Gynecomastia Facts And Common Solutions

Gynecomastia is a condition that can lead to the overdevelopment of the male mammary glands and male breast. And while there are several root causes for this condition it generally requires surgery to reverse the physical appearance of gynecomastia.

The first step if you have excessive male breast tissue is to see a doctor to rule out underlying medical conditions that need to be addressed. If your doctor gives you a clean bill of health, the next step is to consult a plastic surgeon and learn about your options. Don't ignore it since this condition rarely gets better on its own and treatment is relatively simple.

Breast reduction surgery for men is also known as reduction mammoplasty and is highly successful when it is done by a skilled plastic surgeon with experience in breast reduction surgery.

The procedure itself for gynecomastia is done under a general anesthesia or an intravenous sedation. Under a general anesthesia you are given a combination of oral medication and gas to induce a deep sleep and your breathing is monitored by an anesthesiologist. Under this type of anesthesia you will be asleep and you won't feel or remember anything about the surgery. There are some risks associated with this type of anesthesia so your doctor will screen you to ensure you're a good candidate. If you're not a good candidate another option for anesthesia is intravenous sedation in which a patient is able to breathe on their own without monitoring and there are fewer risk factors.

The surgical procedure itself will vary depending on your needs. If most of the breast tissue is just fatty cells, the breast tissue can then be removed using liposuction. If both the breast tissue and excessive skin need to be removed a different technique known as excision technique may be used. This technique is commonly used when the nipple placement may be affected by the breast reduction. Sometimes both liposuction and the excision technique are used in conjunction to correct gynecomastia.

Regardless of which method is used, there will be some scarring possible. Your plastic surgeon may be able to hide the scars from the incisions in the natural folds of your improved pectorals but on males it can be harder to hide these incision scars in a natural fold line than it is on a fuller female breast.

After surgery your healing time will depend on the extent of your surgery and the technique used. For most men the recovery period is usually a few weeks before they can resume normal activities and most men are able to return to work within days as long as their jobs are not physical.

Small minorities of males who develop breast do so because of steroid use and the small minorities that redevelop breast are the ones who resume taking steroids again after their mammary reduction surgery. For the majority of men however the surgery to reduce the mammary glands is both permanent as well as successful and can make you less conscious about your body.