Male Breast Reduction Surgery

A more specialist term for male breast reduction surgery is ‘gynaecomastia’. This is a form of surgery that helps to reduce ‘moobs’ that can develop in males.

What Is Male Breast Reduction Surgery?

‘Moobs’ can occur in men when they develop excess breast tissue in their chest. It is believed to be because of hormone imbalance but there is yet to be a definitive cause for why these are formed. This can be embarrassing for males and as a result, they rarely feel comfortable removing their clothing. Male breast reduction can help to rectify this via liposuction or by removing the excess tissue in combination with liposuction. It’s becoming one of the more popular cosmetic surgeries for men.

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What To Expect During Your Consultation?

As with every surgery, we ask that you’re honest and open about your surgery expectations. During your consultation, you’ll be asked questions regarding your health, lifestyle and desires. It’s here where you should provide as much information as possible to help us cater the surgery to your needs. The risks and complications will be discussed with you to determine what would be best for you. Furthermore, there are liposuction options available and the risks and limitations of this will be discussed with you.

Preparing For The Surgery

During male breast reduction surgery, you will be under general or local anaesthetic depending on the discussions from your consultation. It’s important to let us know whether you’re ill prior to the surgery as your health is incredibly important to us. If so, we can look to delay and rearrange the surgery when you recover. Before the surgery, you will be required to follow these next steps in order to make sure that you get the results that you need:

– Ideally, you’d need to stop smoking around 6 weeks before the surgery

– Don’t take aspirin or any anti-inflammatory drugs

– Herbal supplements shouldn’t be taken before surgery

On some occasions, you may also require a preoperative test before undergoing surgery but we’ll make you aware if this is required and arrange this accordingly.

What Happens During Male Breast Reduction Surgery?

The surgery takes between 1-2 hours. During the male breast reductions surgery, an incision would need to be made in order to place anaesthetic fluid into the area that requires surgery. The placement of the incisions will be tailored to your needs. For example, incisions may be needed around the areola; and they be horizontal, vertical or both. The nipple areola complex may also need to be repositioned, replaced or removed entirely.

The surgery can be combined with body jet liposuction fluid if necessary. Again, this will be discussed during your consultation. This method allows the body fat to be removed at the same as when the fluid is being flushed through the area.

In order to remove the fat, a cannula is used. In some cases, a direct excision may also be needed in order to remove any excess tissue. Once all the required fat is removed, the incisions are then stitched up with dissolvable stitches.

For those requiring excessive tissue to be removed, extensive incisions may be required. In which case, liposuction or an incision around the areola may only be required.

After The Surgery

Mobilising won’t be a problem if you’re put under local anaesthetic but general anaesthetic would require you to return to the ward so you can mobilise again. Whilst in the ward, you will also be able to eat and drink and if you feel any signs of swelling or discomfort, analgesia will be provided to treat this. You should also expect to return home the next day, so arrange for someone to pick you up after the surgery.

Wounds should be kept dry for up to a week. You should ensure you have support at home as you will feel discomfort for a period of time. After you’re discharged, you will have reviews on your wounds at the clinic after a week or so.

You should avoid exercise for the first couple of weeks before resuming light exercise about 2 weeks after. Then you may resume normal exercise about 3-4 weeks post-surgery.

Are There Any Risks and Complications?

The majority of our patients are extremely happy with the results they receive from male breast reduction surgery, however, there are occasions where common side-effects occur. These include complaints around numbness, bruising and swelling.

There are uncommon risks that also occur but they are very rare. These can include:

– Delayed healing

– Skin loss

– Infection

– Breathing Issues

– Deep Vein Thrombosis

– Thickened Scars

– Seroma Formation

As mentioned, these are very rare. You must be aware that although the procedure aims to remove fat cells, new fat cells can occur over time and the idea is to reduce the amount of tissue, but not completely remove it.