How do I tell what is gland, what is fat and what is muscle?

[NativeTexan]

I had gyno at an early age (13) and had surgery (20). 2 years after surgery, my gyno started to come back. At the time, I was a kid and just wanted to look better(was not as concerned with the details).. I do not know if my Dr. had my glands excised or just performed lypo.  After the surgery, I even had a couple of female friends remark that my chest was not looking as good, and I needed to get back in the gym. Well, I was about 20 at the time, so I did not think that a 6 month break from working out would be that noticeable.

It just slowly got worse. I am almost 40 now, and I am probably going to have surgery again. I have been working out on and off for the past 4-5 yrs, but I have been working out "hard core" for the past 8 months. I have had some great results, but, unfortunately, it makes the gyno look more pronounced. The rest of my chest gets more muscular and more well defined, but I have some fat at the side (what guys would call "side boob" on a woman", and I have always had puffy nips.

I can also feel what I can tell are half the size of a "plastic easter egg" glands not behind but at the side and behind of my nipple (more to the side). When I flex, this tissue does not seem to flex.

I plan to see a Dr. in a couple of week, but is there a way that I can somewhat tell whether this tissue that I suspect is glandular is that or fat or muscle?

[Paa_Paw]

You will often hear or read that gland is firm while fat is soft. Life is never that simple.

Sometimes, fat deposits can actually be quite firm and equally the glandular growth could be rather soft. To complicate things further, You have had a previous surgery so there is likely to be some scar tissue in there that would be misleading.

In short, You cannot tell in advance. You could make a SWAG (Scientiffic Wild A$$ Guess) but even some of the best surgeons get surprised once in a while.

You'll know if you get a chance to peek at what os on the Mayo Stand when the surgeon is done.