Gynecomastia can be an embarrassing condition for males, particularly with its tendency to occur during the sensitive phase of puberty. An anonymous man recalls his realization that he suffered from the condition as just a child. “One day in the locker room in the eighth grade, they were making fun of a kid for having a large chest. I didn’t understand why they were making fun of him, and then they started making fun of me. I basically didn’t take my shirt off in public from that time until I was 27.”
Gynecomastia is not an uncommon condition, according to Dr. Elliot W. Jacobs. Approximately one-third of all males will show some signs of gynecomastia at some point in the lifetime.
The condition, which is characterized by excess skin tissue in the breast, typically occurs during puberty when a young boy’s body is experiencing rapidly increasing hormone levels. During this time period, there is some estrogen production that may cause the breasts to grow excessively.
The good news is that for most males, this sometimes-awkward phase will subside by age 14 or 15. Most doctors, Jacob’s says, will “pat the kid on the back and say, ‘Don’t worry, son, it will go away.’ They wait and wait, and there go all their precious teenage years, they are teased and embarrassed.”
Dr. Jacob’s, a plastic surgeon practicing in the Manhattan area claims that he has successfully completed hundreds of gynecomastia corrective procedures over the years.
The procedure is typically completed on an outpatient basis with mild anesthesia, or “sedation anesthesia”. Jacobs utilizes a modified liposuction method in which fluid is injected into the breast to soften the tissue. Once the tissue is loosened, a cannula is used to manipulate the tissue and excess fat, which is then removed with a suction machine.
Another method that may be used as an alternative, or to treat areas with particularly dense tissue is called a subcutaneous mastectomy. This procedure is conducted by making a small incision in the area surrounding the nipple and then surgically removing the excess fat and tissue.
Both options leave minimal scaring.
“These kids are ecstatic. It really is a life-changing type of operation for them,” comments Dr. Thomas Lee of Stony Brook University Hospital.
The operation is also available for adult men as well. Dr. Jacob’s who treats both young and older men comments, “ I can even help older men with pendulous breasts, but I tell them they’re not going to look like a 20-year-old, with a chest as tight as a drumhead.”
Gynecomastia is typically a hereditary condition. True gynecomastia cannot be alleviated by weight loss or excessive exercise.