If you're a teen... PLEASE READ THIS! (Pics)

[Har101]

Hey guys,
This post is long overdue, I should of done this a long time ago...anyway here is my story.
I started getting lumps under my nipples around sophomore year of high school, and just like everyone else my parents and doctors all said that it would just go away...well it didn't.  I just remember how much I used to suffer how I would cry myself to sleep and just wonder why this would happen to me and no one else.  It looked so weird on me because I am a very skinny guy weighing about 140 but had a huge knobby nips (especially on the right side check out the pic below!)  It sucked so much.  

I was considered part of the "popular" group of kids at my school because I was a nice funny and attractive kid, but I felt so bad all the time.  I would always end up singling myself out because I would avoid situations where there was a possibility where I had to take off my shirt.  I missed out on so many great times with my friends by coming up with some stupid lie about how I had something to do instead of going to the river with them or going to the beach.  Because of this I would stop being invited to events and and feel excluded in conversations within my own group of friends.  I felt so alone because of this secret I was keeping.  The worst thing about gyno is that even though it is something that consumes your life you have to hide it and keep it a secret.  I don't think I've ever lied so much in my life to keep a secret hidden.  It seriously kills me to this day.

I even avoided sex! super messed up right?  I'm a good looking guy and and was really nice and funny and the girls loved me but I was such a whimp and was so scared to take my shirt off with girls that I would just avoid having sex.  I would just go on dates with girls and make out with them at the movies or something and then not talk to them again.  My only girlfriend I've had was when I was 16 (freshman year of high school before I had gyno).  I remember I finally sacked up had sex for the first time senior year of high school but I just layer on my back because I was too scared to stand over the girl...I felt like an idiot but it was all because I was just scared because of my gyno.  

Anyway, enough was enough and I convinced my parents to let me get surgery.  Before surgery though,  I had to go to my beach week...darn.  I was so pumped to get wasted  with my friends but going to the beach was something I was dreading.  I have a very nice body which I'm super proud of but my nipples had gotten even bigger since sophomore year and it was so embarrassing.  Anyway my beach week pretty much consisted of me lying on my stomach on beach towel then pinching my nipples whenever I had to get up and running to the cold water whenever I wanted to just stand up.  So ridiculous I did all that, but what else could I do?   My entire beach week I just couldn't wait for my surgery.

Finally,  I got surgery (before and after pics below).  I did it right after beach week.  I was so excited to finally be taking the steps to turn my life around.  I had Dr.Bermant and he was amazing!  (sorry I'm writing just now because he has retired but I'm sure there many other great doctors!)  Anyway I was very stressed out because I had seen so many pictures of cratered nipples and massive scars which to me is pretty much just as bad as gyno itself.  I was lucky and Bermant did a great job!  (I have scar on right side but it's my fault and I'm taking care of it right now and I will talk about it below).  The problem with the surgery is that the recovery process is so brutal.  Basically it was summer before college and all my friends were all going to lake houses and beach houses but I had to avoid it all because I had to recover from my surgery.  Basically my entire summer consisted of me wearing tight body vests with surgical tape over my nips.  I had to avoid my friends once again and spew out even more lies which killed me inside.  My friends thought I was an not a nice person but what else could I do?  I was way too embarrassed to tell them about all this.  Getting to the point though,  Getting surgery was the best thing that's ever happened to me.  I am just so happy and lucky to have parents that loved me and cared for me enough to make such a huge payment for "plastic surgery".  They understood my pain and suffering.  I was depressed all through high school because of this stupid shit and although I'm a lot better now I still have so many mental scars.  If only I could of gotten surgery right at the start but anyway to all you teens reading this I think that a great plan for you guys is to get surgery during the summer and just go away on trip with your family for a while.  That way it's easy to hide that you had surgery and makes recovery more effective because you can focus on it a lot more!

What next...Hmm. Oh! So right after surgery, I went to freshman year of college at UNCW.  BEST YEAR OF MY LIFE! .... well at least at first.  When Dr.Bermant took off my garment for the first time in August I literally fainted.  I swear this is not a lie.  I was standing and I thought there was a crater in my left nipple and seriously everything started to go white and I had to lie on the bed for 10 minutes.  Luckily there wasn't and I was just freaking out but dudes seriously,  this surgery is serious stuff make sure you take it seriously when you get it too!  Anyway my surgery turned out fantastic! You honestly couldn't tell I ever had gyno and I was so happy! happier than I ever remember being in my entire life.  I went to freshman year of college a changed man.  I was so energetic and vibrant finally being able to be the real me after so many years of hiding and lying I can't even describe how amazing I felt.  I played pick up soccer without my shirt on and all the girls were checking me out.  I hooked up with so many girls and went to the beach a lot.  I was living the life and I was so happy.  Unfortunatly, I am a fucking idiot and I went to the beach a little too much and got a little too much sun before I had fully recovered from surgery and was left with hyper pigmentation on my scars! darn!!!! 2 YEARS LATER I'M STILL BASHING MYSELF FOR BEING SUCH A FUCKING IDIOT!!! I mean overall it's so much better and I'm a lot more confident but still...I fucked up so bad.  Anyway so the first half of freshman year was bomb while the 2nd half wasn't as good because I had mini scars under my nipples.  Microscopic to most but the world to me  I'm such a fucking idiot.  Anyway moral of this paragraph don't ever ever ever ever ever go into the sun until you know for a fact your a fully recovered.  I was just so drunkenly happy from my fantastic surgery and made one of the worst decisions of my life.  

Well now it's two years after my surgery and I am currently getting laser surgery on my left nipple to reduce some small redness (barely visible I'm just a perfectionist and luckily have the best mom in the entire planet) The right side is a little worse and is not red but darker from hyper pigmentation so they are giving me a bleaching agent to apply.  The doctor says that he's confident that they will be looking great in no time!  Hopefully so!  Anyway I am very optimistic about everything and can't wait to be super me again

Again guys,  I can't emphasize how important this surgery is.  There are so many posts on this site of older men talking about how they started getting lumps when they were 13 like you and me but unlike them you can change your life now and prevent years of suffering!  If you guys have the money please do this surgery! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE! I don't want anyone to feel the pain I did.  It changed me so much.  Depression is such a monster.  Although I am happy that I see the world through a clearer set of eyes because of my huge depression as a teen I can't even imagine how incredible my life could of been if I had never had to deal with this monster.  Gyno is a disease it makes me sick.  It's terrible we have to go through this crap but you can fight it!  Please listen to my advice and my story and know that getting surgery is the right thing.  It's scary and expensive but it's worth it.  It will change your life I promise.  I'm so much happier now (still got to fix these retarded scars). Life is so beautiful and you don't want to live it hiding because your scared of embarassment.  I hope this post helped you guys out! It helped me out just writing it!  And don't be an not a nice person like me guys...write your post right away I know I could of helped out a lot more people if I had just posted this right after my surgery until waiting till now...BE HAPPY GUYS AND I BELIVE IN YOU!!!

-ZH

[Paa_Paw]

I am almost 75, and had the condition since I was about 12. Yes, that was a long time ago. We still went everywhere in Los Angeles on the Streetcars. Surgery in those days was really rather crude.

Times do change though, Los Angeles is actually building something new that looks strangely like streetcars. Surgery is highly refined now.

Boys are still the same. Family Doctors still tell boys that "It will go away in a couple of years, try to lose some weight." Actually they are right more often than not. For us they were wrong.

Surgery can be liberating, but it is not for everyone. It is a decision each must make for themself.

[hammer]

Surgery can be liberating, but it is not for everyone. It is a decision each must make for themself.

I have never had depression from my gyne! I am not saying that I liked it. I did not, but not to the point of depression. I don't know why it did not bother me as it does others, but as Paa-Paw said,

 Surgery can be liberating, but it is not for everyone. It is a decision each must make for themself.

I for one have never thought that it was needed, that being said, I do support anyone that decides to get it.

[Caligrown]

Damn... Reading this reminded me so much of how it was for me. Like constantly avoiding the beach and pool (which was a bit difficult because Im a swim coach). My gyne was a little different only had it on the left side but it was HUGE. Like when it was removed it was like 6 inches long... Whackkk. It started in like 7th grade as a bump under my nipple and it just got worse from there. It didnt help that at the end of 8th grade I started smoking weed. I didnt start smoking alot untill freshman and sophomore year, but I am 99% sure that the reason it didnt resolve itself and go away was due to the biochemical similarity between estrogen and something in weed. I tried only eating edibles (so no CBD's) but that was just as bad as smoking it. My advice to teens who get this: Dont smoke weed while you have it, if it resolves itself naturally you'll probably be okay, but really you shouldnt smoke weed to begin with.
Anyway I ended up telling my best friend about it (he thought it was hilarious - i mean come on i had a  boob thats pretty funny - but he would never tell anyone and after that he helped cover for me). After i went to Costa Rica with my family over the summer before Senior year (hs) Where I had a terrible time on the beach because I was ridicuoously self conscious (looking back that was illogical - i didnt know a single person there so who gives a shit what they think right?). Anyway I decided that i was done with having to deal with this, especially after I did some research into the only legitimate treatment; surgery. (btw i tried a bunch of pills and diet changes and they didnt help. DO NOT PURCHASE G/YNEXlN. It is a waste of money). I tried swimming ~4,000 yards in under an hour everyday for about a month. This helped a bit because I felt better about my body image (besides the gyne) and made my surgery a lot simpler (minimal liposuction required). My point is that surgery is the only real fix. However, As Paw Paw said its not for   everyone.
Anyway, i got my surgery done Sept 7th 2011 (during school! I was out for a full week of school, but i just said Id caught a nasty version of the stomach flu and had to be hospitalized for a few days - not a great excuse but everyone bought it) and it took about 10 weeks untill I was back to normal. I definitely would recommend getting surgery done at the mid/end of August with just enough time to recover before you go to school, then you have the whole winter to let your scars pigment correctly.
Anyway I dont really know where I was going with this but yea gyne sucks a lot Im sure Ive got some mental issues from this but whatever Im looking forward to my first gyne free summer since I was 13 years old. To any teens who have gyne and are considering surgery DO IT. Surgery isnt scary its kinda chill actually (and you get some nice opiate based painkillers - dont take too much youll get really constipated) and since I went through Kaiser it only costed like 150$ for the surgery itself and about 300$ for vests and other visits. My results are excellent you can barely see the scars and its basically impossible to tell a difference between my right and left pecs (except when I flex - i have less fat on my left side now, but its nbd id take that over gyne any day). Anyway... Good luck.

[Andy420]

Question, how long after you surgery did you decide to go out in the sun? I'm just asking because I'm curious how long it takes before one can enjoy the sun without any problems.

[Paa_Paw]

Yours is a good question but ironically the people best qualified to answer have deserted us. Except for the Doctors of course.

The reasoning is actually very simple. After a person has had their surgery they quickly lose interest in this site and simply get on with their lives. So, the people best qualified to answer your question are not here.