My story

[Natador]

I am writing this in the I hope it will help young teenagers who have gynecomastia come to terms with the condition.

Back in 1964 I was 12 years old and thought I was started to change sex as I started to develop what I thought were female breasts and prominent "drooping" nipples.  Our Physical Education (PE) teacher was ex-army and insisted we conducted gym classes without wearing a T-shirt.

I was not particularly athletic and managed to hide my embarrassment about my breasts by spending most of the time with my arms folded over my chest.  But then one day our PE teacher made us line up to run and jump over a gymnast's "horse".

I failed on my first attempt and was told to go back to the beginning and try again.  As I made my way back to the start, I heard one of my classmates (his name was Peter) call out, "God, look at the size of his breasts!" Everyone laughed, including the PE teacher, and I just wanted the earth to open and swallow me up. In the days and weeks which followed, I was utterly humiliated, ashamed, and contemplated suicide as, after this incident in the gym class, I was severely bullied by my classmates.  This always resulted in them removing my shirt and feeling me up and pretending to engage in sexual intercourse,

This went on for several weeks until I eventually confided my fears that I was changing sex, and told about the bullying to which I was subjected, to another teacher.  He persuaded me to visit my family doctor.  I don't know what he did or said to other teaching staff but the physical bullying stopped almost overnight.

I went to visit my family doctor  The first thing he asked me was whether I had told my parents I had made an appointment and I told him no. He explained I was not changing sex and that the answer to my problem was plastic surgery but he could refer me to a surgeon without my parents' consent.  He asked me if I would agree to him speaking to my mother and also the headmaster of my school.  I remember bursting into tears at this point as I agreed.  He prescribed a course of mild tranquilisers as he realised I was incredibly stressed out.

My mother was incredibly supportive, but she was very disappointed I had not told her about the problem and the bullying to which I was subjected at school.

To cut a long story short, I was on the waiting list for 12 months before I actually had plastic surgery on both sides of my chest.  After a few weeks, the incisions made were only noticeable with a magnifying glass.  The relief I felt was incredible and I eventually got back my self esteem.

Times have changed since the 1960's. The internet provides instant information about any topic under the sun and schools teach kids how to deal with bullies and report them.  But I hope my experience might help someone come to terms with the emotional anxieties triggered by gynecomastia and ask for help sooner rather than later.

[SideSet]

Thanks for sharing. I am sorry you struggled. Many of us, myself included, can sadly relate 

[gotgyne]

I developed my gynecomastia since my mid-forties, thus I don't have any experience with gyne at school. Nevertheless I know from reading the posts of many other men here, that it is really embarrassing with gynecomastia during the teenage years and especially at school. Today I read in a psychological forum about a 12 year old boy who started a thread in 2008 and wrote that he had A cup breasts and asked whether he needed a bra. His female schoolmates had said to him "buy a bra" and his grandmother had already offered him one. Some of the members of the mentioned forum regarded this as a fake written by an older man. Of course there are fakes but I think it is not helpful and even offending to believe that all posts like this are fake.

John

[gotgyne]

Some time ago I found a video on YouTube "Wearing Historical Clothing in Public: How to feel confident and manage criticism" by V. Birchwood. Although it does not refer to our problems the tips could be very useful for us too who are wearing a bra in public. Watch the video, it is very worth seeing!

[FredL]

...Back in 1964 I was 12 years old and thought I was started to change sex as I started to develop what I thought were female breasts and prominent "drooping" nipples.  Our Physical Education (PE) teacher was ex-army and insisted we conducted gym classes without wearing a T-shirt.

....

To cut a long story short, I was on the waiting list for 12 months before I actually had plastic surgery on both sides of my chest.  After a few weeks, the incisions made were only noticeable with a magnifying glass.  The relief I felt was incredible and I eventually got back my self esteem.

That means you had surgery around 1965 and you were around 13-14 years old.

I didn’t know they did gynecomastia surgery back then. Or at least the way it’s done now. I grew breasts around 11-12 and it was around 1974. In the years that followed, for some reason I was under the impression that surgery was hugely invasive, expensive, painful and left big ugly scars. I always had it in my head that if I dieted and worked out the breasts would go away, so it was easy to rule out surgery and hope things fix themselves. And I endured all the teasing and looks and physical assaults during my teen years and even into my working life. Summer camp was the worst. Shirts and skins. Tyttie twisters. Purple nerple. You need a bra. There was even a time when kids were calling me “Nancy”, I assume it was to label me as a girl.

Had I known how simple it was, I would have had it done much earlier and I’d look much better now. I waited until 57 and I’m dealing with some residual skin and boob that didn’t disappear. But I’m still thankful to have a decreased bust compared to what I had since I was 12. The time was right – covid lockdown,  money in the bank, and at my wits end with the boobs on my chest. After the surgery I lost some weight and started lifting bar bells every day. It’s a great feeling to have a better physique at 58 than I did at 18 or any other time in my life. My entire wardrobe is different now. I wear colors and white things. No more black t-shirt covered by black button-down with shoulders sticking out.

[Orb]

Natador,
  Thanks for sharing.  I have read many personal stories, all different and all a bit painful.  Glad your where you are today.

Fred L.
  I'm glad to hear the surgery was both successful physically and emotionally.  I wish you continued good health.

  For the rest who haven't had the procedure I did watch the video, "Wearing Historical Clothing in Public".  I did find it well done and very practical.  It is a mind set that we have to apply to our selves in our clothing choices and in all of life's situations.