Hi,
let me start off by telling I just registered and really wanted to share my experiences so far (and future ones) with all the other people who have/had gynecomastia. I hope I can be of some support to those who suffer from this because in reality, WE are the only ones who can really understand to the full extend how horrible this can be mentally.
Before:
Growing up as a child, I was always a very skinny child. Very active and I really didn't need to eat much, I still don't. At about 12 years old I started getting chubby without any real explenation, I was active and barely ate. By the time I was 14, my family noticed I stopped growing so we visited the hospital, I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism (makes you retain fluids which makes u look chubby, besides the other symptoms). After taking my meds I started to lean down again as I was before, the manboobs remained. Started hitting the gym at age 17 to no avail. I had a great physique but if I took off my shirt, the nipples just stuck out.
At one point I started starving myself with some degree of success. The volume in my chest disappeared (so did all the other muscle I worked hard for) but the nipples remained puffy. At that point I sort of gave up on ever getting rid of it and decided to just wear the right clothes to hide my problem.
About a year back, I looked at myself in the mirror, I wanted to work out again but was afraid that building more muscle would push out the nipples once more. Decided to take a look into all kinds of ways to get rid of the gyno. I had seen it all, just working out, cardio, miracle meds,...surgery. I tried them all (besides the miracle meds, I'm not a fool) so I ended up with surgery as my last resort.
I made an appointment with a plastic surgeon that works at a general hospital. Make no mistake, this is no general surgeon, they have plastic surgery departments in hospitals here (Belgium). This doctor specialises in this procedure and assured me that he, like me, would want only the best cosmetic result possible. So 2 months back I decided to go through with it. I should note the surgery is mostly covered in my country and the whole thing only set me back €500. Which is peanuts compared to what some of you folks overseas have to dish out, my heart goes out to you all.
Surgery:
I was put in general anaesthesia, it felt like I dozed off and instantly woke up after surgery. There was some minor pain around the nipples but it only lasted for about 30 minutes, the rest of that day...I felt no pain at all. I was shocked. After reading online how painful it has been for some people, I should really applaud my surgeon.
Post-Surgery:
I was prescribed some light pain killers and decided to take them the day of surgery and the day after, I felt no pain though. Sleeping was a bit uncomfortable since I still had drains hanging on my sides. Today, 2 days after surgery, the drains were removed by a nurse that visisted my home, this DID hurt as I forgot to take some pain killers 30 minutes before her scheduled arrival. The pain was intense (my eyes actually watered) but lasted only shortly. I am now still wearing my compression vest but without the drains in my body, I feel great. I don't even feel the wounds at all. My chest is as flat and firm, swelling is minimal, no bruising has occurred.
I now regret not doing the surgery sooner. If you can afford to do the surgery comfortably, please, go ahead, don't suffer or mutilate yourself. Make sure you go to an experienced surgeon though.
I'm looking to keep this thread updated as my experiences grow and post some pictures both pre- and post-op once my compression vest can remain off.