Every day I wake up with the same yucky feeling knowing i have to go through that day worrying about my chest constantly. I cant go out and enjoy myself around friends bc of my moobs being their keeping me behind a wall of built up emotions over the years. I can't wait till i get out the house and get a job after I recover frm a recent back surgery. Maybe then i can have enough money to pay for surgery seems like my only way for escape bc losing weight isn't helping. GOD PLZ DELIVER ME. There hasnt been a day i woke up in the last 6-7 years feeling excited about the day. I have been in slight depression for that time span as well. Sometimes the days are worse than others. Like the last few days i just wanted to give up on life and just go hide in my room and not come out. I bought a design veronique vest the one that bermeant recommends about 2 months ago(thinking it would help me a little as far as confidence in social settings) and it doesnt help it maybe hides 25% OF MY PROBLEM. I NEED HELP. PLZ keep me in your thoughts and prayers.
Yes, there can be a great deal of emotion involved living with gynecomastia. The effectiveness of garments depends on the degree of the underlying problem. That is why I actually put up examples to demonstrate such issues by taking men with varying types of gynecomastia / body fat and showing the effect of garment on that contour. In my opinion that is a much more effective demonstration than a sales pitch showing only something that works. As shown, it will not take someone who is obese, and because of the obesity has large male breasts, and make them not look obese. For patients who come to my office for an evaluation, we go one step further: we have actual garments for them to try on. That way individuals can see for themselves what the garments offer and their limitations before even buying one. For these patients I suggest that they jump up and down and bend over in front of a mirror with their chest exposed. Then repeat the jumping and bending over with the garment. Then repeat it again with street cloths on the garment. That is the best demonstration I can offer. The neat thing to watch is the emotion on these patients faces or the faces of their family, spouse, or friend. It is quite impressive seeing their faces watching the garments in action limitations and all.
The garment can be an emotional band-aide and so many have told me helped temporize the situation until they were able to lose weight, get an endocrine problem under control, or wait until they could afford surgery. It has become a temporizing tool, but one with limitations.
Weight loss can and does help with the fat component, but will not help with remaining gland. Major weight loss can also result in a loose skin component. This loose skin alone can cause a contour issue.
On Dec. 1, I decided to take a leap into a new lifestyle that would hopefully end up in a healthier and happier me. Its been 3 months since that defining moment. I have been dieting by eating lots of vegetables, fruits, and baked meats and drinking 8 glasses of water everyday. All this while eliminating sodas, fried foods, chocolate, candy, and anything you can think of thats fattening and loaded with carbs. So far I have lost 40 pounds going from 290 to 250. The results are showing up in my stomach however my chest is not really strinking that much at all. I believe that dieting is harder for those with Gynecomastia because you can easily discouraged when it seems your chest is getting bigger because your stomach is getting smaller. I have found this to be true because lately I've been getting depressed over the fact that it seems my chest is not budging which is the primary reason i went on a diet to loose some of this fat in my chest. I just want to be able to enjoy normal everyday activities w/o having to worry about my chest constantly. Maybe if i get down to a proper weight around 205 or so i will see where I'm @ and consider surgery. I went on this diet without doing the surgery first b/c the doctors on here were saying i needed to lose weight first, so I am taking their advice and hopefully it all turns out good. Has anybody had this happen to them? Tell me about it.
40 pounds is quite an achievement. I see so many men who in the process of losing that weight get frustrated and want to just finish the process already. I describe the condition a "
Work in Progress," and during my consultations try to encourage them to continue.
Surgery is not a good jump starting tool in such cases. The issue is weight loss before surgery is usually better than weight loss after. Men tend to put fat first on the breast and belly areas. We take it off these regions last. Surgery is not an alternative to losing weight, you can only go down to what the global fat contour is. Contour the body to this global level, then lose weight? If it comes of the normal way for men, and not as much comes of the chest region, it will look like the gynecomastia has returned.
This becomes really critical in the major weight loss patients when there is a loose sagging skin component. Do surgery first and then lose more weight? What makes you think that your skin will shrink after the subsequent weight loss? If is is going to shrink, why bother with the earlier surgery? Is it worth the risk of needing a revision after the additional weight loss?
Be careful to look for before and after surgery pictures of someone saying that surgery as a jump start tool works. How many operations did it take to get there? Investigate if patients shown needed revision or are the images after the revisions? Words alone are not enough to understand the many issues involved, you need to see examples, what did it take to get there, and preferably how the tissues move.
Surgery can work for the individual who is willing to accept compromise. In such cases, breasts are made smaller, they are still there. If going that route, look for examples before and after surgery to better understand the limitations of what surgery really offers when global fat remains an issue.
Hope this helps,
Michael Bermant, M.D.Board CertifiedAmerican Board of Plastic Surgery
Member:
American Society of Plastic Surgeons and
American Society of Aesthetic Plastic SurgeonsSpecializing in Gynecomastia and Surgical Sculpture of the Male Chest(804) 748-7737
Topic: Depressed (Read 4918 times)
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