Please help doctors!

[lwmbed]

What is the difference between Gynecomastia and what doctors call male mastopexy? When I see alot of the before and after pictures, the condition looks so similiar. How come Gynecomastia is way more expensive? I'm really considering seeing Doctor Bermant or Doctor Elliot, but i'm not sure which to go to for a consultation!

[DrBermant]

What is the difference between Gynecomastia and what doctors call male mastopexy? When I see alot of the before and after pictures, the condition looks so similiar. How come Gynecomastia is way more expensive? I'm really considering seeing Doctor Bermant or Doctor Elliot, but i'm not sure which to go to for a consultation!

hello my brothers.......I have had gynecomastia since I hit the age of 12 or 13. I can't even remember how I got through high school, and for good reason, I relied on perscription pill abuse and weed to get through four years of HELL. I WAS 250 pounds 5' 10" and ALWAYS told my doctors this would go away if I dieted and excersiced. I obvisouly didnt realize I had huge breasts only when I was 250 pounds but after about 190 I started eating alot to cope with it because it made me feel better. Long story short I'm now 19 and just entered college and what seemed like HELL in high school seems like now only a JOKE. I now feel more self concious then ever with literally about 90 percent of guys thinking about sex and getting with grils 24/7 [i live in new york so the kids are a bit different here maybe]. I have to get to the restroom to stop myself from what I would describe panic attacks. As it sounds, this has called some major problems with how I feel about myself and especially being over weight in the past and ridicouled I always thought everyone else was surperior to me. But anyways, at the age of 18 about a year ago I lost ONE HUNDRED POUNDS over the course of a year and some months. I'm now 150 pounds and still have the same exact size chest. Here is a picture.......
http://img607.imageshack.us/img607/5468/21897083.jpg
what are your thoughts?.....thank you so much

Congratulations on your weight loss. That is quite an achievement.

I have published an extensive introduction to the difference on my website. Sorry, a few words of a posted answer does not replace hundreds of pages of explanation, thousands of photos and movies detailing the issues. Even the standard pictures we use for our remote discussions are different.

Male Mastopexy is gynecomastia with the added loose skin component, involved low nipples, in addition to residual fat, and glad tissues. The problem of excess skin comes in different degrees. Addressing the loose skin can involve scars. Ignore that component and the loose skin itself can look terrible, especially on animation. Evaluating how good a result looks, requires understanding what that loose skin component does with activity, living life, playing sports. A few still pictures does not really demonstrate that compromise. Check photos bending over, flexing muscles, arms up over head, and particularly the movies and video for the real result as well as close up pictures of the scars. By the time you have gone through my entire introduction to this condition, you will be familiar with my methodology, various options, and documentation of the problem and results.

When there are loose tissues both chest and stomach, my recommendation is to manage the stomach first, then the chest. It makes little sense to lift and sculpt the chest, and then come back and with tightening the belly, lower the chest again. Of course the surgeon can then offer a revision to lift the chest again. There are also major sections on tummy tuck surgery that address the loose skin of the stomach. Videos are also critical to see how that tissue moves.

Yes, there are many patients I see who prefer my techniques that travel from New York, you can also read and listen to their experiences. This is a problem you need to see specific examples of the skill of compromise and how tissues move to understand the skill of sculpture offered. Beyond that the comfort level, degree of bruising, and how you get from the current problem to the final result are factors that patients tell me influenced their choice.

Hope this helps,

Michael Bermant, M.D.
Board Certified
American Board of Plastic Surgery
Member: American Society of Plastic Surgeons and American Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons
Specializing in Gynecomastia, Male Mastopexy, and Surgical Sculpture of the Male Chest
(804) 748-7737

[Dr. Elliot Jacobs]

I have addressed your problem (see https://www.gynecomastia.org/smf/index.php?topic=22441.0) after viewing the single photo that you posted. 

Yours is a typical story (and your pix prove it) that weight loss alone will not make your gyne disappear.  In fact, what you now have is probably fairly solid breast tissue (the fat component has largely disappeared along with the weight loss) plus stretched out skin and nipples which sit too low on your chest.

The only way to improve the situation would be to surgically remove the remaining gland plus re-position the nipple and remove the excess skin as well.  This would would provide you with a trim and contoured chest -- but at the expense of some additional scars on the chest.

Obviously, nothing will substitute for a  complete physical examination.

I would suggest you visit several doctors to get an idea of what surgical options are available.  As previously stated, there is no urgency -- this is elective surgery.  Once you have satisfied yourself about your intended course of action, then choose the doctor with whom you are most comfortable and confident.  Do not let the fee be the sole determining factor.

Good luck!!

Dr Jacobs