What is your worst gynecomastia memory :'(

[headheldhigh01]

the vast majority of people here are accepting and respectful of accepters.  in fact, while there are always exceptions, which is inevitable given the nature of gyne, i used to get ridiculed constantly by a couple of guys here some time back simply for wanting mine gone.  one was an accepter who seriously sounded like a paranoid schizophrenic, two others were fetishists who should have been prosecuted for telling minors who posted pics how "hot" they thought they were (it's hard enough getting the shy ones to unlurk) and probably trying to pick them up.  all of them would go on about butchers this and hackers that, and then whine about people calling them on their TOC-violating conduct as persecution      it cuts both ways.  

lots of people have pointed out that everything here is an opinion, or that not everyone has to get an operation.  but you'd be missing the obvious if you haven't noticed they're not being pushed, they're chasing more info to fix it themselves, and they are strongly self-motivated, often in spite of resistance and belittlement by those around them.  but maybe you know better than them.  

you're right to refocus the discussion on worst memories, but being disagreed with by a bunch of people on a chat board hardly seems like a defining gyne experience to scar you for life.  if that's your worst experience, you've had it easy.  i hope my "bashing" hasn't traumatized you so badly that lots of pills and years of therapy won't help you eventually get over it        

[Don Won I]

I also remember the hell of a shirts vs. skins game. Common theme between us, right? I went to a basketball camp when I was 11 or 12. Yeah, I  went through extreme lengths not to play in a tournament. I got skins with my terrible luck and everyone started taking their shirts off. I went to the coach, lied and said I had a skin disorder (eczema), so I couldn't take my shirt off. He believed me for some reason and I sat on the bench with this cute girl. We talked a little, but I believe she knew why I didn't play that day.

My parents also forced me to attend another camp in high school. We all had to dress alike. It was awful: thin white t-shirt, white shorts and white shoes. I didn't have any money to buy a compression vest, so I figured out that a super, super tight undershirt would manage to compress my chest. It was so tight that it took me 10 minutes to get it on some days.  I only had one undershirt like that, so I had to wash it daily while I was there or it would smell really bad. I felt like hell those entire two weeks, but I got through it. No one mentioned my chest at all.

My daily wardrobe consisted of shirts 2x my size that were buttoned up. Yes, they had wacky patterns on them and I always wore jeans. My parents always complained about me wearing the same thing over and over. In actuality, I really owned about 70 shirts that all looked alike. It didn't hit me until one day my shirt ripped against a desk in high school. I kind of freaked out and a girl commented on it. "Why do you wear the same shirts everyday?" The other girls agreed and I felt like, well, I felt terrible.

Now that I think back, other than those few instances, I always managed to hide my chest considerably well. I always got out of situations where I had to undress or change clothes. I constantly avoided physical contact, which was necessary back then.  It turned me into a decent liar as a child. I knew how to get out of situations before they even occurred.

To all the guys who are questioning surgery: DO IT! It will change your life. I've had relationships, I can play sports, go to the gym and do all the other activities I avoided as a kid. If you find a way to have the surgery, then DO IT! If not, then exhaust all options. I fought insurance companies for two years. I failed, but through the fight I found a loan company and that's how I got my surgery. Never give up.

[sla]

I know I had a lot of embarassing moments but in this moment I didnt feel embarassed.
Some of my classmates made jokes but the never go to top with them.
Im really happy that I had friends like that.

I never heard jokes when we played shirts vs skins!!!

I remember one time in the disco a guy grabbed from behind my gyne....

[GoldenGate]

I always hated shirts vs. skins...  but...

Worst ever was at a pool party I was telling a story to a group of people in a circle. I was standing there bare chested in the pool and out of no where got a totally unprovoked titty twister from a very strong girl with really long nails who thought it would be funny.  I have had many before, but this was not a playful one.  It was the one of a lifetime.  I have never forgiven her for that and never will.  Only she and I know how hard she both squeezed and twisted (all of her might) in front of that group of people.  It hurt for weeks and I was very bruised.  I have wondered at what point can a girl commit an affront so strong that you are allowed to punch her back?  For my personal value system, that was REALLY close to the line.  Inflicting such unjustified extreme pain and humuliation for a laugh.

[KAG]

You should have treated her to the same!

[dawct]

I first became 'aware' of my 'condition' in 7th grade when I was walking down the hall and some kid I didn't know, in 6th grade, shouted out "he has breasts" and kept on walking. I looked down and was never the same since. I wasn't really ridiculed or picked on in high school much thankfully. I had a couple kids grab them a couple times.

I had a couple people at work when I was around 23/24 grab them. And that really pissed me off.

I remember being scared to death of entering high school and having to endure one and a half years of PE. I had heard of shirts vs. skins basketball games and I was dreading it. Luckily by the time I had entered high school, they changed the skins team to just turning your shirt around. I felt so relieved. But I still hated having to run and have them bounce around.

I guess I didn't have it nearly as hard as some people here, but it still bothered me to no end.

[EatingCake]

I'm not going to piss on anyones parade here or steal the spotlight from anyone but for me, I never had a really bad memory of gynecomastia. Sure at school especially in a all boys school in the changing rooms things got a little out of hand, but a few others had them worse then me so I never got the brunt end of the lashing. Generally speaking though I was neutral in the playground I was never picked on or singled out so I cannot really relate to people who had ongoing traumas at school. But, my brother who I live with day in day out would tease me, and it sort of sunk in my head in a good way, it is about time I got these things cut out of my body.

So I'm 19 in about a weeks time and most likely won't be doing anything for it - me being still on painkillers and recovering I don't see myself going to a club and partying hard. Maybe christmas I might do something to make up for it - anyhow what I noticed is the majority of the people making these posts are people who are 30 years or over and it makes me so much happier to know I am still relatively young still have my life to live etc etc, and I did not wait 10 years in contemplation even though I feel I have wasted a few years consuming way too many drugs instead of building relationships, which I will be changing next year. No offence to the older generation but I'm happy with myself I did not wait too long and I got this operation done as soon as possible.

Hope this helps.

[jizz]

Hello folks.
First of all I am thankful that I have found some place where I could share my views on this phase of life that I am going through.

Rating bad memories on the scale of being worst is difficult, when every memory is worst in a unique way.
Although I will describe one.

In my 12th grade, my class went on a trip to a water park organized by the school,
there I hesitatingly removed my shirt to get in the water.And to my horror, one of my friends started laughing hysterically pointing at my chest.From that day onwards, I was the laughing stock of the whole class for the rest of my school days.
I was hesitant to react as this would only worsen the matter,but one day things went out of the limit, when the same kid that started it all brought a bra to the school and threw it on me in the corridor.Man I sot pissed off, and beat the crap out of that guy,only to spread the news like a wildfire that why did this fight start off and even the juniors and the teachers came to know about my condition and from that day everyone kept staring at my chest till the day I got out of school.

[unknownman]

I had a bunch of horrible gyne memories I remember once I tried out for the basketball team at elementary school and we played shirts and skins and with my luck I ended up being skins I  could not concentrate on playing because i was worrying about my chest bouncing up and down and people laughing at me. I can also remember walking  through school sometimes and classmates staring at my shirt laughing saying hahahah he's growing titties. I hated my life and I hated people in general and I always wondered why me why did this happen to me.

[Paleodude]

Wow, reading all of these stories and experiences made me register just to join in.

As most of you, I also experienced the full brunt of middle school/high school teasing. Thankfully, we never had the "shirts vs. skins" thing at my school (I don't think it's as common in Canada); frankly I don't know why this is still used in schools... gynecomastia or not, many children/teens are overweight and generally uncomfortable without a shirt on.

My worst experience was in my early 20's when I was working in a local mall as a part time job. I was a cashier at a dollar store which was almost always lined up with people. One particularly busy day, a couple (not young, maybe early to mid-30's) came up to the till and as I was ringing up their items they were talking amongst themselves, not really paying attention to me (which I didn't mind... the average transaction lasted 30 seconds so I never really started any conversations). The woman turned to her boyfriend/husband and said "I don't have any money, you pay the girl", referring to me. The man then looks at me and says "thats a guy", to which the woman follows up with "what? no, its a girl". This continued for a good minute or so; they acted like I wasn't even there, and I was extremely embarrassed. I could feel my face bright red and everyone in line behind them staring at me. Finally the woman turns to me and bluntly (and loudly) says "are you a guy or a girl?" to which I responded (almost in tears) "I'm a guy". She just said "oh", grabbed her stuff and left the store. The worst part was continuing work for the day.... I don't think I made eye contact with anyone else after that

Aside from that, I've been on two university field trips that have included stops at hot springs (I study geology, so they always seem to work them in). Watching all your classmates having fun and enjoying themselves in the hot spring while you sit in the van in the parking lot because you "weren't feeling good" sucks major @ss.

Thankfully this won't last much longer. I just finished the last of my pre-op doctor visits, and am currently awaiting an operation date I look forward to swimming with friends for the first time in over ten years.

[EgoID]

Well I'm almost 38 now but "discovered" I had gynecomastia when I was 16.  I was working among a group of people around the same age I did not know.  Wearing a tightly fitting T-shirt, I remember hearing one of the girls ask a supervisor "is that a guy or girl" and looking around I suddenly realized they had to be talking about me.  The supervisor just said "some guys have breasts and some girls don't".  Suddenly this was a part of my life and my nipples got progressively worse for the next year during which I wore loose fitting shirts and eventually sweat shirts or a jacket always.  By the time I was 18, this problem consumed my thoughts.  My once high grades dropped in grade 12.  Luckily we did not have phys-ed in grade 11 or 12.  No one ever discovered my little secret (my parents later found out) but it began to change my whole thought patterns and I became a very negative person.  Wearing a dress shirt for grad, I ended up taping my nipples to prevent them from showing. 
 
I did see a doctor after highschool (conveniently for something else) and he just casually told me I had gynecomastia and surgery would fix it.  He said nothing else about it.  A year later, I ended up having the surgery to fix it.  HOWEVER, not one doctor or person discussed the psychological effect this had on me nor was there much said other than "lots of males get this".

I wish I had been able to see this site back then.  A few years ago I started researching it and to my surprise, my gynecomastia was pretty minor compared to some.  To all those thinking about the surgery, just do it, but make sure you deal with the psychological aspect as well.  I'm still trying to deal with net effect of this although I don't think about the actual gynecomastia anymore and have been in the military for quite a few years.

[Plarkin]

I DITTO this, big time. I'm in my 50s now and didn't have the surgery until last year! In fairness to myself, until about 10-15 years ago, the surgery was a pretty big deal, blood loss, scarring, general anesthesia. But now, dudes, if you're young, even if you are not, GET THE F-ING SURGERY. If will change your life or at least 80 percent of it, depending on how much psychological scarring you had as well from the gyne. Seriously, guys. Can't emphasis this enough. Do it! (I used Jacobs in NYC, btw -- top of the line but worth it.)

[samus1818]

I remember being in elementary school, I think it was around the 3rd grade. Just like some of the stories here, I didn't see anything wrong with my body. I just wasn't conscience of what was or wasn't normal. I was at the beach with my sister, and we began digging a hole in the sand. My sister stopped, and told me to keep digging. The farther I got, the more I noticed that she was laughing. Along with her laughs there were two blonde girls that were laughing at me too. I felt so embarrassed. I had my shirt off, and I finally understood that they were laughing at my chest. When I leaned over to dig that hole, my boobs looked bigger. I should beat the shit out of my sister LOL

[Exit]

I remember being in elementary school, I think it was around the 3rd grade. Just like some of the stories here, I didn't see anything wrong with my body. I just wasn't conscience of what was or wasn't normal. I was at the beach with my sister, and we began digging a hole in the sand. My sister stopped, and told me to keep digging. The farther I got, the more I noticed that she was laughing. Along with her laughs there were two blonde girls that were laughing at me too. I felt so embarrassed. I had my shirt off, and I finally understood that they were laughing at my chest. When I leaned over to dig that hole, my boobs looked bigger. I should beat the shit out of my sister LOL

That's really awful.  I think it's even worse when you're being laughed at by girls.  Had that happen to me many times.  Good thing I figured out how to hide my boobs when I got older.

[rndom]

Hi all, just have to come here to tell my feelings about this problem. Feeling really bad so maybe this helps a bit.

I started suffering from this in 6th grade when suddenly people started saying things about my growing breasts. I tried to act like nothing was wrong but after many comments i started hiding my chest by wearing jackets and so on. Doctors kept saying that its normal and they will go away in time. I waited and waited and guess what, here they still are.

Now im about 24 years old and still inside i feel like the same teenage boy. I envy all guys and their lives who dont have to hide their chest and can live their lives to the fullest. Although im tall and ok looking, in my head im the ugliest guy that i have ever seen.  Really i dont think my self as a grown man. It cancels so many things out from my life, i cant go to the beach or travel south with my friends, cant wear only tshirt at summer and i dont want anyone to touch me. Never actually been with a girl although many tend to fall in love with me. When that happens i automatically push them away although it really hurts me.

Its so funny that i like to drive fast enduro bikes in forrests, i have been in the army doing all these rough things, i have travel around the world, im graduating to a nice job, but still i dont feel like a real man. My biggest fear is that people sees my chest, or me even wearing a tshirt. I really cant be the best man i could be because of all the stupid feelings i keep feeling and it feels like the real life i should be living is going past me. Hate it when people are wondering why i dont keep less clothes on or why i dont go dating girls or why i dont go swiming at summer and so on. Also constantly trying to lose weight because of my breasts is annoying as hell because nothing happens.

And what really annoys me is that i have become so good at hiding my breast and standing in bad posture that nobody really knows my problem (aside from few random comments when trying to wear just a tshirt..) or especially how i feel. It makes it so much harder to tell anyone and im afraid of a possible surgery. Really dont have money for it at the moment and im afraid if surgery makes things worse. The idea feels so weird to go to a surgery as my large breasts and hiding them are so big part of my identity.

Actually after writing this im starting to understand how big of a deal this is. These are all bad memories and brains try to forget all this, thinking that everything is ok. But then that good feeling is brought down just by one stupid comment and there the bad feelings are again.

I can really understand all of you guys here and wish strength to you.