Gynecomastia is ruining my life

[Copespo]

Hi everyone Im new here,
Im a 19 year old college student, and I plan on becoming a police officer once Im done with college. Well Im pretty sure we all share the same stories to some extend, so this is a perfect place to share views on this. Basically when I was in 5th grade I noticed that my breast were not normal, we had swimming classes in school, and when I took of my shirt I looked different then all the other kids, and I was well aware of this even if I was about 10 years old or so. I asked my mom once why my breast are larger then the other guys, and she said "Well you have to lose some weight and it will go away" but I was a kid and I forgot about this the next day.

Well as the years went on I became more aware of my chest, and when i entered high school its fair to say that gyno. ruined my whole high school life. I used to push my shoulders to the front and ware bigger shirts to not expose my chest. My friends would always tell me "dude straighten out your back" and I would just hate it, since then my breasts showed. I honestly never had a serious relationship with a single girl, even though im 19, which I consider insane in a way. I mean I see kids who are like 14-15 having girlfriends and I never had one....not because Im ugly, Im pretty nice looking, not trying to sound conceded...but gyno just ruined my confidence in being able to date with a girl. I just cant imagine, going out with a girl and maybe getting to the point of sexual activity and taking my shirt off...I would feel like I got stripped naked in the middle of a busy business center.

Gyno basically ruins everything in my life, it almost stops or ruins everything I want to do or wear. I dont wear nice thin shirts for summer, since they expose my chest. During the summer I wear a tight undershirt to tighten my chest so its not lose and then i wear a bigger sized shirt over it. Even if its over 100 degrees I still do this. I pretty much hate the summer because of gyno. I love soccer jerseys, and I own a few but I dont ware them since the material sticks to your body and exposes my chest too much. My gyno is not terrible, its defiantly noticeable, but I dont have the ultimate man-boobs were they hang and I need a bra. I have a pretty nice chest muscle under the gyno, so if I (When I) get surgery Im going to have a nicely shaped chest.

The hardest thing for me is talking to my parents, I just dont know what they will say. I mean once I mentioned it and my mom said "Dont be silly, thats normal" and I kind of never talked about it again, if it was for my mom I sure she would agree with surgery fairly quickly, but the problem is my dad. I know he will not take it easy on this topic. Im defiantly going to have to talk to them, and Im going to start to look into surgery since I cant live my life like this, out of 365 days in the year, gyno is on my mind and gets involved into my life at-least 290 days of the year...

[The_G0rn]

The thing about parents is, they don't want to accept there is something wrong with their kid. Anyway, I think you should print your story off and give it to your parents so they know exactly how you feel.  writing down your feelings about the matter is a good way to communicate it all clearly to them. Hopefully followed by discussion

[Wayne2008]

Dude,

This is a problem you need to takcle right now. You can read my story which I posted yesterday. In summary I waited till I was 35 to do my surgury, but that was a long time to live with it.

The fact of the matter, is that all we ask is just to be like any NORMAL male, and have a flat chest, and be able to wear what shirts we want...if any at all. Girls are another issue as well...yes some may be understanding, but some are not. But there is no reason to go through all this trauma when it can be corrected.

Talk to your parents, and let them read some of the stories on this site.

Don't let money be an issue either. Worst case is you tell the to lend you and you pay it back when you start working.

Good luck man.

[copstreet]

Get the surgery before you become a cop.  Routine department trainings are done with the officer wearing a standard white T-shirt.  Good luck to you....

[gynenomore5]

hey, i just wanna say that i understand how you feel.
i'm 17 this year.
i've had gyne since i was 12. and i struggled with it all these years.
the situation really started to worsen only in high school, when all the teasing started.
i've been called every name there is, some of the worse ones were bigboobboy and pam anderson.
yeah like you, i dont think i'm ugly but the gyne made my self confidence hit rock bottom.
i dated one girl and it didnt work out, mostly because of the gyne. how can i be comfortable with someone else when i'm not comfortable with myself?
i haven been able to wear white/thin/dry-fit shirts all along, most of my wardrobe is black.
and i used to tape my chest up every time i went out.
i used wonder why i cant be like everyone else, with defined pecs and everything. i'm always thinking "why does it have to be me?"
i didnt dare to go swimming and i didnt go to the beach at all.
i haven been able to do much sport either because of the fear of other staring at my boobs.
i've been through the "its because you are fat" phase and i know how frustrating it can get.
i had my first conversation with my parents regarding this issue when i was 14. well, like any other parent who refuse to believe that there's something wrong with their child, they dismissed it and said its hereditary and that i was fat.
i was already losing weight then and i continued with my diet plans and workout regime and i lost 6 kg.
but ITS STILL THERE.
well, knowing my parents wont really do much abt it, i figured that there wasnt any point in talking to them abt this.
lots of pain and anguish over the next 2 years.

one day last june i decided that enough was enough and i sat my parents down and had a serious talk abt my condition and how it has affected my social life and emotional health. to my surprise, they actually understood what i was going through and my mum went to check up the costs of the operation etc.
after seeing 2 surgeons,
i finally got the operation in november last year and i've never felt better. REALLY.
though there was abit of excessive bleeding in the beginning(which scared the shit out of me), everything turned out fine. its really worth the pain and the money. my life had changed dramatically after the operation and i believe yours will too.
i'm now in the school athletics team and i can play sports and run and jump and do whatever i want without obsessing over the fact that my nipples might be showing.
hang in there man, one day u will be able to do so too.