Post surgery HELP !!

[micks225]

Ok so I had surgery 5 weeks ago from today. I had really bad puffy nipples from puberty and taking pro hormones in high school. Anyways I am 20 years old now, healthy, workout 5 days a week, 5ft 10, 196lbs, bf 8%. Anyways the doctor examed my gyno and did direct exercisim of the glads and some lipo. He said he took out as much as he could and went all the way down to the muscle Fascia on the right side due to the abundance under that one . The right side had ALOT more under it than the left. Anyways the first week post op my chest look flat . I was the happiest I think I've felt in 4 years. The relief I got was as if the world lifted  off my shoulders. After that about 2 weeks in I noticed the right one (which originally had more tissue) was starting to look slightly puffy again, but not sever at all. Than about week 3 I noticed some serious scar tissue forming underneath the incision spots on both my nipples. The left one still looks flat but the right one had gotten very puffy again and I think it's due to the hard masses of scar tissue under the skin that have formed . The right side now about week 5 is still puffy with all the scar tissue built up under it and maybe some swelling , while the left side has flattened back out and the scar tissue is minimal. What should I do ? Should I be worried that my gyno is back in my right nipple ? Or should I believe it's just residual scar tissue and swelling because originally he did go much deeper on the right side ? I am trying to tell myself wait 3-6 months and than worry, but idk it freaks me out becuase i saved since i was 16 for this. I can't feel any gland at all, just the hard tissue where the incisions were made.

Thanks

[jay adams]

Thats normal. At three weeks the same thing happened to me. I have that scar tissue under my incisions. When they say six months to a year I believe it. I have some puffiness on my left side "the side that had more work done". Its still healing and Im 10 weeks out. If you were flat for three weeks don't worry. Your chest is gonna be going through changes for a while.

[micks225]

Alright man I appreciate your response. I guess I will just have to give it Time. I hate to be so impatient , but I'm young I guess lol I'm 5 weeks today and will just try to stay in good faith it will subside on the right side in time.

[MyName]

Hey-
I waited until I was in my forties to have surgery. I went to a "reputable" surgeon in NYC to have the procedure done. My left nipple was the puffier of the two. I had a partial excision and lypo done. Within a couple of months the puffiness started to return to the left and somewhat to the right.
The Dr injected me with something that was supposed to break down the tissue and reduce the tissue forming again around the nipple. It worked for a while but it was only temporary. Within a year I was nearly back to where I was before the surgery and now there was a visible void around my left nipple and the puffiness had returned.
I was totally discouraged and never went back to the Dr.
I am back to sweeping my hand across the nipples before I take my shirt off in public but now the void makes my chest issue a little more noticeable.

My advice to you is to get back to your Dr asap and make sure he fixes any noticeable return of the puffiness. I dropped over $6000 on this surgery and was very unhappy with the results. I did not go back after the initial attempt to fix the problem and I really regret not staying on top of it and making the Dr fix it.
I wish u the best.

[EastCounty]

My advice to you is to get back to your Dr asap and make sure he fixes any noticeable return of the puffiness. I dropped over $6000 on this surgery and was very unhappy with the results. I did not go back after the initial attempt to fix the problem and I really regret not staying on top of it and making the Dr fix it.
I wish u the best.

At only 5 weeks post op, what could the doctor possibly do? After all, there are still MONTHS of healing left before any glimpse of the final result will be seen. At 5 weeks, puffiness is going to be standard issue. I am currently one month post-op (from my revision) and I still have puffiness too, and it is surely worse on on one side. Am I freaking out? Of course not. It will be months before I start to have an idea of what my result would be.

Long story short: puffiness at 5 weeks? Join the club.  Completely normal. Unquestionable normal and, frankly, to be expected.

Complaining to the surgeon and telling him to "fix it" is premature, to say the least! If there is a bad build up of scar tissue, which is completely conceivable, I am sure he will work with the patient in question to mitigate that as much as possible. If a revision will eventually be needed, I hope this surgeon will offer that option. But again, at 5 weeks, the patient needs to be, um, patient.

[gynecomastiauk]

Hi there, I too was flat post surgery and had some nipple swelling develope which is still there now at 3 months post opp. I recognise some of the members on this thread and am taking the same advice as they are giving you and am being patient, it does seem to be subsiding. I have a ton of post opp pics on my web diary which I built to document this whole process...if you think it may help take a look at www GynecomastiaUK.org

I wish you well and hope after saving up for as long as you did that you get the results you deserve.
All the best.

[MyName]

My advice to you is to get back to your Dr asap and make sure he fixes any noticeable return of the puffiness. I dropped over $6000 on this surgery and was very unhappy with the results. I did not go back after the initial attempt to fix the problem and I really regret not staying on top of it and making the Dr fix it.
I wish u the best.

At only 5 weeks post op, what could the doctor possibly do? After all, there are still MONTHS of healing left before any glimpse of the final result will be seen. At 5 weeks, puffiness is going to be standard issue. I am currently one month post-op (from my revision) and I still have puffiness too, and it is surely worse on on one side. Am I freaking out? Of course not. It will be months before I start to have an idea of what my result would be.

Long story short: puffiness at 5 weeks? Join the club.  Completely normal. Unquestionable normal and, frankly, to be expected.

Complaining to the surgeon and telling him to "fix it" is premature, to say the least! If there is a bad build up of scar tissue, which is completely conceivable, I am sure he will work with the patient in question to mitigate that as much as possible. If a revision will eventually be needed, I hope this surgeon will offer that option. But again, at 5 weeks, the patient needs to be, um, patient.

Micks225...nothing wrong with "Easts" advice of being patient. I am saying to you that the Dr needs to be made aware of your concerns. And mainly that if more time passes and you see no improvement OR it gets worse, then get back to the Dr and see what he can do.
I told you my experience...within a couple of months post surgery I was back at the Dr as the swelling or scar tissue got noticeable worse. He tried to reduce the swelling with an injection which reduced the swelling but only temporarily.
My mistake was never going back to the Dr.

[jay adams]

East knows what's happening. Just relax and and things keep getting better.

[jimbob356]

I'm almost 7 weeks post opp and I had some slight swelling/ scar build up after 3-4 weeks. I emailed my Dr ASAP worrying and he advised me to massarge more firmly and not to worry as the first 3 - 6 months will be one hell of a ride in-terms of 'looks' a s feel. At the moment the extra massarge has helped massively!

I would voice your worrys with your Dr at your next check up (6 weeks?), you will no doubtabley get the same response and to stop worrying, however my politely voicing your worrys and explaining you trust your Dr advise ask can you have anouther review/check-up in the next few months to monitor your worry. This way if it is more of a problem than just swelling your doc will pick up on this

Hope this helps and keep us updated on your recovery!

All the best

[gynoforlife]

Sorry to read your story,
This is the same old story of guys getting surgery, the doctor not cutting enough tissue out and the "scar tissue" excuse being used.

BOTTOM LINE:
If you develop puffy nips about a month after surgery unless its blood accumulation (which will effect the contour significantly) the surgeon did an insufficient job of removing the tissue.

By the way cortisone injections are temporary, research online "cortisone shrinks subcutaneous fat layers".

Steroid injection
A dent due to localised fat loss may appear at the site of corticosteroid injection. This can be avoided by making sure the injection is within muscle tissue and not in subcutaneous fat.

You will soon realize like one of the above posters has stated most docs do a crappy job of removing the tissue, then they start injecting patients with cortisone which does work for about a year then the situation magically comes back.  I wonder why the doctors don't just skip the surgery altogether and just inject cortisone into puffy nips on a yearly bases because that is essentially what they are doing to you.

[Westsyder]

DO NOT LISTEN TO THESE PEOPLE! You are in very the early stages, you must keep calm you have a long healing journey ahead of you. Take it easy until 10 weeks post op, than get back into working out, make sure you eat super healthy, Vitamin C Diet, and stay positive, LOW STRESS! You will go through mental frustrations for a long time now trust me. Massage EVERYDAY 2-3 times a day for 25 min with lubiderm V-B6 non scented lotion, or palmers V-E lotion, do this not too hard but not to soft.  Over the months you will do deeper harder massages. Replace garmet with tight (compression) Under armor, WEAR it all day everyday. And Buy Scar away brand silicone pads 10 weeks post op, wear these ALL DAY and  EVERYDAY as well, unless showering or massage time.

After the 8th month and there is still enough scar tissue that makes the areola not look flush and flat than you MUST BEGIN 5fu/kenalog treatments or just Kenalog treatments on the scar tissue, You must get a plastic surgeon that does this on Post Male Chest patients. Don't go to another doctor that does not specialize in plastic surg or has never done it on post gyn patients. but works like magic and will melt away the scar tissue so its not noticeable or almost nonexistent. You may have to do a series of these until happy. anywhere from 1 - 8 shots on each side.

Keep faith scar tissue is a nightmare. You have about 11 months until the journey is over, so stay positive, and listen to all the advice I am telling you. Trust me I have been through it all and this is the route you must take!

[EastCounty]

I concur, do not listen to the doom and gloom of some members. If you are 5-6 weeks post-op, you are still in the early stages of healing.

If you don't believe us, ask one of the resident doctor on this forum.

[gynecomastiauk]

DO NOT LISTEN TO THESE PEOPLE! You are in very the early stages, you must keep calm you have a long healing journey ahead of you. Take it easy until 10 weeks post op, than get back into working out, make sure you eat super healthy, Vitamin C Diet, and stay positive, LOW STRESS! You will go through mental frustrations for a long time now trust me. Massage EVERYDAY 2-3 times a day for 25 min with lubiderm V-B6 non scented lotion, or palmers V-E lotion, do this not too hard but not to soft.  Over the months you will do deeper harder massages. Replace garmet with tight (compression) Under armor, WEAR it all day everyday. And Buy Scar away brand silicone pads 10 weeks post op, wear these ALL DAY and  EVERYDAY as well, unless showering or massage time.

After the 8th month and there is still enough scar tissue that makes the areola not look flush and flat than you MUST BEGIN 5fu/kenalog treatments or just Kenalog treatments on the scar tissue, You must get a plastic surgeon that does this on Post Male Chest patients. Don't go to another doctor that does not specialize in plastic surg or has never done it on post gyn patients. but works like magic and will melt away the scar tissue so its not noticeable or almost nonexistent. You may have to do a series of these until happy. anywhere from 1 - 8 shots on each side.

Keep faith scar tissue is a nightmare. You have about 11 months until the journey is over, so stay positive, and listen to all the advice I am telling you. Trust me I have been through it all and this is the route you must take!

This is some of the best advice I have seen on this forum, it makes total sense and has been a big help to me personally as I am in a similar situation so thanks.