Gynecomastia: Why do men have “big boobs”?

Gynecomastia: Why do men have “big boobs”? In clinical work, I did encounter a lot of male patients with “big boobs”, which is called “gynecomastia” in medicine.

01 What is gynecomastia?

The patient will not only be affected in appearance, but also be troubled by pain and discomfort.

Gynecomastia is a very common male breast disease that can occur at any age.

Among them, adolescent and elderly men are more common. It has been reported that the incidence of adolescent men can reach 60%, and the incidence of men over 50 is also close to 60%.

It usually manifests as painless and progressive enlargement of breasts on one or both sides. Sometimes painless lumps can appear in the area under the areola. Small lumps are mostly 1-2cm in diameter. Large ones can approach the size of adult female breasts.

Most lumps are painless, but some patients may also have lumps pain and nipple tenderness. It can be seen that gynecomastia is not only a problem that affects “beauty”, pain and discomfort also bother many patients.

02 Why does male breast development occur?

• Gynecomastia can be caused by many reasons.
• Physiology: mostly occurs in men after neonatal, adolescence and middle age.
• Caused by disease: can be seen in anorchidosis, orchitis, testicular tumor, lung cancer, etc.
• Drugs: estrogen, drugs that inhibit testosterone, H2 receptor blockers, dopamine receptor blockers and other drugs can also cause breast development.
• Unexplained cause: About half or more of the patients cannot find a clear cause, and are classified as idiopathic gynecomastia. The latest research suggests that this type may be related to environmental pollution.

03 How to treat gynecomastia?

Surgery is not only treatment, but also aesthetics.

Most gynecomastia are self-limiting and can be treated with medications and elimination of external causes.

However, a considerable proportion of male patients need surgical methods such as liposuction and gland removal to reduce breast size.

For example:

• Psychological distress caused by obvious breast development;
• Long duration (lasting more than 1 year);
• Obvious swelling and pain;
• Suspect of malignant change, etc.
• Surgery is not only treatment, but also aesthetics

However, everyone should know that gynecomastia surgery is actually a kind of cosmetic surgery. It not only requires complete removal of the glands, but the chest scars left after surgery will directly affect the quality of life of the patient.

Everyone wants “no scar” or “small scar”. Therefore, this type of surgery attaches great importance to the choice and size of the incision.

At present, the hospital breast surgery has designed a variety of surgical programs according to the degree of male breast development, tissue type, and areola size, including circular areola incision (2cm), complete axillary fold incision (laparoscopic surgery), and areola micro incision (less than 1cm), which can meet the needs of different groups of people.

Among them, axillary endoscopic surgery is a major feature of our hospital, especially suitable for patients with glandular gynecomastia.

The characteristics of glandular breasts: the fat content is low, so the liposuction or weight loss effect is not good; if traditional surgical procedures are used, 4-5cm breasts or lower fold incisions are often required, leaving obvious scars.

In axillary laparoscopic surgery, the surgical incision can be designed in the axilla (only one incision), which not only keeps the nipple and areola intact, but also looks completely free from the front. Moreover, you can move on the ground on the second day after minimally invasive surgery.

However, it should be noted that after surgery, you need to dress up with a corset or chest strap for 5-7 days. Strenuous exercise must be prohibited for another month, especially to reduce upper limb activities to prevent subcutaneous fluid accumulation.

(source:chinanet, reference only)

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