1. There is nothing to fear about the operation. If you are in good shape, relatively young and your surgeon and anesthesiologist know what they're doing there is very little that can go wrong. I backed out of my original surgery date two years ago (after paying the non-refundable deposit, oops) because I freaked myself out about the potential dangers of general anesthetic. Statistically speaking it's a very safe operation.
2. If you *are* feeling uneasy about the whole surgery ordeal, visit a primary care physician and get everything checked out. Be open about your reason for the visit. My doctor ended up putting me at ease and making me feel better about everything.
3. I already made a separate post about this (check my history if you're interested) but I only ended up wearing the compression vest for two and a half days after the surgery. I was worried about how the vest was so tight the creases were bruising my upper chest and lower armpit area so I went to the surgeon's office on the Saturday after my Wednesday operation. He ended up telling me to just take off the vest and let things heal on their own. Needless to say, this was a huge relief. Which brings me to my next point...
4. Be open with your surgeon about any post-surgery doubts or worries and feel free to book a quick visit any time you feel it's necessary. With all the money you paid, this is a service they are expected and more than willing to provide.
5. What you see in the first few days or couple weeks is NOT the final result. I was initially put off by just how...flat...everything looked. I've been working out for the last couple years and the muscle in my chest plus the fat and tissue gave an illusion of upper chest muscle. This seemed to be completely gone in the first few days following the surgery. Yes, it was nice seeing the gynecomastia magically disappear, great even, but I was a little surprised at how flat things looked. Needless to say, my chest started to take shape in the following weeks (in a good way). Smaller nipples, flat - somewhat muscular - chest, no puffy nipples or jiggling. Just give it time.
6. Get off the valium (diazepam) as soon as you can. Reading up on it online, one thing stood out to me regarding its dangers; essentially it takes very little time taking it (say, one week) to start feeling anxiety whenever you're NOT on it. I used about three or four pills and that was it. Same with the painkillers. These can be incredibly addicting. Don't ruin this liberating part of your life by being reckless with meds.
7. Your wardrobe will need work. I often wore button up shirts and was quite satisfied with that look. I thought that post-surgery I could just hop on the t-shirt train and pretty much double my wardrobe by putting on those tighter short-sleeved shirts that I had stopped wearing when I hit my mid 20s. That's not the case. It'll take time to find things that look good with the shape that your chest has taken. The good news is **it'll be a lot easier**.
8. There is a certain sense of glee that stays with you in the weeks following the surgery. For me it really started to kick in a couple weeks after. I realized I could keep a better posture in public, stretch my arms behind my back without giving a shit and generally just felt liberated. I played basketball and felt lighter on my feet, more nimble. Perhaps it was mental, perhaps it was not.
9. It helped to be able to go through this with a significant other. Before the operation I would be open about my insecurities, ramble about the procedure and afterwards - at times a bit high - I would go on about the experience, how I felt, what things would look like in the future. Having said that, I don't see having a partner as a must for this operation. If I had the money to do it and if I knew what was coming in my mid-20s, I would have gone ahead and done this on my own (maybe telling a friend or if I really just wanted to keep this to myself, hiring a professional to look over me in those first 24 hours).
10. It's not so much the intensity of the pain that caught me off-guard but rather how long it went on for. It's been a month for me and I still feel a bit 'bruised' (despite there not being any bruise marks). The first few weeks it's hard to raise your arms or sleep on your sides. Every day it gets a little bit better, though.
11. I missed being active so I didn't hold off on exercise for that long. Walking is completely fine (take it easy at first, don't tire yourself out). I took a bike ride about two weeks in and then **slowly** moved back into an exercise routine around 3.5 - 4 weeks.
Topic: 11 things I learned from my gynecomastia surgery (Read 2756 times)
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