Gyne but don't want surgery

[achtungminen]

I have gynecomastia and am embarrassed about it.  The nipples go to regular size if I press on them or expose them to cold, but this is only a temprorary solution.  I can feel a hard thing under the left one, but not the right one.  Also, there is a considerable amount of fat, and I do a lot of weight lifting.  My gyne isn't really that bad, a lot of people say they don't know wtf I am talking about, but for some reason it really bugs me.  When I really press someone to admit it, they do, so I feel like the people who say they don't see anything are just trying to make me feel better.  For me it's mostly a puffy nipple thing (the entire areola, not just the top).  I don't have too much breast fat.

I don't want to go see a doctor or get surgery, because frankly, I am scared of that stuff.  I really hate going to the doctor and doing the surgery thing.  Not really sure what I should do, I suppose the best route for me is to not give a shit.  But I am trying to teach myself how to do that now.

Any ideas?

[37ntired]

If you can go about daily life with no problems of self confidence, don't get surgery.  If swimming or going shirtless is worrisome but manageable then deal with it.  But if you are getting comments or stares that bother you then I would think about doing something about it.  Some really pretty people get stared at because they are pretty, but they think people are staring because they are ugly.  It depends on your concepts of self worth.  There are some really deformed or "ugly" people who have to just deal with stares and comments.  We really don't have it that bad compared to burn victims, facially malformed people or even "mentally challenged" individuals. 

I myself have hidden my gyne so well that I have a complex associated with it.  I have incorporated so much of my behaviors and emotions to hiding my gyne that I have missed out on too many fun things in life.  I am not willing to do this anymore.

[achtungminen]

F*ck this.  I can't be whiney about some little problem with the way my chest looks when there are people out there with major deformities.  You're right.  Thanks.

Now that it's in perspective, I realize that being self-conscious over something like this is wrong.  I don't have it as bad as a lot of people, too.  I can live with this shit, I don't care any more.

[37ntired]

I did not mean to imply that you have unwarranted concern.  Knowing the degree to which you may or may not have gyne, is important.  We can't see it.  It just seemed to me that you have a minor case and if you have to press on people to "notice it" then it might be that you don't have anything to worry about. 

The clincher seems to be this:  if you are comfortable taking your shirt off ANYWHERE in public and you are free from breast cancer,  then you don't need surgery.   You might still WANT aesthetic surgery, but you don't NEED it. 

Carry on with your life and don't develop the complex that I developed.  But if it gets worse then maybe come back here and see if treatments or surgical techniques have changed.  Everyone here is helping me to get the guts to have surgery done, since I do want it done. 

I am very new to this board and I hope someone will give me input on my reply to achtungminen.  MODERATORS?  It seems that my opinion  might have minimized his feelings and "sent him on his way".  On the other hand,  what I do hope is that SINCE he definitely doesn't want surgery, but is trying to deal with it, then give positive support and point out that our problem is not as bad as many have it.  I would still rather live in the U.S.A. and have gyne then be born in 80% of the rest of the world and not have gyne.  I am still very lucky, good looking and healthy.  I bet achtungminen is too.  If all men who had gynecomastia would just take off their shirts and go to the beach, soon no one would think it all that strange if 2 out of 10 men had some visible form of breast. 

[headheldhigh01]

i thought you had some good basic ideas there.  if it bothers somebody enough, they may want to get it fixed; if not, they won't.  either way a man should have enough internal sense of his own worth no matter what gyne does to him that he doesn't let others' reactions, including the stupid ones, get to him. 

If all men who had gynecomastia would just take off their shirts and go to the beach, soon no one would think it all that strange if 2 out of 10 men had some visible form of breast.

would like to think so, but i'm not quite sure.  either way i know for myself i would still prefer being among the eight than the two. 

[achtungminen]

Sorry to bring my dead topic back up.

I know people do notice it, I got made fun of at work for it yesterday.  It made me angry more than anything else.

Kind of weird, I have noticed the hard spot under the nipple is distributed now, there are pieces of it in more spots, but it doesn't feel like it is as big of a lump, almost like it displaced?  Weird..  Also I think the problem is a tiny bit worse, or maybe it's just my imagination.

Yes, other than the gyne, I really don't have anything else to worry about how I look.

Anyways, i'm getting self-conscious about it again.

[Paa_Paw]

The surgical techniques now used for male breast reduction have only been around for about 20 years. There was surgery before then, but the results were very poor compared to what is achieved now.

For those of us who grew up with Gynecomastia in the past, there was no choice but to learn to live with it.

I thought for a long time that I was somehow deformed and that I alone had the condition. As a military medic in my twenties, I observed that the condition was not at all uncommon. I was over the age of thirty before I learned that virtually every male in my family had gynecomastia. Everyone in my family dressed to conceal the condition.

I was almost sixty years old before I would leave the house wearing a tee shirt, I would wear a loose shirt buttoned up over a tight tee for concealment. Now I wear tee shirts most of the time.

Because we live in what we call the "Information Age", It would seem that we would be better informed and more accepting of our condition. Sadly, we also live in an age when artificial standards of body type are such that there is a race to the cosmetic surgeons office with men getting their breasts reduced and women getting theirs pumped up.  Both are trying to look more normal when they were quite normal prior to surgery.

The good news is that we live in a time when there are alternatives.  You now have a choice between coping with, or surgically removing, the breast enlargement. Ultimately, the only person you need to please is yourself.

PS, I'll be 70 this year.

[carpoint]

my advice to u (and anyone in this case) is to definitely get the surgery. I am now 20 years old and got the surgery done a 1/2 year ago and i can tell u my life has completely changed. Since i can remember i always looked for ways of hiding this condition; whenever their was a pool party or friends went tothe beach i always avoided it OR went late so they were finished swimming, in the summer time i never wore anything that would reveal my condition, and during school i always had a sweater on. Whenever i went out to the nightclubs i only wore shirts that would hide my chest, even if it was really ugly. And even when a girl was touching me in the torso area i was always worried she would notice my chest. @ overnight camp i remember hiding in the washroom so i wouldnt haveto take off my shirt when every1 was swimming.
I was SO self conscious about it i woudlnt even take my shirt off infront of my family. I can now wear clothes of any fit without having to worry about my chest. It completely changed my life. I am however sad on how it affected my younger years. But I am thankful for the technology we have today that enables people who have this condition to get it fixed. If you guys are self conscious about your chest then please get it done, its never too late!
good luck
ANd dont be hesitant because of the recovery process
Its a short term sacrifice for permanent results

[achtungminen]

It's not the recovery process, it's that I am deathly afraid of doctor and surgery situations.  A phobia of mine, I guess.

[IT'S_Gone]

yo man i got surgery today and i can tell u...u have absolutely nothing to be afraid of.....after the I.V. is in they lay u on a flat table pump u with anasthetic u get dizzy and fall asleep and wake up. Problem is solved in 2 hours ( thats how long my op was) if u are somewhat obsessing over it i would definately recommend getting it done.

[achtungminen]

Thanks.  There is just something about the cost to benefit factor for me here, the cost being me being in that dreaded environment.

[IT'S_Gone]

im 19 now ive lived with that shit since i was about 10 years old......i always knew people were thinking wow that guys has breasts but after i got out of the hospital today......i was completely flat something i lved with for 9 years was gone in a matter of 2 hours. Trust me knowing people are thiking that kind of stuff is a lot worse than a couple hours at the hospital

[achtungminen]

Yeah, that's a good way to put it.  I'd have to go to a regular doctor and have him refer me to a plastic surgeon, because that way the insurance will pay for it.

[achtungminen]

I have another question.  After the surgery (i'll probably need excision and lipo), will the tenderness go away?

[IT'S_Gone]

ya man thats exactly what i did...do u live in canada? And... from what ive read on this website the tenderness goes away after about 6 to 12 depending on how u heal