Gynaecomastia

Gynaecomastia, also known as a male breast reduction surgery, is used to treat a condition caused by a male sex hormone imbalance. This causes a male’s breasts to swell and become larger than what would be expected of a man.

What is Male Breast Reduction Surgery?

When an imbalance in sex hormones occurs in a male, it causes their breasts to become abnormally large than what is considered a ‘normal’ size. When the male body produces more oestrogen compared to the amount of testosterone, it can cause males to produce more breast tissue than normal. This can be rather common in newborn babies, young teenagers and older men making it a popular cosmetic surgery for men.

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How Do I Prepare For The Surgery?

Before any form of surgery is conducted, you’d be required to go through a consultation. It’s here where discussions will be held around the pros and cons of the surgery, what to expect, your health and any concerns that you have. It’s crucial that you aim to be as honest as possible with us to ensure that the surgery can go as smoothly as possible. Precautions that you need to take before undergoing surgery will also be outlined.

Once the discussions have been undertaken, you’ll be taken through what you should expect from the surgery and how it will be conducted.

How Is Gynaecomastia Surgery Performed?

There are two ways in which gynecomastia surgery can be performed in order to remove the excess tissue formed around the breast area of the male: 

Liposuction – This is a typical procedure that’s used to generally extract excessive muscle and fat tissue. It’s performed under local or general anaesthetic and is performed by creating an incision in 3 possible places; the sides of your chest, near the areola or in your armpit. A consultation will be provided which will help to determine which option would be the best depending on the amount of tissue that needs to be removed.

A thin tube is then inserted in the incision where the excess tissue is extracted from the area via a vacuum. This provides reduced tissue to then sculpt a more natural-looking chest.

Male Breast Reduction – This tends to be a popular option if there is excess breast gland tissue formed. This is performed under general anaesthetic and involves incisions being made around your nipple. The length of the cut will be dependant on how much tissue needs to be removed. You should expect the surgery to take around 2 hours.

In some cases, the procedures can be combined during gynaecomastia surgery if there is a more than an excessive amount of tissue required to be removed.

What Happens After Gynaecomastia Surgery?

After the surgery, you will likely be able to go home the same day. However, you may require to stay in the ward depending on the amount of tissue that’s removed and your recovery after having anaesthesia. You will also feel signs of discomfort and swelling, so it’s important that you’re able to stabilise your mobility whilst you’re at the ward. Arrange for someone to pick you up from the clinic, as it’s not recommended to drive after undergoing the male breast reduction surgery due to the discomfort you’ll feel.

Gynaecomastia Surgery Aftercare

At home, you should look to rest as much as possible for about 2 weeks and wear a support garment to compress your chest and support your breasts.

Heavy lifting and strenuous activity should be avoided for about 6 weeks after surgery. Light exercises can be performed around 2 weeks after surgery before going back to your normal exercises after about 4 weeks.

Scarring will occur after the surgery and they’ll fade over time, but this will take several months. To improve the healing of the scars, you can massage the area that’s been performed on once they’ve healed..

FAQs

  • How Would I Know If I’m Suitable For The Surgery?

    Excess tissue formed around the breast area in men is rather common. If you feel as though you have sagging skin around this area or have formed ‘moobs’ over time, this can help to reduce the tissue around the area and improve the appearance of the male breasts.

    Feeling self-conscious about your appearance is normal and if you wish to have a firmer, masculine looking chest a male breast reduction surgery can help to achieve this.

  • How Much Will The Procedure Cost?

    This will be quoted during your consultation as the cost of the procedure will be dependant on the amount of tissue that requires to be removed. There are also other considerations that are included in the final fee of the procedure including surgeon fees, hospital fees and the costs for the anaesthesia. This will all be discussed during your consultation.

  • Are There Any Risks and Complications With The Surgery?

    The majority of patients are happy with the results that they achieve from their surgery but there are some patients that complain about complications that can occur with the surgery. Common complications that occur include bruising, swelling and scarring. This would be expected considering incisions will be made in the skin and the skin will be relatively raw once you have the surgery.

    More serious forms of complications can include developing lumps after male breast reduction surgery or having nerve damage. These are rare occurrences that happen in the surgery but you should be made aware that it is possible.