Before and After pics - NHS - surgury - UK

[SomeGuyFromEngland]

Hi guys.

I had Gynecomastia for years and years.
I went to my GP and was put on a 3 month trail of Tamoxifen which really didn't help me (I assume because I had had the condition for so long and it's only really helpfull if you are young and are just developing small moobs or puffy nips)

So after a long long wait, I finally got my surgery done in Blackpool Victoria Hospital last week. The procedure was full on removal of the glands and liposuction.
Right after the surgery my chest looked a bit scary, like my nipples had "caved in" and there was quite a large crater where the glands used to be. This filled out over a few days but they are still slightly convex and my nipples are somewhat retracted due to there being no glands behind them any more. Still a huge improvement though. Only a week gone by, so plenty of waiting for the tissue to regenerate and fill out a bit.
Recovery has been quite painless. I stopped taking painkillers 2 days after the surgery and wasn't in much pain anyway.

After about a week I was able to support my own weight when getting up from a chair/ out of bed etc - this was very difficult to do during the first few days of recovery.

I didn't get a compression vest and wasn't instructed to wear one, nor do I feel the need for one.

I took before and after shots from 7 angles.

Any questions? Just ask. I'll help out any way I can.

By the way, I have really bad acne and acne scars all over my chest and back. Those are not from the operation.

[Swarley]

Hi Dude,

Good to hear you're recovering well.

I've never considered going to my GP about it.

I'm curious, did you consider having surgery privately before having it done with the NHS?
Also, what was your experience like leading up to the surgery & what is the after care like?

Thanks

[SomeGuyFromEngland]

Hi there.

By the way, I had the procedure done at Blackpool Victoria Hospital

I'm curious, did you consider having surgery privately before having it done with the NHS?

No, I didn't consider going private as I can't afford that.

Also, what was your experience like leading up to the surgery & what is the after care like?

I had a very long wait leading to the surgery. I had 3 preoperative assessments because my operation was cancelled twice due to urgent cancer patients - which is totally understandable.
I'd estimate about a year from the date I was told I am eligible for surgery after taking Tamoxifen for 3 months.
After my 3rd pre-op though, I was booked in the following week.
I was in the waiting room on the day for about 3 hours being called into meeting rooms to speak with different staff members.
I spoke to a nurse first who made sure I was feeling well, double checked my blood pressure and weighed me etc.
Then I got to speak to my anaesthetist, he was happy to explain anything I wanted to know and made me feel very comfortable.
After that I got to meet the surgeon, he explained where he would make incisions and answered all of my questions.
About 30 mins later I got called back into the room where I met the surgeon and was given a gown and sealed pack of support stockings to put on.
I was then lead into a pre-operation waiting room where I sat for about 5 mins in my dressing gown, slippers, surgery gown and stockings. There was a TV,a window and another gentleman was also waiting to be called into theatre.
When I was called into theatre I took off my dressing gown and slippers and laid on a bed where sensors were placed on my back to monitor some stats I assume.
The anaesthetist from earlier came in with a few other staff and began prepping me for surgery. He and a nurse got a vein up on my left and and pushed in the needle for IV use. Within a minute he was already explaining what drugs were being put into my arm as he injected them. There was a cold and uncomfortable tingly feeling from the fluids moving up my arm. He then said "this one will make you feel a bit 'woozy'" ... and it did! I began to lose focus and was soon unconscious.

I awoke moving down a corridor laying in a bed, I was told I'd been given Morphine and Tramodol (I can just about remember hearing myself saying 'what did you give me?' I don't know why I asked lol) Anyway, it felt great and I was drifting in and out of conciousness in no pain at all. I think the operation took a few hours.

I woke up later in my own personal recovery room in bed. There was a window and a TV and an en suite toilet/shower room. I had drainage tubes stitched into the underneath of my chest about 2-3 inches below each nipple, a bag of red mess on either side of the bed dribbling in from the tubes. A nurse would come and go throughout the night seeing that my IV drip was working and that I was OK. I couldn't keep fluids down for quite a while and I threw up quite a few times into those disposable "sick bowls". I couldn't piss for what seemed like AGES. I couldn't stand up as I was still messed up from the anaesthetic drugs but was given several disposable "piss pots?" which when I did finally use, I filled them up pretty good.

I drifted off to sleep and woke up early. I was brought breakfast and a cup of tea. The surgeon came in to make sure I was okay and had a few medical students with him. He explained that the operation went to plan and asked if I was pleased with the results. An hour later a nurse came in to take out my drainage tubes and IV needle then put on fresh dressings for my wounds. 2 physiotherapy people came by to show me how to perform stretching exercises I'd need to do over the following week and gave me a leaflet with instructions.
After signing a few release forms I was allowed to leave at around 11am.

I was pleased with the staff and procedure. Overall the experience was excellent.

[Gyne-Sucks]

hey mate, good result and totally free!!

WOW!

good that your recovering

im only 16 but have had gyne for 2 years :/ i have left school and am going to college so if i get a job it will be part time so the income would be bad

did you demand that you wanted surgery or did you doctor recommend it?

how was the wait, from the start of all the talks etc.. till the actually surgery?


will you tell us abit more please

[SomeGuyFromEngland]

did you demand that you wanted surgery or did you doctor recommend it?

It was suggested to me but I was told to try Tamoxifen first. I'm 26 now and had Gynecomastia since 13-14 or something.
Tamoxifen works best if you're just developing it. It took it for 3 months anyway and it had no effect.

how was the wait, from the start of all the talks etc.. till the actually surgery?

We're looking at about 18-20 months roughly. A lot of time between the 2nd cancellation, in the end I called them from being sick of waiting. I think they screwed up and somehow didn't get me booked in for some reason because after I called I was in surgery 2 weeks later as if they knew they'd screwed up and wanted to get me in ASAP after I called.

If you are 16, I'd go docs tomorrow and tell them you think you have a problem. Show the doctor and ask what treatment he suggests. He'll most likely get you on some Tamoxifen and hopefully it will reduce the size of the glands and you won't need surgery. Sooner you do this the better. Don't put it off like I did.

Good luck.

Any more questions?

[m85]

Hi, I am having surgery on the NHS in birmingham next month so this is really useful. I just wanted to ask how long you were kept in at the hospital and how long after surgery where you able to resume normal activities such as work?

[SomeGuyFromEngland]

Hi, I am having surgery on the NHS in birmingham next month so this is really useful. I just wanted to ask how long you were kept in at the hospital and how long after surgery where you able to resume normal activities such as work?

Hi. I was in the hospital from 11:00. I went in for surgery around 16:00 after meeting with several nurses, the anaesthetist and then the surgeon.
I was in overnight, out the next morning around 11:00.
I would strongly suggest you take 7 days off after the surgery. I did the exercises every day like the physiotherapist told me and I gained almost full movement by 7 days.
I'm still a little sore when reaching above my head. The muscle connecting to the ribs is where I feel the most stretch.
But 7 days after surgery I was able to ride my mountain bike and get things out of the cupboard as normal.

Hope this helps.
Good luck.
Be sure to let us know how it went.

[m85]

Thanks for the reply mate, I am still in two minds on whether i should go through with it, my gyno is quite significant and I anticipate that it wont be a smooth process and my daily lifestyle with work etc will be affected.

[SomeGuyFromEngland]

I can't begin to explain what a difference this has made. Even little things like being able to wear just a T-shirt instead of wearing a huge hoodie or jacket in the middle of summer to hide them.

Your surgery is next month right?
I assume you have been waiting a while for this and you must have wanted it to begin with to even come this far.

Book a week off work holiday pay if you have any left?


I couldn't push down for a few days. Things like using my arms to help stand up out of a chair and getting out of bed were a bit of a challenge but it improved very quickly. I just learned to use my legs and distribute weight differently to avoid stress on my chest muscles. this only lasted a few days and like I said before, I could lift things over my head and ride a bike in just under 7 days after surgery.

It's been 12 days since I had mine done and I have full functionality and no pain unless I really REALLY deliberately stretch my arms directly over my head and push against a wall - even then it's just a stretching sensation.
I only took painkillers for only one day after I left hospital.
You'll only be a little wobbly 24-48 hours MAX after surgery from the drugs they give you.

Seems a shame to back out now fella, be brave. Once this is out of the way you'll wonder what you were so bothered about.
Do what you've got to do to keep the money rolling in. Work overtime in the coming weeks if you don't have any holiday pay left, I'm sure your boss would understand if you explained.

Get in there, get it done and when you get out take vitamins and eat plenty of protein to speed up recovery.


We are more important than money, put yourself first. There's always a way.

[SomeGuyFromEngland]

Sorry, I just read some of your other posts and see that you are not having the exact same procedure as I had.
Your one involves removal of skin and re-placement of the nipples!
I obviously can't give you any advice on how long this would take to recover from. You should have said!

I also see you work in an office? Not physical work. You will probably have more trouble driving to work than the work itself. It's the motion of the arms moving forward and downward where you'll feel the stretch the most at first.

I would consider googling the exact name of your procedure and actually watching a video of the surgery being done, I did.
I'm quite squeamish myself so couldn't watch much of it, but found it interesting and helpful in overcoming my fears.

By the way, I was also warned of necrosis of the nipple because they have to sever the tissues under the nipple and fold it away from the body to get at the gland. The longer it's disconnected from the tissues, the worse the nerve damage may be. They will work as quickly as possible while it's severed to reduce any nerve damage to a bare minimum of course and you may lose some sensation of the nipple. Mine are slightly numb, I've lost some sensation but nothing major and it seems to be returning quite quickly.

Good luck with the surgery. Don't back out this far in, you can do it!

[m85]

Thanks for the encouragement mate it is really appreciated, it looks like like my gyno is worse than yours and may require skin reduction and removing a nipple which i am really scared about if i'm honest. I can take holiday from work as i have saving them up for this all year so thats not a issue its just the complications of the procedure that is putting me off. Also, i'm still living at home and noone in my family knows so i need to get over that hurdle as well lol im sure i will get over it.

Thanks again for your encouragement, i will keep you updated.

[SomeGuyFromEngland]

No problem man.
Are you sure they said they might need to remove a nipple permanently? I don't know the whole story, but surely that would be extremely rare unless there is cancer or some kind of tumour? Perhaps you can tell us more?

I know from the procedure you described in your other posts they will remove the nipple during surgery and re-attach it after - because they are cutting out a section of skin so you don't have loose skin after the liposuction. I've seen photos of this on other sites so this is my understanding, not an expert's advice. Do some research to ease your worries.

I didn't tell my family either except my dad. I didn't want my mum, sister or nan knowing as I knew they would worry. I told them after though. I live 300 miles away from them so it's something I could have gone without telling any of them, but it helped to be able to talk to someone other than my Mrs.

I'd recommend you at least tell someone in your family as it is a huge relief just to talk about it with someone close to you.

You should try to post some pictures for some of the doctors to look at, they would be able to estimate any type of recovery from experience with patients.