Help!

[ALAR]

48 and started developing six months ago. Nipples always hard and chafe on shirts.  Anyone recommend a bra that will hide the nipple erections. Don't need to compress they hide well under large t shirts and hoodies but I can't go to gym anymore without big stares and assumptions I am MTF.  I will send another pic in next post if anyone can tell me roughly what bra I should be looking at. Mortified to get them sized.

[ALAR]

Another pic of the issue.

[ALAR]

One more

[Alchemist]

Hi Alar,

Yep, no doubt about those.  At 48 it is a good idea to find out WHY.  What has changed?  You need to find out if there is a medical issue.  If you are taking prostate or balding meds or some other meds, that could explain their growth and you may already know the cause.

What is "assumptions I'm MTF" mean?.  The first few times the guys notice your breasts they are surprised.  After 100 times of not changing nobody notices what doesn't change.

I can't give you bra advice, I don't wear them and I live  nudist all summer.  No cloth rubbing irritation then.  You are just starting out on this road.  Don't let fear run your life. Go to the gym. Go swimming.  Don't worry about triggering other peoples phobias. You can't control what anybody thinks. Fear will only damage your enjoyment of life, not help it in any way. It doesn't matter what any of them think now and then, any more than they care what you think about their life and body.

Some find surgery to be their answer.  Of the 75,000,000 million men (USA) with some degree of gynecomastia, under 20,000 have their breasts removed each year.

First step is find out why, if possible.  In the meantime, Hammer and some others can give you advice for bras if you want or need them for comfort.  In high school I had to wear band-aids over my nipples to stop the irritation  during athletics, sometimes to the point of bleeding.  

Think about the structure of fears you are building.  Is that how you want to spend the rest of your life?  Depending upon your attitudes you could go the MAD way or Bart Simpson's way, on anybody giving you grief.  And there is another option, get didactic on their asses and tell them far more about gynecomastia than they ever want to hear again, and put the fear into them of being part of the 50% of men so gifted in the future and pointing out to them how they are already showing some sign (lots do).  Have fun with life.  As part of the cosmic joke you and I and others here have become walking Rorschach tests. We get to see people project their fears and insecurities on us.  

[ALAR]

Thank you so much. Let me digest your considerate reply

[hammer]

A lot of the guys start out with sport bras to help, I myself never tried them. I know you said you didn't need to compress them but a front  closure bra would not be that noticeable and keep them in place so they wouldn't be moving a lot.

[walt]

hello to those who don't know[ MTF means male to female ] my breasts are larger than what you have and I wear a bra most of the time .also to the gym under a tank top. I don't like them bouncing all over when I work out and the gym trainer told me it was a good idea and would mention it to any other guys with boobs .as for me I got boobs at 11yrs old and had them since now only a heap larger.so good luck in any choice YOU make .

[Alchemist]

hello to those who don't know[ MTF means male to female ] my breasts are larger than what you have and I wear a bra most of the time .also to the gym under a tank top. I don't like them bouncing all over when I work out and the gym trainer told me it was a good idea and would mention it to any other guys with boobs .as for me I got boobs at 11yrs old and had them since now only a heap larger.so good luck in any choice YOU make .

Thank you Walt, I was connecting it to WTF in some way and not coming up with a fit.  Good advice, I didn't know what to suggest for the gym.  My knees and hips don't do anything that cause me nipple irritation any more.  And Alar needs to not be spooked by gyne at the gym. He needs to keep doing what he enjoys rather than digging a pit of disability.  I think that made a difference for all of us who haven't let breasts slow us down.  While we all had jr high experiences with young idiots and bullies we all got on with our lives, via various routes.   While I wanted to hide so terribly much as teen and the experiences were miserable it didn't stop me from being in theater, glee club/chorus, working waterfront at a summer camp, life guarding and so on instead of hiding from life.

I haven't read all your posts but you sound like to have had an active life and not missed out either because of breasts.  Good luck to you Alar

[ALAR]

Thanks all the guys!

Does anyone know what causes the erect nipples? 

[ALAR]

walt what bra would you recommend?

[rrr]

Hi ALAR,

I too started developing late (53, last year), and about 9 months after onset, I was just about an A-cup. Yours look to be a bit smaller than mine currently, so I would suggest getting a $4 Walmart brand T-shirt bra in your band size, cup size B to try. I do not use them for support and don't wear them all the time, I just use them to check if I'm still growing.

Once I stabilize, I will either have surgery, of it need be, get properly fitted for a bra if I need one, but until then, $4 is an affordable amount to try things out. If it ends up being the wrong size, it's not a lot of money wasted. If you quickly outgrow it, it's not a lot of money. Also, I have found it easier to go through the self-check lines - I know I won't get looks or questions there. I will say, they do effectively hide the nipples.

The only problem I have found with the cheap bras is lack of selection in my size. I really need a 34 band, but was unable to find the needed C-cup in that size, so since I don't need them for support, I purchased a 36 B (same cup size as 34 C), and it is nearly a perfect fit - other than the loose band. When I outgrow that size, it will be on to the next. I'm just hoping the growth stabilizes soon, because at this point, I have another 3-4 years of potential growth, and at the rate they're growing, I fear a 34DD or more.

As to the MTF image, that is something I have thought about as well, not being the least bit overweight. When a normal size guy starts growing boobs instead of moobs, what are most people going to think? Now with Bruce Jenner publicly going through MTF at 65, it's going to be even more of a thought for us folks.

B

[Alchemist]

"As to the MTF image, that is something I have thought about as well, not being the least bit overweight. When a normal size guy starts growing boobs instead of moobs, what are most people going to think? Now with Bruce Jenner publicly going through MTF at 65, it's going to be even more of a thought for us folks."

Hi Bummed,

Most people literally don't even notice.  Fat liberation has occurred and fat guys do open carry of fat and gyne, wear form fitting t-shirts now, no more multilayer, hot, super oversized clothing.  Fat guys with breasts in t-shirts are in advertisements.  Bare breasted guys are on shows with some pretty good sized breasts.  Go shopping, look around.  Lot of guys are doing open carry on their breasts in well fitting shits.  I don't look the least feminine whatever I wear.  I've never heard of the MTF thing brought up. One comment I did hear from a woman to her hubby "Poor guy, it must be glandular or hormones."  I don't think one guy getting all the unwanted publicity about doing a gender transition is going to affect you, me or anybody else.  It just makes clear how rare that is. 

And you know what?  He is liberated from the fear that "they will find out".  It's already out of the bag.  Pretty soon it is old news.  And if you dress in shirts that fit you instead of hot layers of stuff as the fat formerly dressed, you won't look like you are hiding your body and announcing the hiding to the world.  They will know you are not fat.

I've heard it expressed that only the young and beautiful crowd should be allowed to be nude at the beach or clubs or whatever, like everybody else's body was too inferior and has to remain dressed as a punishment for not being the 1% beautiful people.

How or why could you "know" that you have 3 or 4 years of growth and they will end up DD or more?  How can you possibly know that?  Did you sign up for a 5 year breast enlargement program?  Do you know what is making them grow?  Good luck in finding what makes you happy.  Why not try open carry for the next 5 years of growth.  Maybe even go to a nudist club and learn body acceptance.  It will give you an alternative action, and I bet you would have fun on the way, whatever you decide to do after that.  You would at least have better data.

I would rather not carry those unresolved fears to my death which is a different decision than what to do about the breasts.  Cutting them out doesn't necessarily get rid of the fears.

[dbweb]

Hi Bummed,
Will add my 2 cents here as well.

First and foremost, see a doc about what may have caused this sudden growth.  Once you understand the why, than you  must deal with the "what now" aspect.  Chances are your doc will recommend several choices, but if you choose to live with them, you must understand what is involved, and recognize that you will have to wear clothes made to add support/ comfort as about half the rest of the world does.

I see someone mentioned sports bras, but keep in mind they are not designed to be comfortable, only to hold things very close for a period of time.  I found them to be very uncomfortable after a few hours.

If you are looking for a good comfortable bra for support and coverage, I would recommend a BALI double support for a starter.  They are comfortable, and offer great coverage and support.  Measure yourself just above your breast, under your arms and start with that number as a bra size.  I would also start with a B cup size based on what I see, but again only a guess.

Sorry for going on here, but again my 2 cents worth

D B

[ALAR]

Thaks. I will try that out!  Here is the sports bra I bought it a bit big.  I can wear it for five or six without much discomfort.  I actually find on bralette type I bought at American Eagle is much more comfortable but not great on support.

[Alchemist]

Hi Alar,

I've been a pro photographer earlier in my life.  I learned a lot about appearances.  One of the things that affects how far our breasts stick out is the thickness of our chests.  Lie on the the floor, a firm surface.  With help from another measure the height of your sternum off the floor.  How thick is your chest at sternum?  Mine is 11 inches.  How wide is your chest at the widest rib to rib distance.  Mine is about 17 inches. The height of my pelvic-hip off the floor is about 5 inches.  Somebody like me has a barrel chest and proportions look different.  When my breasts fill the width of my chest they are each 8-9 inches across.  When compared to how far they stick out from my waist, it is much larger than on a person whose sternum thickness matches their hip depth more closely.  In suits normal "drop" from chest to waist is 6".  Athletic build suits have an 8" drop.  "Olympic" cut suits have a 10" drop.  My drop is 12-14 inches. 

The shape and outstandingness of my breasts is very much influenced by my general build.   Compared to a normal chest/waist ratio build the base of my breasts is 2-3 inches farther forward from my stomach.  Then there is muscle layer which also pushes the breast forward.   

So how cup-size relates to visible breast size is quite variable.  I don't know what any of this might mean to you when it is all said and done.  How breasts look with clothing over them differs considerably based on general body contours is all I'm trying to say.  To borrow and adapt a phrase from Firesign Theater of some years back "You've got to start young if you are going to stick them ("it" original) out."

Good luck.  You can always try any number of things until you find something you can live with.  With gyne in excess of 50% of men and 20,000 surgeries a year, perhaps 1% of new onset cases have surgical solution.  The other 75,000,000 deal with it mostly by ignoring them entirely and/or wearing a bra or whatever or physically uncomfortable and psychologically painfully hiding with lots of bulky clothing or compression vests or whatever and have fear, terrible fear, of discovery.

My best advice is don't lead your life from fear.  If the half of the guys around you that have gyne were all just ignoring it then you would see breasts on half the men around you and it would be a complete non issue for everybody.  Good luck.  Have fun.