my story~

[djillusive]

Whatsup everyone.. this is my first time posting.. and I have to say, I have NEVER shared what I am about to say to anyone.. not even my parents.. but when I found this site, and I found how many other males have been going through the same bull ish that I've been through, I feel safer.  

Im 20 years old.  I've had this problem since I was about 13 or so.  Back in junior high, I was always known as a fat kid.  I noticed I began to develop breasts, and I had my mom order me this skin tight undershirt to attempt to hide it.  No luck, I was accused of wearing a "bra" by my peers, so I got rid of it.  
By then, I knew I had to get in shape, so I joined wrestling, track and played basketball outside of school.  I lost weight, yet my chest was still outrageously flabby.  

Basketball was a nightmare, especially when we practiced shirts vs. skins.  One day, after practice, my friend told me that his parents had remakred something in Korean about me, so I asked him what they said.. and of course, they said "wow, he has a chest like a woman"  

In high school, I can remember so many instances when people would grab my chest or poke fun of me for having breasts.  One instance that clearly stood out in my mind was sophomore year, when two kids made fun of me in the hallway.  One kid pushed the other guy into me, and the guy who got pushed into me grabbed me.  Then I overheard the other kid say "Did you.. did you feel his breasts?"  I remember that line exactly.. (funny thing is.. they are now my friends..one even worked for me..)  

High school was also when I started getting girlfriends.. man was it embarassing because girls would always think I was weird because when I hugged them or danced with them I made sure I didn't touch them with my chest.  My last girlfriend forced me to go with her to the beach once, I refused to take my shirt off.. but when 15 of my friends kept yelling my name (because I was the only bum sitting on the sand by myself), I had to go into the water.

To this day, even my closest friends will joke with me.  They'll come up to me and grab my chest, making obscene comments when they do so.  For seven frickin years of my life I have been constantly looking in the mirror getting sadder and sadder by the moment.  I always watch what I wear, making sure that what I have on hides my chest.  I absolutely hate it.  It's causing so much pain and so much anger inside.  I've been weight lifting consistently for the past 3 years, and recently I've been concentrating on lower chest excercises, but that has only made it worse.  Instead of an entire flabby pec, i have just a flabby lower chest.  It sucks.  

I JUST found out that what I have is gynecomastia, and I JUST discovered this webboard.  I know that surgery is probably the only solution for me, but I can't even begin to imagine what my parents will say when they find out.  

I'm going to my doctor today, I will tell her what I think I have, and hopefully she can assist me in finding a good cosmetic surgeon.  But until then, that's my life story, 7 years of .. not really being a man.  

[a-man]

You're on the right path man... perhaps you could just show your parents what you wrote here (or perhaps this entire site) to make it easier for them to understand.

Some doctors do not understand gynecomastia and will just suggest you go to the gym and work it off... clearly this will not work for you.

If you let us know what are you are from, we can probably suggest a good plastic surgeon in the area.

[Blitz]

Brother, I feel your pain.  Keep us posted.  

[Spleen]

But until then, that's my life story, 7 years of .. not really being a man.  

I couldn't disagree more.  A *man* deals with his problems.  If you can deal with this then there's no question of masculinity.  It's takes more than a funny chest to emasculate yourself.  Don't allow yourself to think like that.

[Blitz]

Spleen,  

Take it easy.  I think he was making more of a joke on his situation.  

[Ax87]

honestly man... i knew about my puffy nipples since i was like 13 and i just told my parents a few months back.... after researching it... probably the best thing i've ever done... because i explained to my parents how much i hate it and they understand, and now they are the ones insisting i get surgery to fix it... i thought it would be embarresing but think about it what are your parents gonna do? you say everyone else has noticed it im sure your parents have too... so now atleast they will know its gynecomastia and not just fat or wtv... bro i think you should tell your parents...  

[c3ntralp3rk]

yeah man. i totally understand this fear of telling your parents about it.. and hey, about the flabby lower chest.. i can't believe how many posts i've read regarding that..

us guys who have had gyne, people always told us to "work out" and "get in shape" and i mean.. i've been working out for the last 2 years, and i have a great physique.. in fact my upper chest is really well developed, got cuts down the middle.. except my lower chest is the source of the whole problem. puffy nipples + gland under the nipple that screws up the whole lower chest, in turn demolishing my self esteem.

moreover, i was in indonesia (where the GP's SUCK) when i found out about my gyne.. except the GP didn't diagnose it as gyne, one of them said that i was "barrel chested" and the other guy said that "your nipples are like a woman. aren't you ashamed" - so it wasn't a great way to start things off.

i plan on getting surgery ASAP. i want to be emancipated.

good luck to you.

[djillusive]

whatsup I'm back.. the doctor told me that I should try to diet and excercise a little bit more to see if I can get rid of as much fat as possible around my lower chest.  She told me not to jump to surgery because If I do it before bringing my body fat down, the fat would just pore back into the lower chest because it has no where to go.  I agree with her, and I am currently on a diet and exercise plan.  After about dropping 20 or so more lbs, I'm going to report back to my doctor to see what she says.  (I'm 5'10 200 lbs btw)

[djillusive]

good newsss... I just told my mom and she's very supportive!!!!! I will not tell my dad for quite some time because I know he will flip out.    but I'm happy that my mom knows and is willing to support me !!!

[SRK]

gud for u man tht u hav told ur mom.....this step wud have relieved u immensely....i feel tht even ur dad wud be very supportive....u dont tell him....tell ur mom to tell him.....best of luck for ur future.
pray for my future tooo

[User]

I can really relate to your story and am glad that everything looks like it's turning out well.

I'm sorry that you had to find out the hard way that lifting weights doesn't cure gyne, it only makes it more pronounced!  I used to do hundreds of push-ups in the hope that it would go away.  Luckily, I went to see a doctor about gyne and he told me straight away that the muscle would just push the tissue out.  I still have a lot of pectoral muscle and it's pushing my gyne out further than it would without muscle.

I'll be seeing a surgeon soon.  I wish you the best of luck.

[sean88]

im glad you foudn this site too. I found out i had gyne beginning of this year. I am 17 and have been at the gym since i was 15. What i cant take is no matter how much i work out - my chest still looks so feminine. I did alot of benchpressing and now, although i have more chest muscles, my puffy nipples stick out more. I, like you, was scared of telling my parents, until my mum came up to me crying because she wanted to help me through my depression. So I told her about it and now I am looking for a surgeon to perform the surgery. I need some help guys because I live in New Zealand. The GP's dont understand it and I dont trust the PS's here. I was born in CA and mum thought it would be a good idea to get away from it all and have the operation in America. Can anyone PLZ suggest a good surgeon. Please. I dont know where to start.

[Yoshi]

Sean88, Delgado, and Bermant seem to be the recommended ones on this site. Visit surgery experiences board for more research. I  lean more toward Dr. Bermant who is located in VA because he constantly posts here and has an incredibly informative site, http://plasticsurgery4u.com/procedure_folder/male_breast/


The reviews for Dr. Bermant are completley flawless from what I've seen.

EDIT:I havent had surgery yet so dont completly take what I say to heart.

[sean88]

thanks for that. When are you getting surgery? is there a waiting list? my GP doesnt understand the condition.

[Yoshi]

I haven't made an appointment yet because I'm just made an appointment with my pediatrician for a hormone check (then they might refer me to an endocrinologist) then once all that is figured out I'll probably get surgery.

I hear there are some good doctors in Europe for this so check the surgery experiences board or the European countries board.