far as what to tell people. I tell them I had a preventative surgery removing some benign lumps an glands. I don't get any questions after that usually.

[nipplevision]

and then right after the surgery, do a lot of bench pressing to immediately bulk the chest up again.

If there is 1 thing you won't feel like doing after surgery it's bench pressing my friend.
+ muscles take months/years of hard training to grow noticeably.

[The996]

It's crazy because I was having some rib issues for months prior to my surgery, so I just said I had some crazy chiropractic adjustment. People ask how I'm doing, and it's worked out. I just make sure my compression vest doesn't show by wearing an undershirt with collared shirts.

Good luck!