Help regarding what beginning gynecomastia is like

[sidesonsides]

Hi everyone,
Recently I've been concerned about gynecomastia, as I've been taking finasteride and have noticed my nipples have been showing in my shirts a lot, something that I'm not too keen about.
I know the best action is to see a doctor, but currently I'm overseas working ridiculous hours, so for now I'd like some advice on what I can tell on my own. I've done a lot of searching, but I can't quite find any information regarding what gyno may look like, feel like, etc, only quite advanced cases.
Here's what I'm experiencing:

• I can see my nipples more clearly through my shirts. It just looks like the nipples are sticking out- no areolas.
• The nipple-areola area is minorly puffy- if I scrunch and flex my pecs, my nipples make a very subtle hill. If I stretch out, it's completely in line/no hill.

I did a lot of pinch testing. The general pinch down your pec test reveals no discernable difference in thickness. Pinching closer around my areola reveals a slightly thicker region, but only by a little bit. Pinching extremely close to my nipple reveals a small pea sized lump that isn't very firm but clearly stands out.

I also did some pushing in the area. Pushing down directly on the nipple I feel nothing, but pushing down directly around it in the areola region reveals a firmer, donut/ring like surface surrounding the nipple hole. The donut isn't smooth; it's unevenly patterned and lumpy. Pressing away from the areola, my chest gets more fatty, but if I press down hard I can feel the same unevened pattern- even far away from my areola, where the pec connects to the shoulder, however due to the fat I cannot distinguish if the firmness is the same.

As for pain/itchiness/tenderness, there has been some, but I don't know if that's attributed to potential gyno, as I've been frequently pinching/playing with my chest. Nocebo/hypochondria/whatever it's called affects me a lot too- I read somewhere where beginning gyno comes with some armpit itchiness, and right after that my armpit started itching.

As for my physical self, I'm muscular but also overweight with fat around my body. Appearance wise my chest is not man-booby: It has fat but does not droop. The concerning part is the super slight hill my areola makes. I'm far done with puberty- I recall feeling a hard disk under my nipples long ago during puberty, but gyno was never an issue otherwise during puberty. Thus I don't know if this firm area is new, old, or gyno at all. I also don't know if my nipples have always been like this. I found some photos of my nipples poking through shirts before I was on finasteride, but also photos not. I'm taking finasteride to halt hair loss, and again, I have a history of nocebo/paranoia/whatever for side effects.

Thanks for reading. My takeaway questions are this:

• To all those that currently have/had gyno, what did the beginning of it feel like?
• What does the "lump" feel like? What is it's shape? Texture? How do I distinguish it?
• To the best of your expertise, does it look like I have gyno?
• What are my next steps? Discountinue fin? Find a doc?

If I have gyno, I probably won't take a next step towards removing it as it's not very advanced, but I do want to stop its growth. Also, I can provide pictures if necessary, it's just a bit inconvenient. Thanks.

[Paa_Paw]

Heightened sensitivity of the nipple and areola is probably the first sign.   The bad news here is that the degree of sensitivity will normally vary anyhow and that may make you think you are having  growth when you are not or it might make you think that this is just normal variation when in fact it is signalling growth. 

[Miguel Delgado MD]

Please visit the section explaining the pinch test.  This will explain how to perform the test.