Slight Gyno, Worth Surgery?

[David1991]

I've had this level of gyno as long as I can remember...was fat until 6th grade, then got anorexically thin. Was on the high school swim team for 2 years and never got a single comment but they were probably contracted then. Maybe got a couple random comments over the years but nothing crazy (1-2 that got to me) but really over the last few years it's gotten much more in my head.

I am very into lifting (these are 2 year old pics) and lived with other lifters. My one friend pointed them out as "hershey kiss nipples" and since then I have gotten more and more obsessed with it. Gone from never thinking about it to now not having a day in 2 years where it hasn't been on my mind throughout the day it seems the biggest benefit to surgery would be my own mental relief.

My dad and brother (who both also have it to slight degrees) think I'm crazy, but it's because I'm into bodybuilding that I can't not focus on it. It's all I see.

Thoughts?

[David1991]

When they are contracted they look great and my confidence is so much higher. But all damn day I'm feeling them against my shirt, knowing when they are more or less puffy, hunching my shoulders, etc.

Recently I was watching a bodybuilding documentary with my girlfriend and when they said gyno was a consequence of steroids she jokingly said "eeewwww". She doesn't know I have it so I casually said me and my brother and friend all have it to a slight degree, but she has no idea how much it's tormented me over the last 2 years. I don't want to though because then it will be that elephant in the room and every time I have my shirt off I feel like she might start to just notice it on me. Even after telling her what it is she started pointing it out on guys in pictures we saw, so now it's already "out there" more than I wanted. Months ago we were lying on the bed and they were puffy and she poked one jokingly saying "boop" and again, all well meaning, but to me it was like a knife to my ego lol.

[hammer]

It is extremely mild and do you really want to spend thousands of dollars to fix it? That is the question that you need to ask you! If you can come to the point to living with it, I personal believe that would be great, but don't just take it from me as I've been able to accept my little double Ds, for many good reasons of coarse, to many to list in this post but can be read in my story.

The point is, your dad and brother have been able to accept as many others here on the forum that have much bigger for many reasons, such as health, can't have surgery, no money or just doesn't bother them and many more reasons! So it is possible.

There is nothing wrong with getting the surgery, however, there is nothing wrong with acceptance either! Good luck with what ever you decide!


Bob

[David1991]

It is extremely mild and do you really want to spend thousands of dollars to fix it? That is the question that you need to ask you! If you can come to the point to living with it, I personal believe that would be great, but don't just take it from me as I've been able to accept my little double Ds, for many good reasons of coarse, to many to list in this post but can be read in my story.

The point is, your dad and brother have been able to accept as many others here on the forum that have much bigger for many reasons, such as health, can't have surgery, no money or just doesn't bother them and many more reasons! So it is possible.

There is nothing wrong with getting the surgery, however, there is nothing wrong with acceptance either! Good luck with what ever you decide!


Bob

Also, I am a little concerned about the surgery because there is no guarantee it will fix the problem or look better afterwards. In addition to it coming back, scarring, craters, etc. it seems a lot of people still have puffy nipples afterwards. Is this the case? Because I don't really care a ton about the gland there, what I care about is the puffiness of the nipples you see there, how they stick out an whatnot. When contracted they look perfect.

So will surgery even definitely fix my issue? I have seen some threads of great success but others who were disappointed.

I realize it is mild, and like I said when I was just 2-3 years younger I never focused on it. But in bodybuilding it is all about the physique so when I have this issue, even though people outside of bodybuilding wouldn't notice it, most people in the bodybuilding community would. So it has caused me a lot of mental grief. Sometimes I wish I could just go back to not noticing it....I used to walk around with my shirt off all the time....but now that seems impossible unless I were to stop caring about bodybuilding which isn't going to happen.

[hammer]

As for the gland, some has to stay or there will be a crater! As for caring about how it looks, that is mind over matter! I know that it is easier said then done, but anything is possible if you set your mind to it! And why should you care what others think, as they aren't perfect in any way, shape or form either!

It is my personal belief that the only one who was ever perfect gave his life on the cross so that we could be saved!

Bob

[Dr. Elliot Jacobs]

Yes, very slight gyne -- but it appears enough to bother you.  Surgery to fix this is tricky -- it is not as simple as it might appear.  You can see examples of this on the photo gallery of my website (see below in my signature).  Specifically look at patients # 175 and 182.

Your choice is to live with it (perhaps with a snug compression shirt) or to consider surgical correction.  If the latter, make sure you consult with an experienced gyne surgeon.

Good luck!'

Dr Jacobs

[greatlakes]

I think you look good, I would never think a thing if I saw you at the pool - other than you look overall in shape.

You can always wait and do it later. If you put on weight as you get to middle age - you could tackle it then if you wish.

[David1991]

As for the gland, some has to stay or there will be a crater! As for caring about how it looks, that is mind over matter! I know that it is easier said then done, but anything is possible if you set your mind to it! And why should you care what others think, as they aren't perfect in any way, shape or form either!

It is my personal belief that the only one who was ever perfect gave his life on the cross so that we could be saved!

Bob

Well, I don't like that some of the gland has to stay there. From my understanding they CAN take all of the gland out and they put a little something there in place (can't remember what) so that it is not concave, but it is not gland so it cannot regrow.

Your last sentence....sometimes I will read the bible or something and think 'how am I worrying so much about this when there are so many bigger problems out there', hell I have ulcerative colitis which most would view as 100x worse, but it's just the mental trauma gyno brings that gets to me so much.

Yes, very slight gyne -- but it appears enough to bother you.  Surgery to fix this is tricky -- it is not as simple as it might appear.  You can see examples of this on the photo gallery of my website (see below in my signature).  Specifically look at patients # 175 and 182.

Your choice is to live with it (perhaps with a snug compression shirt) or to consider surgical correction.  If the latter, make sure you consult with an experienced gyne surgeon.

Good luck!'

Dr Jacobs

Well, I really don't like the idea of always wearing a compression shirt. The problem I have with that is that it is not acceptance of anything, but rather a constant hiding from the situation. I have to either somehow learn to not care about it (like in the past) or get surgery, but hiding it away for the rest of my life is not an option.

What you show in #175 and 182 are essentially what I'm looking for. What makes it tricky compared to other gyno surgeries? Is it because the nipples are puffy even though there isn't much gland? Because that is definitely my problem. When contracted they look great and there really isn't that much gland to grab, even when not contracted, but the degree to which the gland puffs out and the nipples stick out when at it's worst is really annoying.

I think you look good, I would never think a thing if I saw you at the pool - other than you look overall in shape.

You can always wait and do it later. If you put on weight as you get to middle age - you could tackle it then if you wish.

I really don't want to just put it off until I'm older though. One reason is that when I'm older I'll probably care less as I will presumably be married, less social (currently in school), etc.

I don't see why waiting until middle age would be at all advisable. It seems every person who has done this wishes it was done earlier. Also as mentioned I am into bodybuilding so I'm not just going to all of a sudden become overweight when I'm older.

The whole acceptance thing is very hard because of that. If I was into tennis or video games or whatever it wouldn't matter. I might be aware of it but it wouldn't affect anything so who cares. I would probably forget about it most of the time. But in bodybuilding it is talked about all of the time, and often used as proof someone has used steroids (mine is from puberty obviously), etc so as long as I'm in the bodybuilding community (which will be a long time) it will always be there on my mind and all I see

I would like to eventually get the surgery but as mentioned I'm not even sure if that will be a true fix. So many revision stories on here are freaking me out, not to mention it seems puffy nipples are less guaranteed to be fixed than the gland removal.

[Dr. Elliot Jacobs]

"Is it because the nipples are puffy even though there isn't much gland? Because that is definitely my problem."

You are precisely 100% wrong!  It is the excess gland directly under the areola which causes puffy nipples.

In cases such as yourself, where there are puffy nipples on a slender body, the surgery is tricky.  One must remove the excess gland (I remove virtually all of it) and then reconstruct the defect with adjacent fat flaps to prevent a crater deformity.  Then the surrounding skin has to be loosened in order for the peripheral skin to re-distribute itself.  Not simple surgery.

Dr Jacobs

[David1991]

"Is it because the nipples are puffy even though there isn't much gland? Because that is definitely my problem."

You are precisely 100% wrong!  It is the excess gland directly under the areola which causes puffy nipples.

In cases such as yourself, where there are puffy nipples on a slender body, the surgery is tricky.  One must remove the excess gland (I remove virtually all of it) and then reconstruct the defect with adjacent fat flaps to prevent a crater deformity.  Then the surrounding skin has to be loosened in order for the peripheral skin to re-distribute itself.  Not simple surgery.

Dr Jacobs

My point was just that when I feel it there isn't a ton of gland, but yea of course some.

Well, I am fairly lean but I wouldn't say slender if you mean small. I am 6'1 and 200lb currently (was 6'1 and 175 in those pics). Mostly added muscle since then but a bit of fat too.

So is that how most doctors would handle this case or are you more experienced with it? Is this a commonly botched type of gyno surgery that often needs revision? And are you saying being leaner is actually making it harder to correct?

This is a big reason I'm concerned about the surgery. If someone said pay $5k right now and it will look fantastic then I'd do it in an instant, but it's the possibility of it being screwed up that scares me because apparently it is hard to fix once it's been messed with. Would be furious if I finally got the surgery and then still had puffy nipples or some other deformity like craters.

Lastly, if you reconstruct with adjacent fat flaps does that mean that once I got super lean (like for a bodybuilding competition) my chest would begin to look weird because the fat has been redistributed?

[hammer]

Well I stand corrected about leaving some gland in there!

But I have to tell ya, if I had the extra 5 grand and wouldn't feel guilty about spending it on myself I would have bought a newer or bigger ATV for hunting! The hell with the boobs!

But that's just me!


Bob

[David1991]

"Is it because the nipples are puffy even though there isn't much gland? Because that is definitely my problem."

You are precisely 100% wrong!  It is the excess gland directly under the areola which causes puffy nipples.

In cases such as yourself, where there are puffy nipples on a slender body, the surgery is tricky.  One must remove the excess gland (I remove virtually all of it) and then reconstruct the defect with adjacent fat flaps to prevent a crater deformity.  Then the surrounding skin has to be loosened in order for the peripheral skin to re-distribute itself.  Not simple surgery.

Dr Jacobs

My point was just that when I feel it there isn't a ton of gland, but yea of course some.

Well, I am fairly lean but I wouldn't say slender if you mean small. I am 6'1 and 200lb currently (was 6'1 and 175 in those pics). Mostly added muscle since then but a bit of fat too.

So is that how most doctors would handle this case or are you more experienced with it? Is this a commonly botched type of gyno surgery that often needs revision? And are you saying being leaner is actually making it harder to correct?

This is a big reason I'm concerned about the surgery. If someone said pay $5k right now and it will look fantastic then I'd do it in an instant, but it's the possibility of it being screwed up that scares me because apparently it is hard to fix once it's been messed with. Would be furious if I finally got the surgery and then still had puffy nipples or some other deformity like craters.

Lastly, if you reconstruct with adjacent fat flaps does that mean that once I got super lean (like for a bodybuilding competition) my chest would begin to look weird because the fat has been redistributed?

Bump