I am 25 years of age and have suffered from Gynecomastia since puberty. This has caused some serious psychological difficulty since then as I’m sure others can imagine and concur. I noticed as I was getting older I started to lose my ‘puppy fat’ however my chest seemed to remain the same despite this and my nipples looked really puffy (like a woman’s!).
I would never wear a t-shirt unless it had some obvious pattern on the front and would always wear compression vests at the gym to try and hide it! I would also always hunch my shoulders forward and if anyone looked in my direction then I would freak out thinking they were staring at my chest. It may seem pathetic to some people who don’t live with this but it’s incredible what psychological effect this has on a guy. For me personally, I just can’t stand the thought of having breast tissue under my nipples! I pride myself on being a man and don’t want anything that remotely resembles a woman on my body!
When I was 18 I decided to start training in the gym and was doing a lot of running. I ended up reducing my body fat to 13 percent and I weighed 12 stone at 6 foot tall. I noticed that the more fat I lost the worst my chest would look as it would appear to be so disproportionate to the rest of my body. After working so hard to get myself in good shape I was so disheartened and ended up giving up my training regime and slowly gained weight back as I didn’t see the point in bursting my a**e and not getting the results I wanted. I even went to the doctors at this time as I knew something was wrong and he just told me to do more chest flys and push ups! (70 grand a year of tax payer’s money for that advice)
I then started to do my research where I discovered Gynecomastia and ended up self-diagnosing! I thereafter contacted a cosmetic surgeon in the UK where I attended and had a consultation which confirmed my suspicions! I must say I was very unimpressed with the whole process in the UK. The surgeon didn’t appear to know what he was talking about and had only done a handful of these operations which didn’t exactly put my mind at ease! I obviously had loads of questions where I didn’t get very competent answers which worried me. I decided not to have it done in the UK. If I am going to pay a Surgeon 5 grand and put my life in their hands them I am going to make sure I trust them!
I have been a lurker on these sites for a while and after some incredibly inspiring stories I have decided to get rid of this once and for all!!
While looking through this site, one name seems to pop up very frequently with nothing but good reviews….Dr Katarzyna Ostrowska-Clark at -- in Szczecin, Poland.
I decided earlier this year (Feb 2013) that I was going to contact them in order to enquire. I emailed her husband, Jeremy Clark who is also a Doctor to enquire about surgery in September 2013. I must say he doesn’t email back very quickly however every question I asked got an answer with no hesitation.
I decided to book a preliminary appointment for 12th Sep 2013 and paid my 300 pound deposit to secure my booking!
I then set to booking my flights and apartment. I ended up booking with Easyjet where I will be flying from Glasgow to Berlin which is a 60 mile (shuttle bus which Jeremy arranges on your behalf) journey to Szcezecin. My flights were really cheap at just over 100 quid Jeremy gives you some suggestions over email as to what Hotel’s you can book. I decided to book an apartment with Pokoje Integro as they have a wee kitchen with a fridge which will be ideal considering I don’t expect to be very mobile when I’m out there on my own! The apartment was also very reasonable where it will work out about 200 pound for the week.
Since booking I have been working out as much as I can in order to get myself in the best shape possible for going out there. This is the first time I have set off on a training regime with a positive mentality and I now feel I have an end game as a result of getting this off my chest. No pun intended!
I have recently joined a Crossfit gym and the results and gains I am seeing so far are brilliant! Crossfit is the future folks! Get involved!
I am looking forward to going out there but the only thing I am worried about is filling my days. I have downloaded Skype so will be making plenty of video calls for a chat and I have packed my hard drive with films and Breaking Bad (New fave TV show ) so hopefully that see’s me through the week! I really should be more worried about the surgery but strangely enough all I feel is excitement at the prospect of getting rid of this forever! It doesn’t seem real yet!
I will post back when I am over in Poland in order to let you’s know how everything goes and I will also arrange to post before and after pictures.
I would like to take this opportunity to personally thank Jakeyboy08. Your story has been nothing short of incredible and you were the sole reason as to why I had the bottle to contact the surgery in the first place! You should be proud of yourself. I am sure I’m not the only person who has contacted them as a result of your experience and willingness to share your story.
If anybody has any questions then please let me know
Cheers,
Ed