Yes, it’s worth it for reducing excess breast tissue.
For many men, summer is more of a nightmare than a festival of joy. While the majority of people are looking forward to spending time in the sun at the beach or the pool, men with gynecomastia — the medical term for enlarged male breasts — are the ones who are putting on extra layers. They are the people who wear hoodies in the middle of the summer, they are bending over and looking down so that no one can see their chest, and they are making a constant effort to keep their shirts in a way that no one could see the shape of their breasts. The condition happens to around 30% to 60% of men during the course of their lives but it is still something that causes a lot of shame and loneliness.
When most of the time the diet and exercise are not enough to give a flat chest, the only solution is surgery. But surgery is a big step that leads to a question: “Is it really worth it to have a male breast reduction operation?” At Lin Europe Clinic, we see changes in our patients’ eyes not only when we take off their bandages but also months after when they send us pictures of themselves at the beach. Most men consider the operation to be a matter of beauty; however, the procedure is mainly about getting back the self-assurance and manhood.
The Gym Myth: Why You Can’t “Bench Press” It Away
The very thing that makes gynecomastia the most difficult to deal with is the erroneous belief that it is only caused by being overweight. People keep telling their friends how they have been working out their chest for so long but there is still no improvement at all. Actually, the tensed-up muscle under the swollen breast pushes the breast tissue outward, making it more pronounced. This is because true gynecomastia involves not only fat tissue, but there are actually two components which make it up. One of them is fat tissue, which is only the outer layer of the problem, and the other one is glandular tissue, which is a dense, fibrous, rubbery type of tissue right under the nipple. If one compares fat cells with glandular tissue, one of the properties of glandular tissue is that it does not get used up as energy. Completion of exercises with great intensity or reduction of calories will not lead to the disappearance of the gland. The only way to deal with this with physical means is if you undergo surgery.
Two-Step Surgical Solution
We view the male breast reduction at Lin Europe Clinic as a 2-step procedure so that we can guarantee a completely flat and masculine chest contour. Our first choice is Vaser Liposuction. We use sound waves to coke the fat cells in the breast area to separate them and then the liquid fat is sucked out. This procedure allows us to reshape the chest wall and to make the pectoral muscles more prominent. However, Vaser cannot eliminate the tough glandular tissue.
Secondly, using a tiny, half-moon-shaped incision along the bottom edge of the areola through this very small opening, the glandular tissue is removed physically. The first step is liposuction for the soft fat, and the second step is excision of the gland to get rid of hard tissues. This two-step process makes the chest not only smaller but also truly flat and shapely. The complex approach offers a permanent result that is not only free from the “puffy nipple” look but also very rarely comes with a recurrence of the problem when only liposuction is done.
Fear of Scars vs. Reality
One of the biggest concerns of men about the surgery is that they see it as a trade-off: “Does a puffy chest get exchanged for a scarred one?” The truth is that modern male breast reduction results in scar tissue that is not visible to the eye after the wound has healed. The main reason is that we do our best to hide the scar by making the incision right at the spot where the dark skin of the areola meets the lighter skin of the chest, so the resulting scar naturally blends with the color transition. By the end of the year, in many cases, a patient will find it difficult to see the scar even though it is still there. Besides that, the incision points for liposuction are so small that they are barely visible pinpricks hidden in the armpit area leaving the front part of the chest completely unmarked . The result is a chest that looks like it was built in the gym, not in an operating room.
Recovery: A short break for the rest of your life freedom
Recovery after the procedure is way easier than most people expect considering that this is a surgery that can completely change someone’s life. After surgery, most people say that they don’t really feel any pain but their chest is quite sore and tender like after a heavy workout. Compressing your chest will be needed for three to four weeks after surgery, so you will have to wear a compression garment. This garment controls the formation of seroma or hematoma and facilitates a tight skin contraction over the treated area.It is typically possible to return to a sedentary job after 3-4 days, but heavy lifting and chest-related exercises should be avoided for 4-6 weeks. Such a short period of intolerance is definitely worth giving up for the permanent freedom to wear a white t-shirt with confidence.
Male Breast Reduction in Turkey
So, is male breast reduction worth it? Taking into account the side effects on mental health as well as social life, it cannot be otherwise than a very unequivocal yes. What is most encouraging is that our patients at Lin Europe Clinic in Istanbul, Turkey often say that the surgery was the best kind of self-investment they could ever make. They don’t bend down and look at the ground anymore. They can wear the clothes that they like and that fit their body, not the ones that they wear to hide it. They have forgotten the times when they seemed to be afraid of sharing their hobbies with their kids and going for a swim with them. Different countries have their own pros and cons when it comes to traveling for plastic surgery but if patients consider that in a well-developed country like Turkey they get world-class surgeons who specialize in the high-definition Vaser technique at a faction of the cost of Europe or the UK, then they will undoubtedly be able to say that it was definitely a wise choice to have the surgery in Turkey.
Frequently Asked Questions About Male Breast Reduction
Most patients, in fact, describe male breast reduction pain as muscle soreness after a heavy workout rather than sharp pain, and it is quite easy to control with mild medication.
Indeed, results of a male breast reduction procedure are in most cases permanent because physically the glandular tissue is removed and it cannot grow back.
Typically, male breast reduction is regarded as an aesthetic or cosmetic procedure, therefore insurance carriers rarely agree to pay unless there is a documented medical condition that necessitates the procedure.
The incisions for a male breast reduction are really small and cleverly concealed along the perimeter of the areola which makes them almost undetectable after they are thoroughly healed.
It is impossible for an exercise to remove glandular tissue, so if your problem is the gland and not just fat, male breast reduction surgery will be the only solution that actually works.
Handschin, A. E., et al. (2008). Surgical treatment of gynecomastia in more than 500 patients. World Journal of Surgery.
Rohrich, R. J., et al. (2003). Gynecomastia: Classification and surgical management. Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery.
Waltho, D., & Hatchell, A. (2017). Gynecomastia: Pathophysiology, evaluation, and management. Canadian Journal of Surgery.
